Anti-Zionism

Myth: Anti-Zionism or Criticism of Israel is Never Antisemitic

Share This Chapter:

Know It

Criticism of Israel is not in and of itself antisemitic. But contemporary anti-Zionism, often characterized by the vilification and ostracization of anyone who supports Israel’s mere existence, is antisemitic.

Antisemitism Uncovered video on the antisemitic trope that anti-Zionism or criticism of Israel is never antisemitic.

An anti-Israel, antisemitic drawing by French cartoonist Zeon.

Some background: Zionism — the movement for Jewish self-determination and statehood, reflects the millennial longing of Jews to return to their ancestral homeland in the land of Israel. Zion is a biblical term used interchangeably with Jerusalem. This longing to “return to Zion” has been a tenet of Jewish tradition since the Romans destroyed the Jewish Second Temple in 70 CE and dispossessed the Jews of their sovereignty over the region. Modern Zionism emerged in the 19th century in response to a long history of anti-Jewish animus across Europe, including periods of anti-Jewish violence and intense persecution. While there had always been a Jewish presence in the land of Israel, by the time of the First Zionist Congress in 1897, Jews had already been returning to the then-Ottoman-ruled territory of Palestine to escape resurgences of anti-Jewish conditions in Europe and to fulfill the enduring dream of homecoming.¹²

Zionism’s development as a modern movement reflects a historical moment in which numerous groups sought freedom from imperial rule through movements to cultivate and protect their identity and community peoplehood as a “nation.”³ Zionism posits that Jews ought to have a safe haven from the bigotry and endangerment they suffer perennially as a minority culture among non-Jewish majority cultures — be it from Tsarist pogroms, Hitler’s Europe, the expulsion of Jews from Arab lands, anti-Jewish restrictions in the Soviet Union or the increase in antisemitic violence in contemporary France.

Zionism asserts that the Jews have the same right to self-determination and nationhood that is typically afforded to other nations.

An antisemitic cartoon by Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff.

Zionism is a big tent that includes progressive Jews, conservative Jews, apolitical Jews and non-Jews who believe in and support the right of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish homeland. There are Zionists who are critical of Israeli policies, just as there are Zionists who rarely voice disagreement with the Israeli government. There are diverse views among Zionists about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and about how to promote peace or support for a two-state solution. But the bottom line is that the vast majority of Jews around the world feel a connection or kinship with Israel, whether or not they explicitly identify as Zionists, or whatever their position on specific Israeli government policies, and believe in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state. In a 2020 survey by the Pew Research Center, 82% of U.S. Jews say that caring about Israel is either an “essential” (45%) or “important” (37%) part of their Jewish identity. ⁴

Anti-Zionism downplays the history of Jewish nationhood and its connection to the land of Israel, the importance of the land of Israel to Jews throughout history and the aspirations that never disappeared from Jewish ritual, culture, thought and belief since the Roman destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE.

More than anything, anti-Zionism and extreme criticism of Israel frequently demonizes the State of Israel as uniquely evil among all the nations of the world. Denying Israel’s right to protect itself from populations that have actively sought its physical destruction, it magnifies every mistake and wrongful act possibly associated with the country, strips these of all context and even invents new criminal accusations. In current forms, we often see such assertions in present-day anti-Israel movements, whereby Zionism and the Jewish state are accused of being akin to other forms of hate such as racism or sexism. Often these critiques project the historical sins and stereotypes once held against Jews onto the Jewish state.

Those who propagate “anti-Zionism” distort what Zionism is and define it narrowly and perniciously. Some express criticism of specific Israeli policies by assigning blame to “Zionism” or “Zionists,” thereby turning a critique of policy into a negation and demonization of Jewish statehood and its supporters. Denying the plurality of thought among Jews and Zionists, anti-Zionism envisions Zionists as a monolithic evil and as inherently hostile to Palestinians’ human rights and to the values of social justice. Like classic antisemites, sometimes anti-Zionists even use “Zionist” as a derogatory term for all Jews or interchangeably with all Israelis — a dangerous conflation.

There may be some individuals who oppose Zionism because they are ideologically opposed to nationalism and nation-states, and oppose these movements for all nationalities and religions, or say no Jewish state should exist until the Messiah comes, but such positions are fringe.

