The purpose of this article is to clarify the meaning of Zionism. What it is – and, just as important – what it is not. We’ll also touch on what “Free Palestine,” represents and why it is often presented as an opposite of Zionism.
Zionism is the belief that the Jews are a people with a right to safety and self-determination in their own state, the State of Israel. There are no aspects of Zionism that point to ethnic supremacy, conquest, or domination. Just safety and self-determination, rights recognized for all peoples as basic human rights.
Being a Zionist does not mean that you endorse Mr. Netanyahu or his government, or even the war in Gaza. Just as we are proud Americans, and many of us don’t endorse Trump or his actions.
Being a Zionist means one thing, and one thing only: Israel is the indigenous homeland of the Jewish People. And that we have the right to freedom and security in our ancient homeland. It was the Zionist project to establish this homeland in our ancient land. And we achieved this dream through planning, lobbying, and strategy – not through conquest or terror. Ultimately, the United Nations itself were the ones to grant us this land. And now the project of Zionism is to keep in Israel a free and democratic Jewish State, where all who dwell there live in peace, prosperity, and security.
When you say ‘L’shana Haba’a be’Yerushalim’ (“Next year in Jerusalem”) as we have said for thousands of years at the end of the Passover Seder, or when we pray in the the “Yotzeir Or” prayer ‘Or hadash al Tzion T’air’ (A new light will shine over Zion) or in the ‘B’Ahava Raba’ (with great love) morning prayer that God will bring us from the four corners of the earth to our homeland, we are expressing the deep and enduring hope of Zionism. Every Jewish holiday is tied to the seasons of the Land of Israel. Our prayers are locked in to that tiny piece of dirt and sand. Our whole tradition turns its face toward Eretz Israel (The Land of Israel) and the return and sustenance of our people there.
Zionism isn’t a dirty word. Zionism is the age old aspiration of the Jewish People to be a free people in our ancient Homeland.
A Broader Definition
From the American Zionist Movement (of which AWB is a member):
“Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, brought about the establishment of the State of Israel, and views a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future.”
– AZM on Zionism
From the ADL:
“Zionism is the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, the land of Israel…. Zionists believe in and support the right of the democratic State of Israel to exist as a Jewish homeland. Israel is the only Jewish state in the world. Being a Zionist is distinct from supporting the policies of the government of. Israel.”
— ADL on Zionism
From World Zionist Organization:
“Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, brought about the establishment of the State of Israel, and views a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future.”
— WZO on Zionism
A word on Free Palestine
Who could disparage a call to freedom for any people? But when you hear your friends’ calls for “Free Palestine,” it’s very likely they themselves do not fully understand what they’re demanding. At the simplest level “Free Palestine” can mean two things:
- A call for a Palestinian Homeland: This is the concept of a “two state solution” advocated by many western countries and, in fact, by the majority of Israelis. The concept that some or all of the territories occupied by Israel since their victory when attacked in 1967 will be given over to a Palestinian Authority for the creation of a normalized Palestinian State which can live in peace and prosperity alongside the State of Israel.
- A call for the destruction of the State of Israel and the expulsion or murder of its Jewish inhabitants – and a Palestinian country to replace it. When you hear “From the River to the Sea,” look at a map; that means all of what is now the State of Israel.
Where do you stand?
So many of us wished for a two-state solution. So many of us continue to wish for it. So it is with such sorrow that we recognize what happened since 2005 when Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip to give the Palestinians an opportunity to begin to build toward a country. When Israel did leave, the Palestinians in that territory had a real democratic election to choose their governing body. And they chose Hamas, an organization long-since identified by many countries as a terrorist organization. When Hamas took power, they cancelled subsequent elections and rather than using billions of dollars in international aid to build schools, businesses, infrastructure, the stockpiled weapons and built a massive network of tunnels which they used for 20 years to lob missiles at Israel – and then, ultimately, as the launchpad for the October 7, 2023 attacks, when they raped, burned, and murdered 1,500 innocent men, women, and children, jews and non-Jews, from over 30 countries. They took Israelis and foreigners hostage and there are still 50 hostages being held in Gaza.
The Bottom Line
We at A Wider Bridge want to believe that our LGBTQ+ community is pro-peace and against war. Whether in Ukraine or Israel, we are against any extinction of a country or suffering of a people. So if you wish for the war in Gaza to end, you wish for the return
of all Israeli civilian hostages and you wish for the Palestinian territories to be a separate autonomy, living in peace with its neighbor, Israel – you are a peace-seeking Zionist.
Despite all that has transpired many Jews, many Israelis, still hold out hope for a “Free Palestine “– a state alongside Israel where the Palestinian people can achieve self-determination in peace with the Jews, with the State of Israel, the only Jewish nation.
The Jews are good at holding out hope.