Saw this post floating around, donβt wanna target anyone or argue with Zionists, but it is my duty (especially as an actually indigenous Jew) to educate well-meaning gentiles who might see this and think they have no right to speak on the matter. Iβll go point by point.
1) βIs it so terrible for a Jew to be a Zionist?β
If we were living in any other era, where the genocidal crimes of Israel were not as widely known (though they were very well documented), you could perhaps ask this question in sincerity. Many Jews (such as myself) grow up in religious educational settings which either fail to mention the human rights violations of the state or claim theyβre justified because βthey want to kill us!β Past a certain point, though, one canβt continue to claim ignorance of what Zionism actually does. Short answer: yes, it is terrible for anyone to claim to be a Zionist, but this will be more evident as I continue to analyze these arguments.
2) βZionism is the belief in the inherent right of the Jewish people to return to their homelandβ
First of all, Palestine is not the βhomelandβ of the Jewish people any more than Siberia is the homeland of indigenous american tribes. Is there a historical connection? Yes, but though assimilation and migration Jews have found homes across the world. For me, my homeland is Mexico, because my family has lived there for generations, partly through migration but mostly through having cultivated the land for millennia. Even biblically speaking, Palestine does not βbelongβ to the Jewish people, it belongs to G-d. Furthermore, there is no shortage of Jewish scholarship and activism that asserts that wherever we live, that is our homeland. Frankly, Iβm more interested in fighting to stay where I am than fighting to force people out of their homes to accommodate me.
3) βZionism is the belief in the Jewish right not to be murderedβ
By murdering others instead? Once again, there is no shortage of Jewish scholarship and activism in favor of Jewish self defense where we live. Jewish resistance fighters lived and died fighting the nazis in Europe under the third reich. If Zionism was actually interested in preventing Jewish death, it would fight antisemitism where it is. βPreventing murderβ is not an excuse to commit genocide.
4) βthere are so many definitions of Zionismβ
Sorry but I just think of this tweet from @jewdas on Twitter when I read this: βThereβs a actual existing Zionism which practices apartheid and denial of human rights. But thereβs another Zionism inside my head which is all rainbows and kosher marshmallows, so who can say which is the real Zionism?β In other words, the actual, material consequences of Zionist beliefs are more important than what any individual thinks their Zionism is. Once again, we live in the Information Age, where anyone can easily learn about the damage that Zionism has done in Palestine and abroad. There is no excuse to continue using the label that doesnβt presuppose complete ignorance of Israeli violence.
5) βzionists just want to be safe from antisemitism in the diasporaβ
See points 3 & 4.
6) βand this is different from evangelical zionistsβ
Materially speaking, not really. Once again, see point 4. Until you pull all US/european colonial support for Israel, this claim falls flat.
7) βzionists just want to live peacefully with other indigenous people in the areaβ
Thatβs not what indigeneity is, it doesnβt mean βfrom there,β itβs a specific relationship to the land and to its cultivation. (On a side note, even biblically and historically speaking, Jews are not βfromβ Palestine.) See point 2. Zionism has proven it is not a peaceful ideology. See point 4.
8) βpeople refuse to see the difference in types of Zionism because they hate the Jewsβ
No, itβs because there are no material differences. See point 4. Evangelical Zionism and Jewish Zionism actually share quite a bit in common. The βJewish stateβ would not exist without evangelical Zionists. See point 6. And the original Jewish Zionist thinkers had a vested interest in tying the two together.
tl;dr, Zionism is a violent ideology in practice, and no amount of making excuses can hide the fact that it is genocidal and serves European/American interests. Additionally, just because one is not Jewish does not mean one does not have a duty and an obligation to eliminate Zionism wherever it crops up. Zionism has had disastrous consequences for Palestinians, and as western citizens, we benefit from their suffering. It must end now. May Palestine be freed in our lifetimes.