Consciously or not, among today’s anti-Zionist leaders, and those who engage in harsh delegitimization of Israel, are individuals who often thinly disguise irrational antipathy toward Jews and use age-old anti-Jewish rhetoric in their charges against Zionism and Israel; for example invoking dual loyalty, conspiracies of Jewish/Zionist power over a country’s policy and using classical antisemitic imagery to characterize Israelis, among others. Such expressions are also found in some harsh criticism of Israel, whereby Jews and Judaism are rejected or condemned based on perceived associations with Israeli policy.

Anti-Zionism views Jewish power that is in any way utilized to support Israel’s existence as fundamentally malevolent and denounces the Jewish aspiration for sovereignty. Often anti-Zionists do not scrutinize other nations or movements for nationhood to the same degree. Israel is regarded simply as an illegitimate state, founded on a lie. Some anti-Zionist activists have even sought to normalize the exclusion of Jews en masse from political movements unrelated to Israel unless they proactively denounce Israeli policies.

In February 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron stated, “Anti-Zionism is one of the modern forms of antisemitism. Behind the negation of Israel’s existence, what is hiding is the hatred of Jews.”⁵

The inherently anti-Jewish nature of anti-Zionism was made glaringly evident since the events of October 7, 2023 when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, murdering over 1,200 people and abducting over 240 children, women and men. During the ensuing war between Israel and Hamas, antisemitic incidents soared in the United States and around the world. While severe increases in antisemitism are common during periods of conflagration between Israel and its neighbors, many countries saw unprecedented increases in anti-Jewish attacks and incidents, including assaults on Jewish individuals, intimidation of Jewish students, vandalism of synagogues and other Jewish institutions and targeting of Jewish businesses.

Share the Quote

Anti-Zionism is one of the modern forms of antisemitism. Behind the negation of Israel’s existence, what is hiding is the hatred of Jews.

French President Emmanuel Macron

See It

Danny Shaw, Adjunct Lecturer of Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender at the City University of New York, posted on his X account on October 16, 2023.

Danny Shaw, Adjunct Lecturer of Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender at the City University of New York, posted on his X account on October 16, 2023.

Sticker placed on a McDonalds in Manhattan, December 2023. These stickers have been placed on many locations across the country since 10/7.

Sticker placed on a McDonald’s in Manhattan, December 2023. These stickers have been placed on many locations across the country since 10/7.

Anti-Zionism: Tweet by former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney

On June 28, 2021, former US Congresswoman and conspiracy theorist Cynthia MicKinney posted the following on Twitter:
At the 2021 national convention of American Muslims for Palestine, an anti-Zionist organization known for spreading antisemitism, CAIR-San Francisco/Bay Area Director Zahra Billoo in a speech about Islamophobia remarked that people should “pay attention to the Zionist synagogues” and “the Hillel chapters on our campuses,” as well as to ADL: [38:16]“I also want us to pay attention to the ‘polite Zionists,’ the ones that say let’s just break bread together; we oppose a Muslim ban in the United States, but we cannot support Palestinian human rights. We need to pay attention to the Anti-Defamation League. We need to pay attention to the Jewish Federation. We need to pay attention to the Zionist synagogues. We need to pay attention to the Hillel chapters on our campuses. Because – just because – they’re your friend today doesn’t mean that they have your back when it comes to human rights.”
“For decades now, Americans have allowed the Jews to drag them into one war after another, all of which were fought with Israel’s interests in mind. The Israelis and their Jewish supporters are eager to hold America’s coat while we beat up Israel’s enemies.”
— E. Michael Jones, a conservative Catholic antisemitic ideologue, August 2022 UNZ Review Article
On October 3, 2022 Ayatollah Khamenei tweeted the following:
Laith Marouf, who had been contracted to design an anti-racist strategy for the Canadian government, posted the following tweet on March 4, 2022:
In 2020, several Twitter users started using the hashtag: #Covid1948. The hashtag framed the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 as a virus, and was first used on April 19, in a tweet by a Palestinian lawyer: “#VirusCorona and #isreal occupation are two faces of the same coin.”⁶
In 2021, Jewish people dining at a restaurant in Los Angeles were targeted by a group of pro-Palestinian men driving past in vehicles. The men started screaming “death to Jews,” “Israel kills children,” and “free Palestine.” After asking the patrons if anyone was Jewish, a brawl erupted when two diners said they were Jewish.⁷⁸
In December 2018, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shared a video on her Facebook page with a British antisemite explaining that “Zionist supremacists have schemed to promote immigration and miscegenation.”⁹¹⁰
“I think what we need to do is to reject the nature of that Zionist State. I don’t want to be part of it. I don’t want it. I don’t want any Jew to be part of it! Because I’m cleansing the Jew from being a racist. I don’t want him to be a part of a racist state.” – Sami Al-Arian, anti-Israel activist and academic, June 20, 2021.¹¹
“Zionism is evil and rampant infiltrating every ounce of this satanic world. From the fed to corporations to wars to the Vatican all the way to the pornography industry. You’ll always find a Jew to be in control or the very top.” – QAnon Telegram group, May 12, 2021.¹²
At the 2017 Chicago Dyke March, a radical alternative to the city’s mainstream Pride Parade, three marchers were questioned about their rainbow Jewish Pride flags, because, as the Dyke March organizers expressed, the march was “anti-Zionist,” and the Star of David too closely resembled the flag of Israel, which “made people feel unsafe.”¹³
In November 2019, when the University of Toronto’s Graduate Student Union refused to support a Hillel campaign to make kosher food available on campus, the GSU’s spokesman refused, saying they could not cooperate with Hillel given its “pro-Israel” activities, thus conflating Jewish students’ religious needs with the policies of the Israeli government.¹⁴¹⁵
The 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa, included numerous efforts to equate Zionism and racism — a charge common among anti-Israel activists today. The conference NGO declaration included condemnation of “the practices of Zionism as racist practices which propagate the racial domination of one group over another.” There was a concerted effort to include the language in the official conference declaration, referencing “the racist practices of Zionism” (leading to the exit of the Israel and the US from participation in the conference.) The demonizing equating of Zionism and racism goes back to the infamous 1975 UN General Assembly “Zionism is Racism” resolution, which was repealed in 1991.¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸

