IS ANTI-ZIONISM ANTISEMITISM

First, we have to define what Zionism is. Zionism means the right of Jews to have their own state. That’s it. There are many different versions of Zionism, but it essentially comes down to the right of self-determination.

Since the destruction of the 1st Temple in Jerusalem in in the 6th century BCE and then the 2nd Temple in 70 CE, diaspora Jews longed to return to their homeland. Some continued to live there, but most did not. Jews preserved this longing in their daily&shabbat prayers&throughout Jewish writing.

In the 19th century, a formal movement arose that sought to make this longing into a political reality. This is what most refer to as the beginning of Zionism. But…the desire to return to what we now call Israel has been a part of Jewish identity for 2,500 years.

We can debate all the events that led to Israeli independence in 1948&what transpired afterwards, but supporting “Zionism” doesn’t mean that one agrees with everything that Jews in Israel did prior to 1948 or that one agrees with all that that the Israeli gov did after 1948.

Criticizing the Israeli gov or Netanayhu or the conduct of the Gaza war does not make one anti-Zionist. It simply means that one disagrees with Israeli policy. Even finding Israeli Gaza policy repugnant in some ways does not make one anti-Zionist. Jews everywhere do this every day.

To understand this, we probably have to understand that Judaism is not solely a religion. E.g. I grew up in a family that was not religious at all, but my parents saw themselves as part of a people, a nation, a civilization. This view of Judaism is common among Jews.

The religious part is only part of being Jewish. For many Jews in the U.S. I would say that it’s not even the central part. I would say that this is true for many Jews in Israel as well. “Religion” is a problematic category for understanding what Jews&Judaism are.

In fact, the word “religion” as a category of identity&meaning is a modern one that arose primarily in a Christian context, especially in German academia in the 19th century. Other movements which we call now “religions” have a similar issue (e.g. Hinduism, Confucianism).

So “Zionism” can have a religious meaning to some Jews, but to many it does not. What non-religious&religious Jews generally share is the idea that Jews need their own state to thrive&to avoid the prejudice, hatred, discrimination, persecution that has plagued Jews for millennia.

My guess is that about 85% of American Jews are Zionist. That would probably be higher in other countries& in Israel. But the remaining Jews could be either non-Zionist or anti-Zionist (not the same thing at all btw: non-Zionism means that Zionism is not a central orienting point for that person’s Judaism and/or Jewish identity).

So if they are anti-Zionist, those individuals are in opposition to the overwhelming majority of Jews in the world. They are essentially saying to Jews that they are wrong&that their c. 3,000 year-history is misguided.

Yes, there are some anti-Zionist Jews–that is Jews who don’t believe that Jews have their own right to a state. That would put them way out of the mainstream, but they certainly exist as a minority.

Back to the question: Is anti-Zionism antisemitism? The answer is most likely Yes.

I have not met them, but it’s possible that there are some people who believe that there should be no ethno-states globally. So if they reject the right of all people—e.g. Japan or Saudi Arabia or India–to have their own ethno-states because they don’t see that as legitimate and if they speak out vociferously against those states in favor of some other form of governance (as intensely as they focus on Israel), then they are not engaging in antisemitic discourse. They would have to be clearly consistent in their opposition to such states, not focused on Israel.

But this would at best be a rare position, which is not the kind of thing you normally see on social media or at protests or elsewhere.

It’s important to make a distinction here between antisemitism&Jew hatred. Some of the people espousing anti-Zionism don’t necessarily hate Jews. There may not be personal animus involved. But…they are engaged in a discourse that is structurally antisemitic. It’s often an unconscious or subconscious prejudice that is so deeply embedded in human consciousness for centuries that they cannot see or sense what they are doing.

It doesn’t matter whether the anti-Zionists are Jewish or not. Most Jewish anti-Zionists&some non-Jewish ones don’t hate Jews, but they are in fact espousing a view that is very likely antisemitic.

I realize that there are problems with the word, “antisemitism” (partly because the word was actually invented by someone who strongly disliked Jews), but there really currently aren’t better words or phrases.

“Racism” is probably the closest word to describe prejudice against Jews, but “race” is how the Nazis categorized Jews. Jews for good reason are leery of using a word that allows Nazis to dictate the terms of Jewish identity. Plus, “race” has no biological basis and is effectively a social construct.

In any case, anti-Zionism is an idea that in a practical sense is likely antisemitic. Human beings are naturally prejudiced, since it’s the way they learned to survive in a hostile world. So prejudice against Jews is a natural phenomenon that isn’t really surprising.

What is notable is that prejudice against Jews has lasted for 2,500 years&has now seen a massive resurgence in the last few years. Why do people fixate on Jews? That’s a question for another time.