For decades, Joe Biden has proudly declared that he is a Zionist, and he has repeated that claim since Hamas’s 7 October attacks on Israel. But for the student anti-war protests gripping the US, the words “Zionist” and “Zionism” have become a watchword – pejorative and emblematic of the violent state policies driving the war on Gaza.
On social media and in the streets, critics no longer call out supporters of the state of Israel as “pro-Israel”: they call them Zionist. Some university encampments have posted signs saying: “Zionists not allowed.”
Student protesters say that their criticisms of Zionism are rooted in the state of Israel’s displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Pro-Israel activists have responded by defending the term. “If the last six months on campus have taught us anything, it is that a large and vocal population of the Columbia community does not understand the meaning of Zionism,” a group of more than 500 Columbia University students recently wrote. “We are proud to be Zionists.”
Zionism means different things to different generations. To younger people, it’s about expansionist Israel trying to take over the West Bank and Gaza. They take Israel being a regional power for granted. For older generations, it means Israel facing existential threats from other regional powers. But Israel hasn’t faced an existential threat for decades. As bad as Hamas and Hezbollah are, they’re fighting asymmetric warfare and not actually going to wipe Israel off the map.
There are, obviously, a few people who want decolonization but that just isn’t happening. It’s like demanding every white and black and Hispanic person in America go back to their homeland. Half the people have grandparents from different countries.
And on the other side, Israel has to dismantle settlements in the West Bank. Or, what they deserve, is to be minorities in a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. No one will have that but me, though, so dismantling the settlements is the only realistic option.
To brainwashed people it means creating an ethnostate because of some imaginary threat that requires severe mental gymnastics to make sense of because somehow Egypt and Jordan can exist but Palestinians and Lebanese cannot.
To non brainwashed people israel is the Nazis committing Holocaust to expand their Lebensraum. Nothing more nothing less.
For more information https://streamable.com/b7yvo0
Says the guy that’s was banned for being an antisemite.
I’m not banned.
Dude… check the mod logs and stop lying.
Did you know banned users cannot post?
The best thing to come out of all this is the veil finally being removed and a global conversation of separating antisemitism from anti-Israeli nationalism. It’s been so tiring seeing Israel conflate the two for decades.
Having a wanton disregard for civilian life, shutting down news agencies… They’ve become the very thing they fought against nearly a century ago.
