The following was adapted from remarks recently delivered on a Munk Debate podcast. The text originally appeared in the National Post.
There is a common misconception that anti-Zionism amounts to nothing more than very strong criticism of Israel, and I’d like to begin by dispelling that notion. People who don’t like the Netanyahu government, that includes me, are not anti-Zionist. That is part of the normal democratic debate. People who oppose Israel’s settlement policies or its policies, vis-a-vis Gaza or anywhere else, aren’t necessarily anti-Zionist. There are many patriotic Israelis who feel just the same way. Anti-Zionism is unique because its view is that the Zionist enterprise, that is to say, the state of Israel, is misconceived, it’s wrong, and at the end of the day, it isn’t simply Israeli policy that has to change, but it is Israel itself that has to go.
This is unique when you think about other countries around the world. Many of us are critics of China’s occupation of Tibet, or Russia’s occupation of parts of Ukraine. Some people are aware that Turkey is occupying northern Cypress, in violation of international law and putting down settlements there too. But none of those critiques extend to calls that are now increasingly pervasive around the world, not only for Russia, China, or Turkey to change their policies, but for the states themselves to disappear, to be eliminated. So even if you accepted the premise for one second that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, you have to come to grips with the eliminationist ideology that is at the heart of anti-Zionism.
Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism because it singles out the Jewish state for opprobrium.
Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. It’s anti-Semitism because it singles out the Jewish state for opprobrium, and with a prescription that anti-Zionists, with very few exceptions, apply to no other state. So, if you just happened to be opposed to the concept of the nation state altogether, nation states like Denmark or other nation states, then it’s plausible you can just simply be an anti-Zionist in the same way that you’re against all states founded on nationhood. But otherwise, it is singling out a Jewish state for treatment that isn’t applied anywhere else.
The second point that’s very important, is that anti-Zionism tends, very frequently, to traffic in images, tropes and libels that have a long history in an anti-Semitic tradition stretching back for thousands of years. For example, when you hear that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, which it of course manifestly is not, you are abusing that word and trafficking in a classic anti-Semitic trope, suggesting that the Jewish people have a particular kind of bloodlust. Or if you say that Israel or Israeli leaders have hypnotized the world to get them to do their bidding, that again, goes back to an old anti-Semitic trope.
And finally, anti-Semitism is anti-Zionism, because like all forms of Jew hatred in history, it has adapted itself almost like a virus to the cultural and political fashions of our day. Today, it is very difficult for people to be anti-Semites and to hate Jews for racial reasons, for the obvious reason that that kind of ideology fortunately went out of fashion with the destruction of the Third Reich. It’s unfashionable to hate Jews simply on a religious basis, but it has become fashionable to hate Jews using the excuse of their statehood, of their nationality, and of their willingness to defend their borders, as the latest pretext to single out Jewish people for opprobrium and for hatred that is applied to almost no other people in the world. That is why in a nutshell, anti-Zionism is indistinguishable from anti-Semitism, and it is the anti-Semitism of our day.
For more on the Munk Debates podcast visit Munkdebates.com/podcast
(9) Judy R., December 5, 2019 1:49 AM
Yes, Anti-Zionism =Anti-Semitism
1. The United Nations singles out Israel for so called human right violations(when China, Russia, Iran, etc do anything against human violations that they really do they don't called out on it)which Israel doesn't do. 2. The only home to the Jewish people haters start something, called BDS which is against Israel like the Nazis(may their name be erased) made boycotts against Jewish owned stores(same concept) 3. About Jews on the left, and some Ultra Orthodox sects, the Jews on the left are usually self hating ignorant Jews unfortunately, the Ultra Orthodox didn't recognize the state of Israel because of not being religious enough or the other real wacko want to wait for Moshiach and are with our enemies, my answer to them is a article I read in the Jewish Press newspaper a Rabbi wrote, these Ultra Orthodox people are going against G-d's wishes, because chose that the state of Israel should be established after the Holocaust, it is truly a miracle that in 1948, Israel became a country of Israel after 2000 years, when Moshiach comes will these people that don't recognise Israel now, will Moshiach let them into the promised land, if this is a test they failed it. 4. My mother(obm)told me the Goyim told her in Poland "Jew go to Palestine" now we have Israel and people that are imposters say they are "Palestinians" the real Palestinians are the Jews. These 4 points are to prove my point about this subject, also the other name of Jerusalem is Zion and Zion is mentioned in Jewish prayer books, when you say grace after meals, and Psalms , and I think in the Torah(how can be religious and anti-Zionist then you don't understand your prayers. I am a Jew, and pro Zionist, I am a Modern Orthodox women, that believes in Hesder Yeshivas, to learn in Yeshiva and go into the army, along time ago in the time of the bible people did whatever for a living and went into the army. In conclusion I hope there will be a cure for the disease of antiZionism and Antisemitism!
