I have changed my opinion over the years

Submitted by sigmund (United States), Sep 20, 2009 at 16:09

According to the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary Zionism is "an international movement originally for the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine and later for the support of modern Israel." I used to say that I supported the state of Israel but, though Jewish, I was NOT a Zionist. By that I meant that I was not a Jew who felt that every Jew had a duty to go to Israel and that the correct place for all Jews was Israel. I believed, and I still believe, that one can support Israel very strongly and yet not be a member of the above defined "international movement."

Saying that I support Israel, but am nevertheless not a Zionist myself, was to me like saying that I support vegetarianism as a great idea and probably one of the most healthy life choices that one can make, but at the moment I am not a vegetarian. This is still my position: I support Israel but I do not want to live there myself and, indeed, I think all Jews should make their own choices individually.

But as Israel has come under increasing criticism and attack (most of which I believe has been unfair), I have decided it is best simply to call myself a Zionist. Most people define "Zionist" as one who supports Zionism and, in fact, the usual dictionary definition appears to apply the term Zionist to anyone who supports Zionism. But even a Zionist who believes that he/she must go and become part of Israel need not agree with every Israeli policy. Certainly the citizens of Israel, both Jews and non-Jews, have many disagreements among themselves.

But I think that the underlying thought of this whole discussion is not to split hairs about the nuances of what Zionism or Zionist means. It is to point out that a number of Jews, far from being Zionists even in the sense that I am a Zionist, are actually against the state of Israel. They believe that either it should be destroyed entirely or changed so radically that it might as well be destroyed. They believe that Israel does not have the same right to defend itself against attack that most other countries have and that the founding of Israel was unjust from the beginning because they feel that it involved theft of the land from the "Palestinians." I think that this is the real distinction. I believe that those people are wrong. But even in this case there are nuances and not everyone who opposes Israel opposes it in precisely the same way.

I do not really understand how intelligent people, Jews or non-Jews, can get so far into anti-Israeli position as some do. But neither do I understand why some intelligent people still support Communism. Human beings make decisions in complex ways. When Jews have such anti-Israel beliefs they are often thrown into the category of "self hating Jews" but I do not think that such a categorization does justice to the issue. Like every other nation that exists or has ever existed, Israel has not always acted with perfect justice. This creates a terrible dilemma in the minds of many Jews who would prefer Israel and all Jewish institutions and activities to be perfect. I believe that some Jews over-react and instead of looking for what might be "win win" solutions to improving conditions and moving toward a higher level of justice, they flip over to the dark side of destruction. But I do not claim that this explains the phenomenon either.

My personal belief is that there may be some "win win" solutions available, but finding and implementing them will be difficult. Perhaps some of the "self-hating Jews" could be encouraged to find solutions more creative and constructive than simply tearing down Israel.

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