Anti-Zionism Is Different from Anti-Semitism

Open Letter to the Santa Barbara City Council:

We are writing to you, on behalf of Jewish Voice for Peace-Santa Barbara, to clear up some misconceptions about our organization that were delivered during the October 24 council public comment period. Knowing that your time is precious, we are nevertheless compelled to respond to these defamatory statements.

As stated on our website, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) “is the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world. We’re organizing a grassroots, multiracial, cross-class, intergenerational movement of U.S. Jews into solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle, guided by a vision of justice, equality, and dignity for all people.”

Founded in 1996, JVP has several sub-groupings, including a rabbinical network composed of rabbis, cantors, and rabbinical students; and a Health Advisory Council which “is a network of JVP members who work in health, including physicians, nurses, mental health workers, social workers…” and others.

JVP nationally has over 400,000 followers and supporters, and has a presence in over 70 communities and campuses across the country. (see jewishvoiceforpeace.org.) We come from a Jewish tradition that has for millennia opposed empire, colonization, and nationalism, that values every human life, and is rooted in social justice.

Our anti-Zionist views were repeatedly cited last Tuesday as evidence of anti-Semitism. The equation of the two is repeatedly asserted by supporters of Israel. However, this ignores the fact that there is a long history of anti-Zionism in the Jewish community, from as far back as the 19th century. The General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland opposed Zionism because they believed it detracted from unity with the wider Polish workers’ movement.

In post-Holocaust 1948, “Judah Magnes, president of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, adopted an anti-Zionist position in opposing the imminent establishment of a Jewish State. His opposition was grounded on a view … that such a state would automatically entail a situation of continuous warfare with the Arab world … ” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Zionism)— a very prescient observation.

We routinely see this false equation of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism used as a cudgel to attack any criticism of Israel or its anti-Palestinian policies. The former director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research wrote in 2022 that “The anti-Zionism equals antisemitism argument drains the word antisemitism of any useful meaning.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Zionism)

For an example of the weaponization of anti-Semitism, we only need look at the treatment of U.S. politicians Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, and U.K. politician Jeremy Cornyn. This misuse is rampant in speeches by American politicians.

Anti-Zionism within the Jewish community has increased over the past decade, as a result of Jews coming to better understand the history of Israel, particularly its ongoing dispossession and ethnic cleansing beginning in 1947 with what Palestinians call the “Nakba,” or “Catastrophe,” when 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced. Other Jewish anti-Zionist groups include Not In Our Name (https://web.archive.org/web/20130116083544/http://www.nion.ca/nion-statement-en.htm) and International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (http://www.ijan.org/). While it is more difficult to tar Jewish critics as “anti-Semitic,” other slurs are substituted, for example “self-hating Jew.”

A few speakers on Tuesday implied that JVP spreads hatred and violence. Not true. We do support nonviolent resistance in the U.S., Israel, and the Occupied Territories, and the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. We have unequivocally condemned Hamas for its barbaric attacks on October 7.

There seems to be a degree of projection operating among pro-Israel advocates. First, as stated, we only support nonviolence; however, the state of Israel routinely reacts violently to nonviolent protests, often using live ammunition and imprisoning nonviolent actors, including children. Second, a number of Tuesday’s speakers spoke of Jewish erasure. JVP certainly does not advocate that, often employing Jewish ritual in protest and community-building events.

Part of the criticism of Zionism is that the ongoing Nakba employs ethnic cleansing (erasure). In light of the current bombing and anticipated ground attacks, many Palestinians are freshly worried about ethnic cleansing. “Transfer” and “expulsion” are never far from the lips of right-wing Israeli politicians. In fact, a recent report by an Israeli think tank with ties to Prime Minister Netanyahu, states that there is a “unique and rare opportunity” for the “relocation and final settlement of the entire Gaza population.” (https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/israeli-think-tank-lays-out-a-blueprint-for-the-complete-ethnic-cleansing-of-gaza/)

In conclusion, we acknowledge that the issue of Israel-Palestine is a contentious one. The public debate can get very emotional. That debate is in no way served by irresponsible and damning rhetoric. It is our hope that at least truthfulness and respect remain during discussion of this issue.