Anti-Zionism: When the majority rejects minority freedom

Many of these people genuinely view Zionism as the belief in Jewish superiority rather than what it truly is – the support for ethnic Jewish sovereignty anywhere in the region of historic Judea/Israel. While the rejection of the nationalist superiority version is understandable, as one would expect of any kind of ethnic or nationalist superiority, some portion presumably understand Zionism for its mere belief in sovereignty and safe haven.

As a way to frame this for anyone less versed but curious about the issue since seeing “Zionism/Zionist/ZioNazi” thrown around in particular buzzword vitriol as of late – the majority of Jews both in Israel and diaspora are secular and in fact have no desire whatsoever to impose their faith or culture on anyone. Yet, most of these people are still Zionist. This laissez-faire demeanor stands in opposition to our fellow Abrahamic faiths, which is perhaps what makes so divisive the notion of one tiny Jewish state amidst a plethora from the other two.

When people say their issue isn’t with Jews, just Zionism – at least for those who understand the true definition of Zionism (any Jewish yet not exclusively Jewish and overall secular democratic) homeland in historic Judea – what they’re really objecting to is any sovereignty on a land they view as theirs by those they have for centuries come to view as a weak, compliant minority.

This rejection has led to obsessive race-driven focus on Israel as an alleged “white Western U.S.-backed colony” thanks to some Jews having been exiled to Europe by the Roman Empire (while Jews were also considered foreigners there and even referred to as Palestinians by the philosopher Immanuel Kant), when it’s really just one of multiple that resulted from European occupation in the region. Not to mention, Jews have lived as a continuous minority in the region for over 2,000 years, and many non-Jews there didn’t arrive until the British brought in more Jews to work the land. In the following years, this hostility has pushed Israel’s government further to the right until reaching the mess we see today.

I have always supported a two-state solution, or even – though less likely – a binational single state. However, countless rejections of Jewish self-determination despite multiple land concessions continue to make this impossible. October 7 was just a taste of what the extremists (including entities older than Hamas, whom we know didn’t pop up from the Muslim Brotherhood until 1987 – in fact, the first modern pre-1948 attack against Jews in the region was the 1929 Hebron Massacre) whose violence is what led to both the blockade and checkpoints that people use to justify the attacks wish upon us. Perhaps more heartbreaking for many, we have the recent public statements by Hamas glorifying the “sacrifice” of Gazan civilians for the cause of Israel’s destruction.

While this rejection of minority independence might seem to uniquely affect Jewish self-determination at the moment, we see hints of other (also U.S.-supported) independence movements in places such as Kurdistan. The bottom line is when “stepping out of line” as a minority, always expect the resistance of the majority power. In the end, all you can do is avoid as much damage as possible in the struggle for a secure existence. For us, that aim is called Zionism. For another minority independence movement, it will be called something else.

Every time and for every people, this sort of movement will disgust and terrify the majority power as well as everyone who have been convinced via emotionally-charged, racial propaganda that the majority power is actually the victim.