Many Jews do not support Zionism

The argument

Proponents of this position argue that equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism rests on an assumption that does not hold. Many proponents that equate the two frequently assume all Jews are allies of the state of Israel. However, many Jews do not support Zionism and are explicitly anti-Zionist in their political beliefs — and they, as Jews, cannot be considered anti-Semitic as well. If a position is held by the very people anti-Semitism targets, then holding that position cannot be what anti-Semitism consists in. The historical record supplies an early instance of the distinction being drawn deliberately. Jacob Blaustein, the president of the American Jewish Committee, reached an agreement with David Ben-Gurion, the former prime minister of Israel, in which Ben-Gurion promised not to claim he spoke for American Jews. That agreement presupposes precisely what the equation denies: that the Israeli state and Jewish communities elsewhere are distinct constituencies, whose views may diverge and who do not speak for one another. Religious opposition supplies a second instance. Prominent Jewish groups such as Neturei Karta also oppose the State of Israel. They believe that the Jewish people are not to establish the Land of Israel by the use of physical force in the face of political opposition, and that the State of Israel will be established through divine redemption alone. On their account, any attempt to use political means or physical force to establish the Israeli state is explicitly anti-messianic and represents a denial of divine providence — an objection grounded in Jewish religious commitment rather than in any hostility toward Jews. None of these groups could be accused of being anti-Semitic, and yet all of them are anti-Zionist by any ordinary definition. Therefore, anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are clearly very different concepts: opposition to Zionism is a political and sometimes religious position that Jews themselves hold, whereas anti-Semitism is hostility toward Jews as such.

Context

Not all Jews support Zionism. Several ultra-Orthodox groups perceive Zionism as an anti-messianic act and have denounced it. However, this does not make them anti-Semites.

Premises

Counter-arguments

It is absolutely possible for Jews to be anti-Semitic. In fact, whole university courses have been devoted to the subject of Jewish self-hatred. Throughout history there have been examples of Jews internalising the negative image others have of them and becoming anti-Semitic themselves. This is precisely what occurs when Jews subscribe to anti-Zionist beliefs. They are internalising the criticism of Israel and the attacks on Jewish right to self-determination, causing an identity crisis and manifesting itself as feelings of anti-Semitism.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Jews can be anti-Semitic.