Antizionism Equals Antisemitism: A Proof
For those of you who tell me, a Jew, that antizionism ≠ antisemitism, I will demonstrate why they are equivalent. I will also explain why my opinion equating the two is determinative, as the person on the receiving end of hate.
AZ = AS because
Jews are Israelis
I do not literally mean that all Jews are Israelis, and certainly the converse is not true, as approximately one-fifth of the Israeli population is of Arab descent. Rather, Jews from the major diasporic groups, Ashkenazim originating from Europe, Sephardim from the Iberian Peninsula, and Mizrahi Jews from the Middle East, demonstrate a level of genetic relatedness roughly equivalent to that of fourth cousins. Although the genetic profile of each of these three Jewish groups reveals procreation with nearby non-Jews, each Jewish group shares many genetic features with one another, suggesting common roots extending back more than two thousand years. In fact, studies reveal that Jews from all groups show more similarities with one another than they do with local non-Jewish populations. Jews and Israelis consider ourselves one people because we are, genetically, and have learned this from histories passed down within our families as well as state-of-art genetic analysis.
Jews could have been Israelis The vast majority of American Jews are immigrants, and indeed many Jews arrived in the U.S. as refugees from Eastern European pogroms or Nazi persecution during World War II (though Israeli Jews are mostly from Asia and North Africa). Most American Jews understand that our forebears could have just as easily ended up in Israel, as opposed to the United States. It all depended on luck and happenstance as to whether these ancestors escaped persecution at all, much less where they arrived. Had we American Jews ended up in Israel, we would be the target of your hate.
Jews may yet be Israelis
Jews worldwide, whether they contemplate it consciously or not, view Israel as a haven to which we can escape if our societies turn against us. Following the October 7, 2023, attack, interest in aliyah (immigration to Israel) surged significantly. Applications from Western countries saw sharp increases—up to 300% from France and 100% from the U.S. in early 2024—driven by rising global antisemitism.
Even American Jews like me growing up in the halcyon days of the 1970s and 1980s understood, from our grandparents who had survived persecution and very narrowly escaped death, that U.S Jews could yet face the same dangers endured by the Jews during the Inquisition, the pogroms, and Nazi Europe. That is the reason American Jews have for generations supported the IDF一not because we are an inherently warlike people, but because we quite reasonably feel the need for a sanctuary.
The world believes Jews are Israelis
The rest of the world believes Jews are Israelis. Why else would a Hezbollah-inspired attacker commit an act of terrorism against a Bloomfield, Michigan synagogue and preschool? Why were a synagogue, a Jewish school, and several homes in Queens, New York vandalized with antisemitic graffiti just recently? Why did an aggressor sidle up to my friend’s husband, a convert to Judaism, as it happens, who merely carried a novelty tote bag marked with “schlep” in English and Hebrew (Yiddish) lettering, and declare “Palestine will be free.”
Members of Park Slope Food Coop, which recently passed a BDS motion, cannot distinguish between antizionism and antisemitism. When one member used the term “Jewish supremacism,” the coop tried to walk it back, urging members to “avoid confusion and be inclusive” by using the term “Zionism” instead.
“Jews are not a monolith” doesn’t excuse discrimination
Many will likely assert in response that not all Jews believe AZ = AS. That is indeed true. Nonetheless, a belief or practice need not be universal among all Jews to be fundamentally Jewish. Not all Jews believe any one thing or follow any one practice. For example, some Jews wear a kippah or observe the laws of kashrut (kosher law). These laws are no less Jewish simply because they are not observed by all members of the community.
If some people of African descent feel implicated when the U.S. president maligns Haiti and other people of the African diaspora do not, consider whether this difference makes the president’s words any less hateful.
The political is personal
In reply to those who would argue that criticism of Israel is merely political rather than a hate movement, I would contend that our current antizionist movement long ago departed from legitimate critique and embraced hatemongering. Moreover, every question is political. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has severely weakened the Voting Rights Act, some supporters of this decision might argue it is merely “political.” Nonetheless, many of us opposed to the Court’s decision would rightly see it as an act of discrimination.
Moreover, discrimination and hate ought to be considered from the perspective of their target. For every other minority group, their own viewpoint as to whether they are facing a hate movement settles the matter. Society does not accept the perpetrators’ contention that the target is mistaken in their perception of the hate.
Good v. bad Jews
Finally, as to the contention that antizionists don’t hate all Jews, just the “bad” Zionist Jews, consider how we react to a person who does not express hatred for an entire minority group, just the “bad” ones, as adjudged by their own personal litmus test. As a Jew, I am appraised each time the topic of Israel comes up. If I do anything less than revile the nation where 8 million of my people live, I am a “bad Jew” deserving of hatred, even if I seek a peaceful solution that recognizes the rights of all people of the region.
Examine your hate dispassionately. Consider whether it is normal to vilify an entire national population of 10 million individual human beings, which includes many Arab professionals. Is there any other country where you consider the population an evil monolith?
Jews must contemplate the possibility of a physical attack every time they are in a Jewish space or wear an insignia that identifies them as Jewish. Do not deny what those who experience Jew hatred daily know to be true: Antizionism is most decidedly antisemitism.
