Zionism emerged in Europe in the nineteenth century as a response to widespread antisemitism and persecution of Jews. The goal of the movement was to secure the Jewish homeland. This led to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, following the National Socialist attempt to exterminate the Jews in Europe. But Israel existed long before then. Jewish presence in the land that the Romans later called “Palestina” goes back more than 3,000 years. Zionism is, at its core, the fight for Israel as a Jewish state. The Arabs and Muslims have dozens of states. Jews have only one—and theirs is the oldest. It is also the best in the region.
Anti-Zionism is plainly an expression of antisemitism. It seeks not only to deny Jews their homeland but to deny Jewish existence as a people. This is the mission of Hamas and other Islamic terrorist organizations, many of which are funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The threat is not just to Jews. The threat is to Western civilization, which is grounded in Jewish law and sensibilities. Christians, whose origins lie in the Jewish faith, whose ethical system is based on that ancient religion, must be involved in the struggle against Israel and the West. Jews and Christians must be a united front against Islamism and the reactionary politics on the left and the right. Those Christians who turn their backs on Israel turn their back on their own culture and religion.
When people tell you that they are not antisemitic but anti-Zionist, they may be speaking from ignorance. However, what guides them to this denial is an ancient antipathy towards the Jews. This antipathy is amplified by the convergence of far-right ideology and Islamophilia on the left. Islamophilia is itself an expression of antisemitism. Third Worldism at the United Nations has infected that body with this ancient hatred. The threat Jews face has been continual for millennia, and today it is reaching yet another fever pitch.
Is it ever okay to criticize the Israeli government? Of course. All governments are subject to legitimate criticism. But opposition to Israeli efforts to secure their nation and to defend it against external and internal threats is never a valid criticism unless one regards antisemitism as a moral position. Opposition to the collective self-defense by the Jewish state is therefore straightforwardly antisemitic.
freedom and reason 