"Neo-Zionist", as near as I can tell, means only one thing. It's an epithet, used when merely screaming "ZIONIST!" at someone isn't harsh enough for you.
(In this case, it seems, even that wasn't enough; so they had to say "neo-Zionist extremists". Could somebody point me to a neo-Zionist moderate, please?)
Just in case anybody's forgotten -- Zionism is the national movement of the Jewish people. Before the founding of the modern State of Israel, Zionism was the movement to establish the state; since then it's been the movement to keep the state alive and thriving.
Anti-Zionism is not the same as antisemitism. But it's pretty damn close... because if you're not willing to grant the right of Jews to their own national state, while accepting that same right for many other states and religions, then you're discriminating against Jews for being Jews.
(Criticism of the State of Israel is not anti-Zionism, by the way, nor is it necessarily antisemitism. Denial of Israel's right to exist, on the other hand, IS anti-Zionism... and if you don't also deny the rights of Muslims, Anglicans, Buddhists, and others to a nation with a state religion, then it's antisemitism too.)
As Emil Fackenheim wrote, many years ago:
"For Christians, the first priority may be theological self-understanding. For Jews it is, and after Auschwitz must be, simple safety for their children. In pursuit of this goal, Jews seek -- are morally required to seek -- independence of other people's charity. They therefore seek safety -- are morally required to seek it -- through the existence of a Jewish state. Except among the theologically or humanly perverse, Zionism -- the commitment to the safety and genuine sovereignty of the State of Israel -- is not negotiable."
It's a form of it. In fact, it's the acceptable form of anti-Semitism in our day. Each age has had a form in which one could express his Jew-hatred and be lauded for it.
"because if you're not willing to grant the right of Jews to their own national state, while accepting that same right for many other states and religions, then you're discriminating against Jews for being Jews."
A response to this I've seen often on the anti-Zionist sites is to deny the Jews their nationhood, and state that "Jew" is the name of a religion only. Thereafter, "We don't say there should be a Catholic State or a state for the Buddhists, so why should there be for the Jews?" Defining you and using their definition against you--despicable.
"Criticism of the State of Israel is not anti-Zionism"
Agreed. That's why I always check the basis for the critic's criticism of Israel. I've found that few and far between are those who really, well-meaningly, innocuously engage in nothing more than criticism of Israel's policies; the majority of those who say, "I'm just critical of Israel's policies", are revealed to be anti-Zionists after some investigation.
Another problem is those who say they're not anti-Zionists, sincerely so, but say they're "both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian". Those suffer from naivete: they don't realize the "Palestinian nation" is a fiction invented for the sole purpose of destroying the Jewish state (G-d forbid). The "pro both sides" people are well-meaning, but they don't realize, or can't accept, that being pro-"Palestinian" automatically makes one anti-Israel.
My 2 agorot's worth.
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"Neo-Zionist", as near as I can tell, means only one thing. It's an epithet, used when merely screaming "ZIONIST!" at someone isn't harsh enough for you.
(In this case, it seems, even that wasn't enough; so they had to say "neo-Zionist extremists". Could somebody point me to a neo-Zionist moderate, please?)
Just in case anybody's forgotten -- Zionism is the national movement of the Jewish people. Before the founding of the modern State of Israel, Zionism was the movement to establish the state; since then it's been the movement to keep the state alive and thriving.
Anti-Zionism is not the same as antisemitism. But it's pretty damn close... because if you're not willing to grant the right of Jews to their own national state, while accepting that same right for many other states and religions, then you're discriminating against Jews for being Jews.
(Criticism of the State of Israel is not anti-Zionism, by the way, nor is it necessarily antisemitism. Denial of Israel's right to exist, on the other hand, IS anti-Zionism... and if you don't also deny the rights of Muslims, Anglicans, Buddhists, and others to a nation with a state religion, then it's antisemitism too.)
As Emil Fackenheim wrote, many years ago:
"For Christians, the first priority may be theological self-understanding. For Jews it is, and after Auschwitz must be, simple safety for their children. In pursuit of this goal, Jews seek -- are morally required to seek -- independence of other people's charity. They therefore seek safety -- are morally required to seek it -- through the existence of a Jewish state. Except among the theologically or humanly perverse, Zionism -- the commitment to the safety and genuine sovereignty of the State of Israel -- is not negotiable."
respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline
I was wondering that same thing.
Daniel, just a few comments:
"Anti-Zionism is not the same as antisemitism."
It's a form of it. In fact, it's the acceptable form of anti-Semitism in our day. Each age has had a form in which one could express his Jew-hatred and be lauded for it.
"because if you're not willing to grant the right of Jews to their own national state, while accepting that same right for many other states and religions, then you're discriminating against Jews for being Jews."
A response to this I've seen often on the anti-Zionist sites is to deny the Jews their nationhood, and state that "Jew" is the name of a religion only. Thereafter, "We don't say there should be a Catholic State or a state for the Buddhists, so why should there be for the Jews?" Defining you and using their definition against you--despicable.
"Criticism of the State of Israel is not anti-Zionism"
Agreed. That's why I always check the basis for the critic's criticism of Israel. I've found that few and far between are those who really, well-meaningly, innocuously engage in nothing more than criticism of Israel's policies; the majority of those who say, "I'm just critical of Israel's policies", are revealed to be anti-Zionists after some investigation.
Another problem is those who say they're not anti-Zionists, sincerely so, but say they're "both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian". Those suffer from naivete: they don't realize the "Palestinian nation" is a fiction invented for the sole purpose of destroying the Jewish state (G-d forbid). The "pro both sides" people are well-meaning, but they don't realize, or can't accept, that being pro-"Palestinian" automatically makes one anti-Israel.
My 2 agorot's worth.