In Defense of Zionism

IN DEFENSE OF ZIONISM

Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people should have a sovereign nation of their own in their ancestral homeland.  It posits that as long as Jews have lived as minorities in other nations, they have been oppressed.  It notes that increasing assimilation in the Diaspora has led to the loss of Jewish identity. Zionism argues that only a Jewish state in the land of Israel will ensure that both the Jewish people and Judaism will survive.   

Today, we are hearing so many voices arguing that Jews have no right to their own nation, that Zionism itself is a racist and xenophobic idea and that Judaism can exist with no sovereign political state. These voices appeal to our modern liberal sensibilities. They claim that no religion should dominate political life. They appeal to our desire for justice by speaking of Israel’s domestic policies with words such as ‘apartheid’ and Israel’s security efforts with words such as ‘ethnic cleansing.’  They aim to use our very sense of moral clarity as a weapon against us. These voices appeal especially to young and naïve college-age students who have little context and knowledge to think otherwise. 

Importantly, aside from the United States, most nations around the world and certainly in the Middle East have religious identities.  Most nations around the world and certainly in the Middle East limit immigration in order to protect these identities. Most nations around the world and certainly in the Middle East limit the rights of minorities and oppress anyone who voices critique. 

Unlike these nations, Israel is a democracy – a place where the rights of minorities are protected and where the right to critique and challenge is cherished. Israel is a nation that seeks to have peace with its neighbors and desires a comprehensive solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.  Israel, like the United States, has its struggles and its problems.  But as the widespread protests of the last year demonstrate, there is a healthy and meaningful process taking place within Israel to address these problems.  

Importantly, Zionism is not monolithic.  Zionist thinkers have expressed different ideas about the ways in which Israel achieves security and deals with non-Jews, Arabs and minorities.  Martin Buber and Ahad Ha-Am provided us with important road-maps to consider in a peace process while continuing to embrace the ideals of Zionism. One can be a Zionist and care deeply about the right of self-determination for Palestinians. 

An attack on Zionism itself is an attack on the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.  It is an attack on our right to have a nation of our own in our ancestral homeland, a place where our people have been for thousands of years, a place that nourishes the Jewish soul and allows Judaism to have a public expression.  

A solution to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis only begins with a recognition of Israel’s right to exist.  It only begins with a recognition of Zionism as a legitimate expression of a people yearning to survive.  There is no solution to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis that denies Jews a right for their own state.  There is no solution to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis that rejects Zionism. 

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