(8) Patrick, December 4, 2019 4:37 PM
Either/or
What about Ultra Orthodox Jews like Satmar who are opposed to the idea of Jewish State. I think most people would not consider them to be Anti-Semitic ?
Raymond, December 4, 2019 5:05 PM
The Case of Satmar
antisemites love to parade the Neturei Karta (an off-shoot of the Satmar Chassidim) around as if their opposition to the Jewish State of Israel somehow demonstrates the invalidity of the Jewish State of Israel. What such Jew-haters conveniently fail to mention is what a tiny fringe group that Neturei Karta is. I have heard that even mainstream Satmar Chassidim reject them. The suggestion that Neturei Karta represents Judaism, would be like saying that John Wilkes Booth represents America, notion that would be rejected even by America's Old South.
Now, it is true that the Satmar Chassidim do oppose the Modern Jewish State of Israel. However, while not quite as tiny and fringe as Neturei Karta, Satmar still nevertheless represent relatively few Jews. Furthermore, by definition, it is not even possible for Orthodox Jews to oppose the Jewish land of Israel, as evidenced by even a casual reading of our prayers and of our Torah itself.
Where Satmar differs from, say, Religious Zionists, is that Satmar rejects the nature of the Modern Jewish State of Israel for not being more religiously run. They believe that Israel should be a theocracy, not a secular democracy. Whether one agrees with them or not on this point, the fact remains that they do, in fact, very strongly believe that the land of Israel belongs to nobody but us Jews.
There are also those who believe that we Jews have to wait until the Real Messiah comes before we can take back control of Israel, but such an idea has been based on the idea that we Jews made such a deal with the non-Jewish world. However, that implicit deal was based on the supposition that the non-Jewish world would let us Jews live in relative peace while we were exiled from our Jewish land. Since the non-Jewish world failed to live up their end of the deal, we Jews have the right to re-take control over our own land, even before the arrival of the True Messiah.
(7) Al Telana, December 2, 2019 7:12 PM
What is anti Semitism
Criticizing the Jewish state is not anti-Semitism but criticizing the Jewish state while giving a pass to the Fatah Authority/hamASS for incitement to kill & terror rockets and ignoring Arab despots who commit all sorts of human rights violations is anti-Semitism.
(6) Ephraim Ponce, December 2, 2019 5:32 AM
Almost like a virus?
Anti-Zionism and antisemitism IS a virus. A social, philosophical disease that defies cures. Racial antisemitism is not dead, all the neo-Nazis believe in it, but it is dwarfed by the left-wing Nazism which has seized control of a major party in the US and a major party in the UK.
bruh, December 2, 2019 1:47 PM
Did you just say that?
did you really just say “left wing nazi”? can you please think about that statement.
Dvirah, December 3, 2019 8:52 AM
Moving Right Along
NaZi stands for National Socialists in German so in fact they did represent (or pretend to represent) one branch of the "Left" - radicals - of their day. Today we associate Nazis with the "Right" - conservatives - because they have become an "old established" position.
Raymond, December 3, 2019 2:49 PM
Left-Wing nazis
Contrary to popular belief, the nazis really were on the Political Left. They were the German socialists of their time. Some people have made the misleading claim that the nazis were on the Political Right in the sense that they were nationalists, but even that was not true. The nazis were the very opposite of nationalists, as they sought to forcefully conquer the entire world.
jennifer, December 4, 2019 10:46 PM
nazis were absolutely nationalists
the Nazi plan was to take over most of the Europe and get rid of all Non-Aryan peoples--Slavs, Romani, etc. They did not want to go to Russia and rule it and make nice with the Russians. They wanted to take over Russia and either kill or enslave the Slavs. How is that not nationalism taken to an extreme?
Raymond, December 5, 2019 5:59 AM
Nationalism vs Internationalism
Had hitler confined himself to restoring the German people's pride in Germany, it would indeed be correct to call him a nationalist. However, he was not satisfied with that. The moment he invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland, he became an internationalist, joining the ranks of Alexander the Great, the Mongolians, the moslems, Napoleon, and Joseph Stalin.
