Is Anti-Zionism Antisemitism? What Are Some Arguments For and Against?

Throughout the ages, the outward expressions of that inner, natural hatred that has always haunted the Jews have changed. Regimes and ideologies rose and fell, but antisemitism persists. Each time the excuses for hating Jews become presented in different shapes and forms, but it is the same thing in a different dressing. This is also the case with antisemitism and anti-Zionism. They are one and the same, plain and simple.

Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) wrote in his essay, “The Writings of the Last Generation”:

“It is a fact that Israel is hated by all the nations, whether for religious, racial, capitalist, communist or for cosmopolitan reasons, etc. It is so because the hatred precedes all reasons, but each merely resolves its loathing according to its own psychology.”

During the 2,000 years of exile, the hatred of the nations was directed against the Jews. However, with the establishment of the State of Israel, such animosity is concealed or justified as condemnation against the only Jewish state.

Criticism of Israel is not regarded as antisemitic as long as other countries are measured according to the same standard, but in reality, Israel is constantly singled out, demonized, and calls for its destruction are frequent. Total freedom of expression for anybody calling for peace should be allowed, but not peace through the annihilation of others.

The debate whether one who opposes Zionism also opposes Jews was a no-brainer to remarkable personalities such as Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. In his “Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend,” he makes the case for the Jews in general, and for the Jewish state in particular, with compelling eloquence. He writes:

“…You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews; you are merely ‘anti-Zionist.’ And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of G-D’s green earth: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews — this is G-D’s own truth.”

“Antisemitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this, we are in full agreement. So know also this: anti-Zionist is inherently antisemitic and ever will be so.”

“…How easy it should be, for anyone who holds dear this inalienable right of all mankind, to understand and support the right of the Jewish People to live in their ancient Land of Israel. All men of goodwill exalt in the fulfillment of G-D’s promise that His people should return in joy to rebuild their plundered land. This is Zionism, nothing more, nothing less.”

“And what is anti-Zionist? … It is discrimination against Jews, my friend, because they are Jews. In short, it is antisemitism.”

“The antisemite rejoices at any opportunity to vent his malice… the antisemite must constantly seek new forms and forums for his poison. How he must revel in the new masquerade! He does not hate the Jews; he is just ‘anti-Zionist!’”

“My friend, I do not accuse you of deliberate antisemitism. I know you feel, as I do, a deep love of truth and justice and revulsion for racism, prejudice, and discrimination. But I know you have been misled — as others have been — into thinking you can be ‘anti-Zionist’ and yet remain true to those heartfelt principles that you and I share. Let my words echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews — make no mistake about it.”

Similarly, the definition of antisemitism according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) — which more than 40 countries and organizations have ratified — states that certain expressions are considered antisemitic if they include “the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity,” and “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”

Anti-Zionism and antisemitism are thus definitely intertwined. Anti-Zionism is a more modern guise of antisemitism as it only started being felt toward the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th Century with the First and Second Aliyah. Arabs were against the return of the Jews. The Jews who wanted to return to Israel were met with Arab opposition. The Arabs even waged war against the Jews who came to settle in Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberius, and other nearby places. Also, anti-Zionism is a result of the Turkish and British rule over Palestine. They used divide-and-conquer tactics to complicate relations between Jews and Arabs, cunningly positioning them against each other in order to establish their governance over them.

Based on the book “Jewish Self-Hatred: The Enemy Within — An Overview of Jewish Antisemitism” by Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.