Ewwww imagine being a zionist in 2026
Lmaooooooo. Check out the antisemite calling the Jew who has talked at length about their opposition to zionism a zionist. Great example of how most non-Jewish “antizionists” just mean “Jew who won’t be my mouthpiece and token to deflect accusations of antisemitism”. Anyways, I’m out here actually trying to work to convince Jews who’ve run out of hope that there’s a better way than nationalism. Ur harassing random Jews, seemingly trying to encourage my community’s suspicion of outsiders after ~2000 years of persecution. Doesn’t exactly scream, “I want to fight Jewish separatism” to me.
But, I also kinda suspect that nationalism isn’t your problem. You just dislike it when it’s Jewish. The integration of nationhood into state power (i.e. the core principle of nationalism) fundamentally draws a line in the sand on who’s worthy of protection and who is not. That’s also the fundamental element of fascism. Having a set of people you can exploit for the benefit of those considered part of the nation. Some variations on nationalism are less prone to fascism than others, but ultimately predicating state protection on national membership will always breed fascism. I can’t say for sure, but I’d hazard a guess that your issue w zionism (aside from it being the Scary Jew Word TM) is that it’s Jewish nationalism and you have no problem with, say, French, Polish, Irish, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Syrian, Turkish, whoever else. Cause that’s what nationalism is. Support of the existence of nation-states. I highly doubt you take issue with the fact that all these ethnic groups each have a state which protect them because the state’s associated national identity is structured heavily around their ethnic group. And, well, since you called me a zionist and not a nationalist, seems you only have a problem when Jews are involved. Frankly, I think no one should have that, because we only get out of this mess if we stop drawing these fucking lines and come to the decision that we have a duty of care towards everyone, without exception. The master’s tools will not dismantle the master’s house. But, as Israel has shown, they’re certainly capable of building a new one with a new master and the same rotten foundation.
I have no problem condemning the genocide and apartheid committed by Israel. But I sense that you have an obsession with the Jewish case seeing as, I feel quite certain, you don’t go into the inboxes of every Canadian or American who isn’t sufficiently self-flagellating over their nation-states who’ve committed genocide. And I don’t even live in Israel lmao, so I got WAY less skin in the game than they do. And you certainly don’t go haranguing every nationalist you find or you’d never have time to do anything but. Which, of course, leads to only one reasonable conclusion. You just hate Jews lol.
So to sum it up. I’m not a zionist. I think Netanyahu should be tried at the Hague. I make active efforts to convince zionists in my community to turn away from nationalism and its false promises of liberation. You’re just a tool who thinks harassing Jews who don’t fall in line with your beliefs makes a positive difference in the world. Eat shit my guy ❤️
EDIT: In all fairness (what little is due) it wasn’t technically a random Jew they harassed. I looked at my follow list after writing this and saw he was at the top, meaning I’d accidentally followed him recently. Doesn’t really change much though lol.
Reblogging this from myself bc I think it’s important for my goyische followers to understand what’s happening here and how this works. You will often hear non-Jews going on about how “Zionism and Judaism aren’t the same thing,” and this is true. Like I said, I’ve loudly and often voiced my qualms with both the actuality of the zionist movement, and with the more abstract political theory of it. But when non-Jews say this, they are normally doing so with the intention of obfuscating the fact that they DO mean Jews, even if they don’t consciously realize this.
Take this tumblr user for example. I highly doubt he thinks he hates Jews. In fact, I’m reasonably certain he doesn’t think about us all that much. In his head he just hates the filthy zionists. But, clearly, when faced with a non-zionist Jew advocating against antisemitism, I’m close enough for him. Zionist gives people like him a word to claim it is not our Jewishness that, but, conveniently, all these Jews just happen to be (((zionists))). What’s actually happening is the reverse of what these people say. Their issue is with Jews, especially Jews who are willing to stand up and call out antisemitism. Zionist is the label that gets slapped on AFTER they’ve stepped out of line as a means of discrediting what they have to say.
If you’re not convinced, let’s break down the practicalities of the situation. Some Jews are zionists is a true statement. Zionism, as a nationalist philosophy of a persecuted ethnic group, exists in a response to generations of trauma. Much of this trauma results from being unable to flee persecution as an unwelcome minority group perpetually seen as an interloper. Our most recent major collective trauma (at the time of the founding of Israel) was the holocaust. People teach the holocaust as if it was a moral lapse. That a bunch of otherwise good people lost their minds and committed horrific acts against other human beings. That is a lie. Like racism, Jew hate is built into the fundamental ideological underpinnings of the vast majority of the world. Those places in which it is not homegrown almost always have acquired it anyways due to cultural imperialism and colonialism. Ultimately, Jews were not seen as a part of society for which support and protection were owed, and this attitude was consistent throughout Europe for well over a millennium by that point. The Nazis simply took advantage of that pre-existing hatred and apathy to mobilize people against us.
