I have been speechless. I wake up in the morning and read the news, and it seems so surreal. I was raised in a home with parents who both survived Auschwitz. I knew the stories I was told were watered down, but they still traumatized me. I was told that Jews are never really safe anywhere. I grew up in the USA, and despite some anti-Semitic incidents when I was young, I was aware that America was different. It was a place where, for the first time in history, Jews were accepted as equal citizens with the rest of the population.
The definition of Zionism, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, is a “Jewish nationalist movement that has had as its goal the creation and support of a Jewish national state in Palestine, the ancient homeland of the Jews.” So, I think it would be safe to say that anti-Zionism would be against the goal of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine the ancient homeland of the Jews. . When you look at the meanings, it is easy to say one can be anti-Zionist without being anti-Semitic. In fact, there were many Jews around the world who were against the establishment of a Jewish state, including a large part of American Jews.
Here is the problem: Israel exists; the goal of Zionism has been accomplished. According to the Jewish Agency (the organization in charge of Jewish immigration to Israel), Jews from over 150 countries live here now, close to 8 million of them. So what is the goal of anti-Zionism 76 years after the establishment of the state? It is the disestablishment of this state.
Some of the protesters on college campuses will tell you that they are against the idea of a state based on one ethnicity or religion. This, despite the fact that in Israel, everyone has equal rights. Some of these protesters believe there should be one state that includes all of Palestine with equal rights for everyone. This seems fair, but what will happen to the Jews when they are no longer the majority? Let's first look at some history (something no one does anymore) and then see what the Palestinians are saying themselves.
After Israel was declared a state in 1948, the Palestinians started a war with the express aim to kill every Jew in Israel. “This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades." The Mufti of Jerusalem and leader of the Palestinian community, Haj Amin Al Husseini stated, "I declare a holy war, my Muslim brothers! Murder the Jews! Murder them all!" After their plans of extermination were thwarted, the Palestinians were offered their own state but rejected it and chose genocide (based on the actual definition of the word) of the Jews. This was 3 years after the worst genocide in human history that was perpetrated against the Jews.
For the next two decades, threats to Israel's existence were constant. In 1965, Gamal Nasser, the President of Egypt, said, “Our path to Palestine will not be covered with a red carpet or with yellow sand. Our path to Palestine will be covered with blood.” After Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran, which Israel took as an act of war, Israel attacked and defeated the armies of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in 6 days. Even though Israel soundly beat its enemies, it offered to return the land that was just conquered in return for peace. In response, the Arab League issued its famous three no’s: “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel.” Up until the last offer of a two-state solution in 2008, the Palestinians have rejected a two-state solution.
So what is it exactly that they want? That is easy, and they have been leading chants all over the world for the last 6 months telling everyone what they hope to achieve: "No solution but intifada revolution”, and “from river to sea, Palestine will be free." Despite what some people might say that these sayings are aspirational and that all the Palestinians want is a state where everyone is treated equally, these sayings are actually calling for the destruction of Israel. So what happens to the 8 million Jews who live in Israel? That answer is clear to anyone who studies history (they really should bring that subject back). The Palestinians will kill as many Jews as they can and force the rest to leave. How can I possibly know this? They said so.
Hamas, which is a terrorist organization and has 17% support among young Americans, has always called for this. In 2021, Hamas held a conference in Gaza called the “Promise of the Hereafter – Post-Liberation Palestine”. At the conference, they discussed what would happen to the Jews. This is what was said: Fighters would be killed; those attempting to flee could be allowed to do so or detained and prosecuted for their crimes; and those who surrendered could be either integrated into the new state or given time to leave. The issue would be dealt with “humanely, as is characteristic for Islam.”
People in Israel have always understood the nature of this "humane" treatment. Hamas has shown the world the meaning of this treatment with rape and murder and using their own people as human shields. As Israel is preparing to take the last stronghold of Hamas in Gaza, today Hamas agreed to end the war if a Palestinian state was created. The only problem is they have made it very clear in the past that this would be a first step towards eradicating Israel.
Anyone who knows even a bit of history or just reads what the Palestinians are saying (out in the open) would know that to be anti-Zionist today, in 2024, is a call for Israel's destruction. As I have pointed out, this will only happen when all of its Jews are killed. If that is not antisemitism, I don’t know what is."
I guess Rashida Tlaib wants to get deported to Gaza after Trump is elected. The political genius of the Palestinian national movement on display again.