Andrew Sullivan is great. He knows that Zionism represents one of the greatest challenges in history right now; he is surely opposed to it at a deep level. He has surely come to understand that as Communism was exposed for a failure in the 50’s, Zionism has long since reached that moment and only the American Establishment is hanging on this time. But he has to do this work gently. So here’s Sullivan’s quote of the day (thanks to Voskamp):
“There is only one solution to this enigma: it is not that the US fundamentalists have changed, it is that Zionism itself has paradoxically come to adopt some antisemitic logic in its hatred of Jews who do not fully identify with the politics of the state of Israel. Their target, the figure of the Jew who doubts the Zionist project, is constructed in the same way as the European antisemites constructed the figures of the Jew – he is dangerous because he lives among us, but is not really one of us,” – Slavoj Žižek.
Then, balancing, and saying some people find this a little too much to bear, Sullivan links to Mark Gardner, who justifies Zionism as the great work of Jews, and attacks anti-Zionists as anti-Semites. Truly dangerous statements here, from a Zionist, wrapping all Jews in the nationalist flag:–and notice the special guardianship role to be played by the Israel lobby:
A 2010 survey by Jewish Policy Research examined the real interconnection between Jews and Zionists and Israel; and showed why the border between hatred of Jews, Zionism and Israel can be so porous.
- 72% of British Jews self-categorise as “Zionists”
- 82% of British Jews say Israel plays a “central” or “important but not central role in their Jewish identities”
- 87% of British Jews agree “that Jews are responsible for ensuring ‘the survival of Israel’”
- 54% of British Jews who do not self-categorise as “Zionists” nevertheless agree “that Jews are responsible for ensuring ‘the survival of Israel”
- 62% of self-described Zionists agree that Israel should give up land for peace
- 78% of British Jews believe in a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict
These figures demonstrate the hurt that is caused to ordinary Jews when “anti-Zionists” push their dehumanised and demonised perversions of the word “Zionism”.