That brings us to another flaw in how the Holocaust is taught. It wasn’t just the Germans. When the nazis started rounding up Jews, other nations PAID the nazis to come and take us from them. When the nazis conquered places like Poland, they gave our neighbors permission to beat us, rape us, kill us, and steal our homes and belongings. And they did. With relish. And, when it became apparent something unprecedentedly horrific was going to happen to the Jews of Europe, the Evian conference took place. 32 nation-states sent representatives. Only one agreed to take any Jews. Everyone was perfectly fine to condemn the actions of the Nazis when it was just words. But to actually suffer Jews to live amongst them? Never.
So, after the murder of 6 million of our people, not just by a single nation-state, but by the bloodlust of our fellow countrymen across Europe, and the apathy of the entire world, the prevailing sentiment amongst Jews became that we would only ever be safe if we had somewhere to flee. And the only way we could ensure that would be to have our own nation-state for which we controlled immigration and could ensure we would accept any and all Jewish refugees.
So, to my non-Jewish readers, with that understanding of what zionism is, I ask you this question: What practical things could you do to dissuade Jews from thinking that nationalism represents the only means by which they can assure their safety? Do you think discussing zionism, a white nationalist dogwhistle for decades, as some nefarious evil is going to reach the Jews already skeptical of you? Do you think harassing them or using an ideology they believe to be the only thing keeping them safe is going to make them trust that they don’t need it? Or, will perhaps calling them zios, a slur popularized by the former head of the KKK, will convince them to trust their safety in the diaspora? What if you isolate them from all their community spaces because they’re zionists and, thus, undeserving of support? I think you know what the end result is.
Now, I want to clarify a few things. PLEASE keep advocating for the Palestinian cause. Fight for the US and other nations to stop funding Israel’s military. But understand that you, as a non-Jewish, non-Israeli, aren’t actually fighting zionism when you do this. The nation-states which use Israel as an imperial outpost have no stake in Jewish nationalism. They don’t give two shits about what Israel does internally or how it treats Palestinians, within its borders or outside. It serves no purpose. What Israel, does provide for them is an important strategic military outpost and an allied nation-state which can apply soft and hard pressure on its neighbors in the region. As long as it does that, they truly don’t give a shit. And Israel is not unique in this role. Think of all the democratically elected governments overthrown by the US with the purpose of installing a politically convenient despot. What the US and other nations do with Israel isn’t zionism. It’s just plain old imperialism. The only practical effect of using zionism instead is to scare people into agreement by your use of the Scary Jew Word, as well as to imply that this imperialist action is WORSE because it’s Jewish. And, given its longstanding use as a dogwhistle, all you really gain in the process of using it is to prime more people into falling for antisemitic conspiracies.
Now there is one more thing you may be asking. “But what about the evangelical/christian zionism I see?” Simple answer. It’s not actually zionism. As I discussed, zionism is a Jewish nationalist philosophy. Christian zionism isn’t that. It simply stole the word. Christian zionism is a doomsday cult which thinks the end of the world will only happen when all the Jews move to Israel and, so, they want to send us all there. It has nothing to do with Jewish zionism and isn’t remotely the same thing. However, hard right elements like to collude with each other, so u’ll see some people like Netanyahu or Ben Shapiro buddy up to them for practical purposes.
The point of this is, if you want to fight for the Palestinian cause from abroad, pressure your governments and the people in power. Those individuals are almost never Jews, and it’s never diaspora Jewish organizations. This is because Jews are ~.25% of the total world’s population and nearly half live in Israel, and most of the other half live in the US at 2% of the US population. Despite what people tell you, we utterly lack systemic power EVERYWHERE but Israel. So, understand as you do this advocacy you’re not actually fighting against Jewish nationalism, you’re fighting against regular old imperialism. If you’re actually, interested in working against nationalist ideology in the Jewish community the best thing you can do is make the diaspora a safe place to live. Educate yourself on antisemitism and Jewish history. Show up for the Jewish community when we need support. And, above all, keep your mouth shut. You’re not going to have the credibility to make change in this arena. That’s for people like myself to do. The best thing you can do is to show your support and help convince Jews with your actions that there is a place for them in the broader communities they live in. If you’re really antizionist, that’s the best thing you can do.
