(my apologies for the inconsistent line-spacing: this is a problem with WordPress for which I, like many others, do not have the solution.)
Introduction: In this piece I question the logic of Zionism as it relates to the depiction of anti-Semitism as it presented by the many Zionist supporters of Israel who have made their opinions known to me.
Anti-Semitism is the name attached to the pathological hatred of all things Jewish, with no exception.
However, according to one specific definition, anti-Semitism also and additionally equates with criticism of the state of Israel and its adherence to the political philosophy known as Zionism.
If this particular definition is accurate, then two propositions must be simultaneously true: a) that all supporters of Israel and Zionism must be Jews, and b) none of those who oppose Israel and Zionism can be Jews.
If these propositions are indeed true, it cannot then follow that c) those who support Israel are not all Jewish, and d) those who oppose Israel are not all non-Jewish.
However, all the empirical evidence demonstrates that statements a) and b) are false.
Therefore, this same evidence supports the idea of statements c) and d) being correct.
This being so, anti-Semitism cannot be equated with the anti-Zionist political philosophy which relates only to the state of Israel and Zionism, a philosophy associated with Jews who share their anti-Zionist views with non-Jews.
However, to believe that it is so equated requires the acceptance of two conjoined assumptions: e) Israeli Zionism as a political philosophy is accepted by every Jew, and therefore f) every Jew supports Israeli policy as it relates to Palestine.
As a matter of common observation, these assumptions are invalidated by the existence of so many Jews who, either as anti-Zionists advocate an anti-Zionist political philosophy, or as Zionists, for reasons of humanitarianism, express concerns about the rightness of Israel’s actions in Palestine.
The only way to make assumptions e) and f) acceptable is to make two further assumptions, that those Jews who reject Zionism g) have morally sacrificed the right to be called Jews, h) due to some spiritual failing or psychological illness, have chosen to reject their Jewish identity and deny their Jewish ancestry; or i) they may be anti-Semitic non-Jews posing as Jews.
In which case, those who make these assumptions must answer these questions:
If it is the case that anti-Zionist Jews oppose Zionism because they cannot accept their own Jewishness, j) why do so many of them make it known that they are Jewish, openly stating that it is because of their understanding of what this means, philosophically, historically, and scripturally, that they deny the validity of Zionism as representing truly Jewish ideals? and k) if there are anti-Zionist Jews who do not wish to be identified as Jews, why do so many of these these not simply deny that they are Jewish – why even mention the fact?
Also, following from the above, it is known that here are many anti-Semites and racist extremists who admire Israel, and have two reasons for doing so: l) they believe Israel with its ‘Right of Return’ policy is sympathetic to their own ideal of ensuring that all Jews depart from whichever other countries they currently reside in; and m) they admire the way Israel treats the Palestinians, accepting those behaviours as a model of how all racial ‘inferiors’ should be treated.
This begs two questions: n) what purpose does it serve anti-Semites, i.e. visceral haters of all things Jewish, to pretend to be anti-Zionist Jews, just to demean Israel, a state they respect precisely for its Zionism? and o) why have so many Jews, including Zionist Jews, elected not to live in Israel but to maintain Jewish communities in countries which according to the Israel government are so dangerous for Jews?
Conclusion: I end here, because I can go no further in my exploration of the logic of Zionism as it relates to anti-Semitism. While the questions I ask above are as logical and rational as far as I am able to make them so, I cannot answer them in any way which is either logical, rational or reasonable: and in my experience, neither can the Zionist zealots who will seek for any reason to justify what the government of Israel has been causing to happen in Palestine for over seventy years.
And since it is not my aim to deal in fantasy, I will end here.