Why Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism
Anti-Israel groups like to trot out the disingenuous disclaimer that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism. Professing they are not against Jews, they cloak the most modern version of the oldest hate in the world in the thinnest of veils.
Zionism is the belief that the Jews, just like other peoples, are entitled to self-determination in their national homeland. Historically, the Jewish claim to Israel goes back before the common era. In fact, since then, the Jewish people are the only people that have had a continuous presence in the land. And the only people that still exist that ever had one.
Ironically, although the anti-Zionism movement likes to deny this fact, the Jews are the indigenous people of Israel.
Anti-Zionism Calls for the Elimination of Israel
The anti-Zionism lobby calls for the complete destruction of the state of Israel, claiming the Jews have usurped the Palestinian indigenous homeland. Yet “Palestinians” themselves are a modern invention, primarily named after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, and even more so after 1967. Ironically, all those who lived in Israel before 1948 – Jews and Arabs alike – were referred to as Palestinians.
Some anti-Zionism groups, like the group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) – a violent and aggressive coalition of street activists in New York – have rebranded this “indigenous claim” to fit the current Far Left progressive mindset, declaring “Zionism is a settler-colonial white supremacist ideology.”
Capitalizing on this mischaracterization, WOL partners with organizations of indigenous people, although not to help these groups in their claims. Rather, it is to enlist their help to “Globalize the Intifada” – WOL’s latest marketing ploy.
"Intifada" is a romantic-sounding word for wannabe revolutionaries. Yet, “intifadas” (violent terrorist uprisings) in Israel have killed more than 1,300 civilians since 1987. During the intifadas, suicide bombers blew up Israelis in cafes and buses. Shooters took aim at Israelis driving home from work or on the way to visit friends or family.
Holding Israel to a Unique Standard
What is telling about the claim that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism is the fact that there are close to 100 land disputes around the world. Many of these disputes have clear “occupation” status. Yet, we see no protests, for example, about Turkey’s occupation of northern Cyprus or China’s occupation of Tibet.
Until Russia’s latest move to take over the whole of Ukraine, the world was silent when Putin annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014. And none of these disputes generate the demand for the complete destruction of the nation perpetrating the “occupation.”
The Anti-Zionist Movement Blames All Jews
Most telling is the indiscriminate targeting of Jews by those claiming to simply be “anti-Zionists.” The language used in their all-too-physical assaults speaks volumes. Raging Palestinian protesters yelled “Death to the Jews,” “F—k you” and “You guys should be ashamed of yourselves” when they attacked Jews at a restaurant in LA during the height of the May 2021 Israel-Gaza conflict. This wasn’t an isolated incident.
May 2021 marked a 148 percent increase in reported anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. compared with May 2020. From May 10 alone, when rockets from Gaza terrorists began barraging Israeli civilian centers, until the end of the month, close to 300 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in the U.S.
Elsewhere, attacks on Jews worldwide for perceived “Zionist” sins were common. A crowd waving Palestinian and Turkish flags staged a protest at a synagogue in Germany, screaming “Sh–t Jews.” In London, pro-Palestinian protesters in a caravan of cars equipped with loudspeakers, yelled, “F–k the Jew, f–k their mothers … rape their daughters.”
Within Our Lifetime (WOL) protestors burning an Israeli flag on the streets of NYC (Screenshot).
Anti-Semitic Tropes and Anti-Zionism
WOL protesters, at their frequent and often violent rallies, consistently wear red bands on their upper arms, a nod to Nazi Germany where military and party officials wore red bands on their upper arms emblazoned with a swastika to show their fealty to Hitler, who killed six million Jews.
The definition of antisemitism, as per the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and adopted by the U.S. State Department as well as the entire European Union, contains 11 different categories that constitute antisemitism. Anti-Zionists traffic in every single one of them.
Criticism of Israel is always legitimate. It happens every day inside and outside of Israel – arguments about leaders, policies, the government. And just like in other countries, these arguments are often heated.
Anti-Zionism, in contrast, is a dog whistle for anti-Semitism. The movement purports to simply call for the elimination of the state of Israel. But more often than not, that sentiment is merely a wink to the elimination of those inside it, namely Israel’s 6.8 million Jews.