ANTIZIONISM AND ANTISEMITISM.
A thread.
How often does one read on here the statement that antizionism is not antisemitism; that the two are entirely separate and distinct concepts. The far left wrap the mantra around themselves like a comfort blanket. Does it hold water? (1)

I am not talking about the antizionism of today's chasidim like Satmar. Although nominally antizionist for religious reasons they are neither opposed in principle to a jewish state (on the contrary once Mashiach comes!) nor in practice. They do not support the end of the state(2)

Nor am I concerned with pre war philosophical differences between the Bund and the Zionists in the Heim.
Tragically that argument ended in Auschwitz.
My issue is with the far left whose antizionism is manifested in calls to 'Free Palestine' 'From the River to the sea..' etc (3)

Says this school of thought Zionism is racism, Israel is a colonial settler enterprise and an ethno nationalist apartheid state and must be 'dismantled'. Leaving aside the theory can one in practical terms hold such a view and NOT in reality be antisemitic? (4)

Note, I am not talking about those who genuinely campaign for Palestinian human and national rights nor those actually critical of the policies pursued by the Israeli government of the day. That is all entirely legitimate but applicable only to a minority on the far left sadly(5)

The issue here is antizionism manifested in calls for the destruction of Israel. The harshness of the word destruction is sometimes softened to replacement but ultimately it is a distinction without a difference.
I have lived in Israel for 5 years. It is now a mighty nation. (6)

According to Forbes index Israel is now the 8th most powerful country in the world. The relevance?
I am not of course a spokesman for the 6.5 million jews who live here but I am pretty confident that the overwhelming majority would reject the left call for our dismantling!(7)

How then would this come to pass? By force? An international coalition to impose it? If so what would the practical consequences be in terms of loss of life? How many jews killed would be acceptable to turn the leftist dream into reality? (8)

How can a plan which on any sensible reading leads to mass deaths of jews NOT be regarded as antisemitic?
If not force then how? Persuasion? Jews, post Shoah, should rely on guarantees from the international community which did little or nothing to save us from the Nazis?(9)

Trust? Say the credulous left the Palestinians have promised a democratic state with security and rights for all regardless of race or religion. Really? How many such states exist in the Middle East? When Israel evacuated Gaza the ensuing elections resulted in Hamas! (10)

Anyone peddling such a notion is either breathtakingly naive or utterly disingenuous.
The reality is any such idea, policy or plan again inevitably results in mass Jewish deaths.
In 1948 immediately prior to the creation of Israel the number of Jews there amounted to 650000(11)

out of a world total of 11.5 million ie 5.6%. By 2020 this had grown to 6.8 million out of 14.7million or a whopping 45%. In our lifetime the tipping point will be reached in which for the first time in over 2 millennia the majority of the world's jews will be in Israel (12)

What that means in real life terms is that already it is probable to the point of near certainty that if you are Jewish anywhere in the world chances are you have a relative living in Israel and if not a relative a friend. That fact is rarely mentioned by opponents of Israel.(13)

Unsurprisingly Israel has therefore assumed a prominence even dominance in world Jewish culture in the decades since its creation. This process will only intensify as its population increases and that elsewhere further declines. (14)

For the purposes of perspective the only Jewish community which comes close is that of the USA. Thereafter the largest is France with less than half a million; the UK barely over half that number, a decline from a post war figure of 420,000. (15)

Everywhere across the world Jewish communities are in decline. The exception of course is Israel whose population rises inexorably and with it its centrality to Jewish life everywhere. To pretend otherwise is fanciful wishful thinking at best. (16)

In all the circumstances outlined above I suggest that it is, in practical terms, impossible to be an "antizionist" (in the sense of calling for the destruction/dismantling of the State of Israel) without in reality being antisemitic. (17/end)