T-Shirt sold at Netroots Nation Conference, 2019

A shirt sold at the 2019 Netroots Nation conference, an annual gathering for progressive and progressive organizing, linked Zionism to forms of discrimination, repression and hate:¹⁹
Resist.
Racism.
Sexism.
Zionism.
Homophobia.
Transphobia.
Islamophobia.
Antisemitism.
Ableism.
Colonialism.

A protest in Melbourne, Australia, against Israel's 2009 attack on Gaza.

Englart, John, Melbourne Gaza Protest: Zionist Criminals, End the Palestine Holocaust (2009), photo, Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melbourne_Gaza_protest_Zionist_Criminals,_End_the_Palestine_Holocaust.jpg

Address It

It is possible to have legitimate criticisms of Israel, or of any state or government, without engaging in actions or rhetoric that demonizes or threatens the state’s existence and vilifies or threatens Jews and Israel’s supporters. One can promote Palestinian rights and nationhood without denying that same right to Israel — a consistent Jewish refuge from antisemitism — or denigrating Zionism, the historically-rooted right to Jewish self-determination in the Jewish homeland. Regardless of perspective on Israeli policies or action, Jews are entitled to live free from antisemitism.

This cartoon employs antisemitism by comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the actions of the Nazis towards Jews.

It’s important to look at the motive and intent of people engaged in critical rhetoric related to Israel and Zionism. Do they believe in the right of the Jewish people — like all people — to self-determination? Do they recognize the 4,000-year connection of the Jewish people to the land of Israel? Do they accept the legitimacy of the State of Israel — or are they amenable to its destruction? Do they make fact-based arguments to criticize specific policies or instead demonize the entire country, its citizens and its supporters? Ask yourself these questions the next time you see a poster on a college campus or receive an invitation to protest or read an opinion piece.

Israeli policies and leadership may be criticized just as in the case of any other country. However, when that ostensible “criticism” questions the existence of the Jewish state, negates the legitimacy of Zionism, holds all Jews or Judaism responsible for Israel or uses age-old anti-Jewish conspiracies and stereotypes, it is antisemitism.

Antisemitic Myths

Join The Fight

Antisemitism Uncovered is a guide to help you understand more about the history and current manifestations of antisemitism. What’s the next step? Join the fight against it! We’ve gathered all our most practical resources—the tools and strategies you need to engage in that fight—in one place: right here in Antisemitism Uncovered Toolkit: Resources to Speak Up, Share Facts and Show Strength Against Hate.