Yes, Anti-Zionism Is the Same as Anti-Semitism

(The Federalist) David Harsanyi - In a recent New York Times op-ed titled "Anti-Zionism isn't the same as Anti-Semitism," columnist Michelle Goldberg defended Ilhan Omar, a newly elected House representative who has claimed that Jews have hypnotized the world for their evil works. Anti-Zionism is the most significant and consequential form of anti-Semitism that exists in the world today. Anti-Zionism has done more to undermine Jewish safety than all the ugly tweets, dog whistles, and white nationalist marches combined. It is the predominant justification for violence, murder, and hatred against Jews in Europe and the Middle East. And it's now infiltrating American politics. Merely being critical of the Israeli government isn't anti-Semitic. No serious person has ever argued otherwise. Israelis criticize their government every day. However, opposing "Zionism" itself - the movement for a Jewish homeland - is to deny the validity of a Jewish claim to a nation altogether. It puts you in league with Hamas and Hizbullah and the mullahs of Iran. To argue against Jews' nationalism - to argue against the ability of Jews to defend themselves in their own state - is substantively anti-Jewish. It's true that Israel is an "ethno-nationalist" state - like every nation in Europe and the Middle East - and primarily concerned with protecting Jews. This is an especially important job because the rest of the world has repeatedly and dramatically failed at the task.


2019-01-10 00:00:00

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