If you wish to find examples of pure nationalism, two stellar ones are actually America and Israel, as neither has any ambitions to take over anybody else's land. All they wish is for Americans to love America, and for Jews to love Israel. Thus nationalism is really patriotism, and is a positive force, while internationalism is a negative force, since it uses the government to force their collective will on people of other lands.
(5) Frank Jaffe, December 1, 2019 6:15 PM
Question
So what about satmar???
(4) Joel Elveson, December 1, 2019 6:15 PM
Just My Opinion.
I am an Orthodox Jew living in America. Yes, I am pro-Netanyahu. Israel must annex those lands that people view so negatively but the fact of the matter is these lands were given to Jewish people going way back in time. Ant--Zionism is as you say anti-semitism. BDS claims to not be anti-Semitic but upon close examination, you can see they are clearly anti-Jewish. Those three freshmen Congresswomen are blatantly anti-Semitic. Attacks on Jews are on the rise all over the world. Whatever Israel does will be seen as wrong. The Jewish state must constantly defend itself in the media, in terms of its security as well as its rights. No other nation must endure this. The reason Israel is attacked so regularly and so viciously is precisely that it is the Jewish State. Prime Minister Netanyahu astutely pointed this out.
(3) Anonymous, December 1, 2019 4:01 PM
So Neturei Karta are Anti-Semites?
This morning I heard Rabbi Hirsh (not sure I got the name right) who spoke, as the radio commentator noted, with more anti-Israel venom than the Hamas, when he very recently visited the Mukata'a in Ramallah. (The left-wing Israelis who were there angrily booed the Neturei Karta Rabbi. )
Raymond, December 1, 2019 4:17 PM
Self-Hating Jews
Jews who oppose our Jewish State of Israel in one way or another are self-hating Jews, whether that opposition comes from the Intolerant Leftists (such as Bernie Sanders) or from the Extreme Far Right (Neturei Karta).
Anonymous, December 4, 2019 2:00 PM
To anonymous re: Neturei Karta
I listened to this after reading your post and I am grateful you posted about it. The reason is because I have read their material before and believed their interpretation of Torah was just different, no harm. I never heard anything like this in my life. This is very extreme and dangerous. You know, when they show a picture of them protesting, it is the same handful. I think they are very few in number.
(2) Raymond, December 1, 2019 3:57 PM
The Biblical Heartland of Israel
If I made the claim that I had nothing against Person X, it is just that I want his home to be destroyed and want him removed from it, any sane person would realize that I despise Person X. On a larger scale, what I just described is exactly the same thing when it comes to us Jews in relation to our tiny Jewish State of Israel. Those who claim to have nothing against us Jews, but merely oppose the existence of our Jewish State, is basically lying, and thinks that we are not aware enough to realize that.
Now, where I differ fom what Bret Stephens said above, is on the issue of the so-called settlements. Both from a religious as well as from a legal perspective, we Jews have just as much right to the Biblical heartland of Israel (Judea and Sumeria, also known as the West Bank) as we do to the rest of Israel. Those who oppose that being part of Israel, are also denying us Jews our own Jewish land, and are thus expressing antisemitism. I will even go as far as to say that opposing Benjamin Netanyahu can also be considered a form of antisemitism, if that opposition is based on his implicit support for the Jewish settlements being discussed here.
(1) Natan, December 1, 2019 2:02 PM
Yes and no
Yes, as usual, G-d is reminding us through our enemies what the basic facts are: The enemy doesn't separate Jew and Israel - neither should we.
On the other hand, old-school Jew hatred is quite alive and flourishing.
Regarding: "It’s unfashionable to hate Jews simply on a religious basis..."
It is quite fashionable for many Europeans to hate Jews just because they are Jews and they make no attempt to hide it. They are not even muslims in many cases.
In non-academic circles of the United States, the Jew hatred encountered is not even predicated on the pretense of being connected to Israel.
Many of the attacks against Jews in parts of New York have absolutely nothing to do with Israel.
Rachel, December 1, 2019 7:06 PM
Old fashioned anti-Semitism in US
The Pittsburgh and Poway murderers were clearly anti-Semites, without getting into the politics of Israel. I think Bret was talking about what passes for legitimate criticism, not mere uneducated hatred.