Anti-Zionism IS Anti-Semitism
“I have nothing against Jews. Some of my best friends are Jewish. It is just Zionists that I have an issue with!”
How many times have we heard these excuses trotted out by many who try to justify their anti-Israel comments.
They often profess to have an affinity with Jews, extolling the virtues of Jewish culture and symbols. Mazel Tov! Gefilte fish! But there is an inherent failure to understand that for Jews, there can be no separation between their Jewish and Zionist identities. Zionism, simply put, is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. After enduring exile and persecution through the ages, Jews have finally returned home to Israel, their ancestral homeland.
In simple terms, Zionism is nothing more than the yearning of the Jewish people to return to their ancient homeland. The great civil rights leader, Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, was rumoured to have coined this definition of Zionism.
Rev. King also warned that “When people criticise Zionists they mean Jews, you are talking anti-Semitism,”. This was decades ago and we have since seen an explosion of anti-Zionism manifest itself in various forms and places around the world. From university campuses to the BDS movement and even institutionalized anti-Semitism in organisations like the UN, who have passed resolutions that deny Jewish ties to our ancient holy sites in Jerusalem.
Winds of Change
In an unprecedented turn of events, French President, Emmanuel Macron, declared that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Speaking at an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the round-up of France’s Jews during World War 2 he declared, “France will be uncompromising with anti-Zionism, because it is the reinvented form of anti-Semitism.”
President Emmanuel Macron restates France’s responsibility for WWII roundup of Jews (Video clip)
According to the US State Department, one of their definitions of anti-Semitism is “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, and denying Israel the right to exist.”
And there you have it. So why is it still okay for some to spew hatred against Zionists with impunity?
The new Anti-SemitismIsrael
What has happened is that while in some parts of the world, it is decidedly not ‘politically correct’ to attack Jews, they move on to the next best option – the embodiment of all Jewry – its nation state – ISRAEL.
‘Israel’ today, is the ‘Jew’ of yesterday as the acceptable object of anti-Semitism.
And so, Jews around the world in leadership positions are seen as the representatives of the “Zionist state” and are targets of this anti-Semitism. Some of the most venomous vitriol has surfaced on social media networks and incidents of violence have occurred because of some of the incitement that is spreading like wildfire. One only has to look at the Middle East as an example of how easy it is to fan the flames of hatred.
While world leaders and policy makers are waking up to the fact that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism – albeit refashioned in a new outfit – why hasn’t the street woken up?
3-D LENS
My belief is that latent hatred that has perhaps been dormant, has been given a new lease on life because it can hide behind a variety of disguises. Human rights icon, Natan Sharansky, has spoken about measuring anti-Semitism through his 3-D lens – (demonization, double standards, and de-legitimization).
We see one or more of these “D’s” surface in the behaviour and rhetoric of many, including the BDS movement who have declared, albeit in the most pc-way imaginable, that their endgame is for the State of Israel to cease to exist.
A dangerous new phenomenon, known as “Intersectionality” is playing a significant role in this strategy.
Google defines ‘Intersectionality’ as “the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.”
A real mouthful but a pretty dangerous one at that.
Today, when major issues arise like the Black Lives Matter movement or the Women’s March in January of this year, somehow anti-Zionist rhetoric seems to surface. Linda Sarsour, the poster-child for BDS, managed to drag Anne Frank, a beloved symbol of the hope and naivete of youth during the Holocaust, the darkest hour of Jewish history, into her hair brained scheme to highlight BDS at every conceivable moment.
Anti-Semitism, is the world’s oldest hatred.
Manifesting today in various forms as anti-Zionism, we should take heed that it does not turn into the deadliest – we have experienced this before – and our motto today:
Never Again!
