An Indigenous American At A Pro-Israel Event (Photo: Stand With Us via @michaeldickson)

When Someone Claims To Be Anti-Zionist, What They Mean Is They Hate Jews

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Emanuel Engelmayer
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Antisemitism or anti-Zionism? Despite the best efforts to create a fictional difference between the two by pro-Palestine organizations and the uncomfortable silence of American Jewry, there really is no such thing. This issue is a sensitive topic because it dives into another matter that is the most controversial for the descendants of Israel, the Jewish diaspora, and its future with an existing Jewish state.

For thousands of years, way before the destruction of the Second Temple during the 2nd half of the 1st century AD, Jews have been praying to return to an independent Zion, Jerusalem, Eretz Yisroel, Palestine, or any other name used to describe the biblical Land of Israel. Even before the Israelites returned to Canaan after Egyptian slavery, the land was seen as a godly promise. In the very first book of the bible, Genesis, the father of all Israelites, Abraham, was promised the modern land of Israel for eternity.

“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.” The book of Genesis also describes the borders of this promised land, “the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.”

The religious connection of Jews to Israel cannot be ignored or denied by anyone who has any relation to the three dominant monotheistic religions. During the first exile of Israelites from Israel in the aftermath of the destruction of Solomon’s Temple, all prayers to the almighty were focused on returning home. This desire to return is so embedded in Judaism it has become part of the culture, hence the popularity of Psalm 137: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.”

Throughout the second Jewish exile, modern daily prayers were developed through centuries of rabbinical and scholarly insight. An observant Jew will ask God three times a day to bring Israelites together in the land of Israel with the words: “Blow a great trumpet for our freedom and bring a miracle to gather together our people and unite us from the four corners of the earth: blessed are you, God, who gathers the outcasts of his people.” The prayer then continues on to pray for Jerusalem’s rebuilding and assure God’s return to the city of Zion, “And to Jerusalem your city in mercy you will return and dwell in it.”

Not one part of the ever-adapting ancient Israelite religion even slightly hints at the chosen people dwelling on Earth without a dire spiritual need for the Land of Israel. By all definitions, modern-day Zionism acts as the laborer of the Jewish religion’s demand to return home. Secular, traditional or fully observant, Judaism never differentiated and simply calls for all the sons of Israel to return back to their promised land at all costs.

Classic Antisemitism throughout history would not exist if the Jewish people would have given up on their Zionist, nationalist, and spiritual beliefs and simply assimilated into the people hosting them during exile. Not only is anti-Zionism Antisemitic, but it is also the purest version of antisemitism that seeks to mock the very core of who the Jewish people are and what they believe in.

In the 21st-century people have been getting away with anti-Zionism masked antisemitism for many reasons. The easiest reason to point out is that antisemitism has always been easy to get away with. With the title of being the only people to almost have been exterminated last century and having the highest hate crime stats this century in the United States, a country that European Jews in the 18 and 1900s referred to as the 'golda medina' or Golden Country, Jews really know how to create an angry mob by simply just existing.

Another reason for Anti-Zionism being tolerated is far more “touchy” and actually stems from Jews themselves. During the 20th century, a wave of various migrations turned the U.S. into a new home for the largest Jewish population in thousands of years. These Jews have turned America into a home, becoming largely successful and prominent in modern American culture. Thanks to American freedom and liberty, pogroms were extremely rare and fair, equality-based capitalism allowed them to thrive. In the aftermath of the birth of the modern Jewish state, many American Jews left for the promised land, but not all, not even close.

When life is good and easy, it is very hard to immigrate to a land that is constantly in the papers for constant wars. Even the most observant of American Jewry has assimilated into the comforts of American culture and is having an extremely tough time simply getting up and leaving. It is one of the reasons why until the last few years, more people from America that immigrated to Israel returned to America within a few years than any other country. 

It is worth noting that some Ultra-Orthodox Jews do not see the birth of Israel as a sign from God that he permits his chosen people to return, and therefore don’t see the need to relocate. In fact, until the actual voice of God is heard accompanied by the literal hand of God to deliver them, they will never view the State of Israel as the 'home' of the Jewish people, but the Land is still holy to them and even they will not deny just how central Israel is to their faith. 

American Jewry is to a degree, enabling the anti-Zionist behavior because many themselves have been ignoring their religion’s very clear narrative. Instead of returning to Israel, they have been simply continuing the routine that the Jewish diaspora had, before the unlikely and therefore miraculous formation of a Jewish state in Israel made homecoming possible.

A side note to American Jews, what will happen to those who have been ignoring their faith's inseparable connection to Zion? Those who don’t give a damn, which sadly is a huge amount of American Jewry, have already fully assimilated into the American lifestyle. Those who care but cannot seem to make the long plane ride east for many reasons, will slowly assimilate as well and become culturally detached from Israel, even if they will not admit it just yet.   

However, those who care and bring themselves to make the hard move will forever be thanked by their ancestors who had prayed for thousands of years for such a day.

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