Hatred of Zionism is no better than generalized anti-Semitism

Abler commentators than I have already called attention to a recent string of anti-Semitic remarks made by political and intellectual leaders from the EU to the Pacific Rim. But disquieting as this trend is, I am still more alarmed by a theme that has emerged in an increasingly common public "defense" of Jews.

Taufiq Rahim's comments in his Nov. 5 column, "Conspiracy Theory Ends With Debate," typify this theme. Rahim's defense of Jews against anti-Semitic conspiracy theories amounts to this: don't hate all Jews; they're not all Zionists. Rahim's thesis is that anti-Semitism stems from an unfortunate conflation of Jews in general with the Zionist "lobby" in particular. He seems to think that if only we were "more open" about the undue influence of Zionists in America, it would be easier to distinguish between "Zionist" and "Jew." The idea is that we can combat anti-Semitism by channeling those forces of hate into anti-Zionism.

Don't hate Jews. Hate Zionists. Not all Jews are Zionists. These are the proposed "defenses" of Jews against the baseless hatred directed at them. We are familiar with this trope. In the wake of Sept. 11 we heard: Don't hate all Muslims; they're not all terrorists. During the Civil Rights movement, we heard: Don't hate all white people; they're not all Klansmen. And now we hear from Rahim and others: Don't hate all Jews; they're not all Zionists.

Terrorists, Klansmen, Zionists. The pattern is unmistakable. This sort of logic assumes that Zionism is to Jews what terrorism is to Muslims or what KKK membership is to white Protestants. It is clear that for Rahim, Zionism is a dirty word. Zionism is racism, religious extremism, militarism. He begs readers to understand Zionism as some fringe ideology clung to by some fanatic Jews, but which is by no means representative of the Jewish religion. He alludes ominously to the prominence and influence of government officials with strong ties to Zionist interest groups. Rahim seems to assume that his readers will understand these references to Zionist interest groups to mean groups advocating policies that are universally recognized as violent, bigoted, and deranged. We are supposed to be just as shocked and disturbed to learn of these insidious Zionist encroachments as we would be if we learned that several high government officials had received awards from the KKK. But, thank heavens, not all Jews are Zionists, so we needn't hate them all.

Zionism is surely not synonymous with Judaism, but neither is Zionism a fringe ideology. Almost all Israeli Jews are Zionists, as are the vast majority of Diaspora Jews. Indeed, Zionism is such an integral part of many Jews' self-identification that it would be unfair to claim, as Rahim does, that Zionism and Judaism are totally distinct. Zionism is simply not what Rahim supposes it to be. Zionism is not a form of virulent anti-Palestinian racism. Zionism does not and never has meant advocating unjust treatment of Palestinians. Zionism is not an extremist ideology of Jewish supremacy or of militaristic imperialism. Zionism is not a dirty word, and Rahim's use of "Zionist" as a slur is as indefensible as it is misleading.

The State of Israel is just one of 150 different independent nation-states to be formed within the last century. Like the other 149 new counties, the State of Israel was the product of a nationalist movement. Zionism is the name of that movement. Nationalist ideologies around the world have helped enshrine the idea of national self-determination in modern political morality. Zionism is no more nor less than the idea of Jewish national self-determination. One cannot claim that Zionism is racism without claiming that nationalism and self-determination are intrinsically racist notions. Unless, of course, one does not like Jews.

For millions of Jews, Zionism is an inseparable part of Jewish identity. Demonizing Zionism on the pretext of defending Jews is perverse. Jeremy Golubcow-Teglasi is a sophomore from Potomac, Md.