When I was growing up, I was always taught that Zionism is the belief that Jews should have a homeland and a place to be safe in the world. For thousands of years, Jews have been run out of almost every country they have set foot in. They have faced killings, discrimination, assimilation, genocide, and virtually every crime in the world.
Arguably, Jews still aren't safe now. There has been a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in the Western world, most notably the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. The idea of Israel isn't to be an oppressive and discriminatory regime. The idea of Israel is to give Jews a true safe haven in an otherwise antisemitic world. Arguably, the current actions of Israel do not align with the theoretical aims of Zionism, and so the ideology should be separated from the actions of the country.
That's why, though I harshly criticize Israel, its government, and the US' military support to the country, I still remain a staunch Zionist in the way I view the ideology. I believe Jews deserve a place of safety in our world.
For that reason, if someone's political goal is the destruction of Israel, I find it to be inherently antisemitic; because they support the destruction of the Jewish homeland. I support measures to be "tough" on Israel, to be firm in peace negotiations, to throw AIPAC in the trash; but getting rid of Israel is something I will never get behind.
Another thing - There are Jews in the US that are anti-Zionist. There aren't many, but they're around in some lefty circles. According to a poll conducted last year, just 3% of American Jews said they were not pro-Israel (in the sense that it should exist). This is at the same time that 3/4 of Jews said they were voting Dem in the midterms and most disapproved of Israel's government.
If you are weaponizing the views of 3% of Jews to push your agenda against all the other American Jews, you are in itself committing an antisemitic action. Imagine claiming that Black Republican women (of which polling shows is about 3% of the population) were used to be representative of what the Black community thinks. That would be crazy!
One other thing bothers me: The claim that Israel was founded as a colonial state. Inherent to these claims is the idea that those that founded Israel were themselves colonizers looking to plunder and settle new land.
However, we know that there are millions of Jews from the Middle East living in Israel that have been living there for generations and generations. They didn't come "settle" the land, they were already living there.
And although many Jews moved to Israel, they didn't do so out of choice. Inherent to the "colonial" claim is the idea that the colonizers can return to where they came from. But where would that be? The houses that were razed by the Nazis? The businesses that were bombarded? The former neighbors that may have tried to kill them? The Jews in Israel have nowhere to "return to." They were a stateless people, and the idea that they can just leave to establish a single Palestinian state is in itself an idea of ethnic cleansing. And, to be honest, I don't think the solution to modern ethnic cleansing is more ethnic cleansing.
That doesn't mean that Israel isn't taking colonial actions at all. The settlements being built currently are illegal according to international law and Israel should be held accountable for these actions. You can criticize the actions of Israel's government without calling for the country to cease to exist. You can choose to support the stoppage of military funds to Israel without thinking that Hamas has a right to kill every Jew living on the land.
If you want to talk about anything related to this, feel free to send a DM. I'd love to talk about. I'm just sick and tired of seeing non-Jews lecture me about what qualifies and doesn't qualify as antisemitism.
And, if you put a Facebook frame for "fighting antisemitism" on your profile picture following the shooting, but still think Israel shouldn't exist, maybe you should do some serious introspection and read about what antisemitism really is.
Finally, Louis Farakkhan is a really bad guy. He believes Jews should all die, called Jews vampires, justified the Holocaust, lionized Hitler, and blamed racism on... you guessed it... the Jews! His admirers have no place on the left in this country. Linda Sarsour is a fan of his, and not nearly enough people have done enough to call that out. Can you imagine if someone went to a David Duke speech and clapped at the things he said? That person would be justly put to shame. But when Sarsour claps for a guy that says Jews should be wiped from the face of the Earth, all of a sudden we are gonna turn a blind eye? No way.
*note: originally posted on my FB wall, but figured it would be worth posting here because it’s important to me and long enough.