Also, Zionism sprang up and was embraced in the context of a world that was already being taking over by nationalism. The nationalism of European countries who committed or aided and abetted the Holocaust. The nationalism of the US and other countries who would not let Jewish refugees in. And, later, the nationalism of Middle Eastern countries who expelled them.
Because, nationalism in most of its 20th-century iterations (especially in Europe and the Middle East), meant defining nationality such that Jews were not included. In Germany this looked like Nazism; defining Jews out of Jewish nationality. In Poland this looked like defining Jews out of Polish nationality. In Syria this looked like defining Jews out of Syrian nationality.
So essentially, Jews looked at this and said "well, if we can't beat 'em, join 'em. If everyone has a nationalism and their nationalisms don't include us, we need our own."
And now, from so many people, the demand is "no, you don't -- and maybe no one else does either, but we're starting with you, because you're the most evil."
Maybe for once start somewhere else. Work on continuing to dismantle the nationalisms that ripped almost the entirety of world Jewry out at the roots during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Listen to the stories of those displaced Jews -- many are still alive today! This isn't ancient history! And stop using that very displacement as evidence of our "crimes." Also, maybe reflect on why you're so driven to focus on the Jewish iteration and why you think we're the most evil.
Zionism will exist as long as the conditions of the world make Jews unsafe without it. The demand is, in essence, "make yourselves unsafe if you want to be seen as human." Maybe first see us as human, and keep us safe.
I also glossed over this, expecting people to use wikipedia. But I generally think a lot of people just straight up don’t understand the difference between states, nations, and nation-states, with most thinking the first is the same as the latter two. So I’m linking their wikipedia pages. The point isn’t about opposition to Israel. The point is that zionism isn’t the heart of that issue. Zionism is simply a form of nationalism that has all the same flaws and benefits as any other type. For all those who try and claim it’s an ethnostate because the national identity is based on an ethnicity, you should be thinking long and hard why the term for [citizen of nation-state] is almost always the same term for [member of dominant ethnicity of nation-state]. That’s not a denial of Israel’s racism, but to point out that its flaws are inherent to the global system.
This is not a request for people to stay their criticism of Israel or its actions. It is asking people to understand that labeling your critique of what is, ultimately, extremely ordinary imperialism or nationalism as critique of zionism, rather than either of the two other terms adds nothing to your critique except stress the Jewish character of the particular situation and shift the focus, intentionally or not, onto the Jewish nature of Israel, rather than its actions or those of its allies. If your critique is about the actions of Israel, say what its actions are. If your critique is of the external military support of Israel by Europe and America, say imperialism. If your critique is of the driving ideology, say fascism or racism. If your critique is of the nationalist philosophy which enabled the rise of the former, say nationalism. If your critique is of specific elements which have made Jewish nationalism act differently than other forms of nationalist thought, only then is your critique actually of zionism and not a broader category. And if you think Jewish nationalism is fundamentally different than any other form, you’re just an antisemite.
If you’re using the word zionism in cases other than what I laid out, it really sounds like ur issue is just Jews and Scary Jew Word because there are other terms which encompass those same problems and AREN’T nazi dogwhistles. And, bc of how dogwhistles work, your normalization of the usage is what provides cover for nazis who’ve been using that word far longer than you have. There’s a wide genre of post which goes, “Why do I keep finding nazis, I hate zionists not jews?” And the reason is that talking about zionism the way that is presently popular to do came out of nazi spaces and no one listened to us Jews when we told you. If you wanna avoid that, this is how. So. Yk. Talk like the company you actually wanna keep.
No shade prev, but this is something I wanna push back on a little bc it’s a really common fallacy. Israel’s actions don’t really cause antisemitism, it just provides an excuse for antisemites to be more open. We saw a huge rise in Islamaphobia after 9/11, but it’s not accurate nor fair to say that bin ladin was responsible for the resulting rise. Racist people rushed to collectively blame Muslims and Arabs and voice their pre-existing semi-conscious bigotry now that there was a socially acceptable excuse. It’s the same deal here. Claiming it’s Israel’s fault serves to deflect from the responsibility of individuals to not be prejudiced or rush to collectively holding ethnic groups responsible for the actions of a few. It also serves to obscure how, like racism, antisemitism is a foundational aspect of our society that underpins much of our philosophy and outlooks on the world. The problem is that Jew hate is foundational to most of the world’s societies, and has been exported via cultural imperialism to everywhere it isn’t. Everyone needs to take active steps to address anti-Jewish bias just as people need to take active steps to address racial bias. The vast majority of people don’t, and so when some Jews do bad things, it confirms their unconscious worldview and they jump to blame us collectively and act in manner consistent with their unconscious beliefs. Israel is an excuse, not a cause.
