From the pages of OUTLOOK

Outlook, May/June 2007

Anti-Zionism and Non-Zionism in Jewish Life—Past and Present

By Bennett Muraskin

Four groups of Jews traditionally opposed or did not support Zionism:

1. 1. Reform Jews who believed that Jews were purely a religious persuasion, not a people or a nationality, and should seek to integrate into the societies in which they lived.
2. 2.  Ultra-Orthodox Jews who believed that Jews should not return to Zion until the Messiah came.
3. 3.  Socialist, communist and anarchist Jews who believed that Jews were divided into classes and that it was the mission of working-class Jews to remain in nations where they lived in order to unite with non-Jewish revolutionaries to overthrow capitalism. 
4. 4. Cultural Jews who believed that Jews flourish best in autonomous Jewish communities within democratic societies that respect Jewish rights.

Of the four “founding fathers” of secular Jewishness—I. L. Peretz, Simon Dubnow, Chaim Zhitlovsky and Ahad Ha’am—the first three were cultural Jews (Peretz was also a socialist) and the last was a cultural Zionist who did not believe in the need for a Jewish state. 

Until World War Two, the majority of politically active Jews in the world were not Zionists, and among the secular Jewish movement the percentage was much higher, since it was dominated by people in categories three and four. When Israel was established, nearly all these Jews lent their support, but this does not mean that they became Zionists.

Among many distinguished Jewish critics of Zionism (some of whom considered themselves Zionists but favored a bi-national rather than a Jewish state), were Judah Magnes, Hannah Arendt, Henrietta Szold, Isaac Deutscher, I.F. Stone, Hans Kohn, Albert Einstein and Martin Buber. Bi-nationalism was a central platform of the Socialist-Zionist Hashomer Hatzair movement in pre-state Palestine.

Anti-Zionists in Israel were found in the Canaanite movement, active in the 1950s, made up of Jews who sought to create a Hebrew nation that would return to its alleged Semitic roots, and in Matzpen, a revolutionary socialist organization active in the 1960s and 70s. There are Jews in Israel today who believe Israel should be a state of all its citizens rather than a Jewish state.

Just as not all Jews are Zionists, not all Zionists are Jews. Nowadays Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals in the U.S. are among the most fervent Zionists. In the early 20th century Zionism was quite popular among British Christians. Gentiles who want to see fewer Jews in their own countries have been among the most enthusiastic Zionists.  

Zionism claimed to be the solution to the Jewish problem throughout the world, and indeed Israel has provided a home to many Jews in distress. But it cannot be denied that since 1948 it has proven to be the most dangerous Jewish address. As the self-proclaimed Jewish state, avidly supported by Jewish leadership in the Diaspora, Israel’s misdeeds are readily attributed to Jews outside Israel. In this sense, Zionism can be said to provoke anti-Semitism.

Furthermore, Zionists have often acted in a manner contrary to the interests of Jews in the Diaspora. For example, Zionists have typically opposed freer immigration policies in Gentile nations because it would divert Jews from emigrating to Palestine/Israel. This held true during the Holocaust and the post-World War Two period. Some Zionists have a history of abstaining from struggles against anti-Semitism because they agreed with anti-Semites that Jews were an alien body in Europe that should be removed.

Zionism also claimed that it would free Jews from dependence on Gentiles, but were it not for the British Empire (the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate) and the United Nations (the Partition Resolution) there would be no Israel. Israel’s heavy dependence on the U.S. since 1967 is self-evident. The U.S. was also inadvertently responsible for Jewish emigration to Palestine as far back as the 1920s. Because the U.S. restricted Jewish immigration from 1924 to the early 1950s, most European Jews fleeing anti-Semitic persecution, who would have preferred to enter the U.S., had no choice but to go to Palestine/Israel. 

Here are what I see as the basic differences between Zionist Jews and non-Zionist Jews.

1. 1. Zionist Jews are more likely than non-Zionist Jews to believe that most Gentiles are either active or potential anti-Semites and that the only way Jews can be secure is by creating their own state where Jews are in the majority and hold state power. Non-Zionist Jews are more likely to believe that Jews and Gentiles need not distrust, fear or hate each other and that Jews can live securely as small minorities in nations dominated by Gentile majorities.
2. 2. Zionist Jews believe that Israel is the center of the Jewish universe and that Jewish life in the Diaspora is less authentic than that in Israel. Non-Zionists Jews believe that Jewish life in the Diaspora can be as fulfilling as Jewish life in Israel. 
3. 3. Zionist Jews focus on Israel and the Holocaust as the touchstones of Jewish identity. Non-Zionist Jews are more likely to emphasis the centrality of human rights and social justice.
4. 4. Zionist Jews believe that Jews in the Diaspora are duty-bound to either emigrate to Israel or to support Israel financially and politically. Non- Zionist Jews choose to live in the Diaspora and will support or oppose Israel depending on how it conducts itself.
5. 5. Zionist Jews promote a version of Jewish history that emphasizes the importance of Jewish sovereignty in ancient and modern Israel, denigrating the Diaspora experience as one of exile and humiliation. Non-Zionist Jews promote a version of Jewish history that emphasizes the importance of Jewish communities adapting in their non-Jewish environments and sees the Diaspora experience as enriching Jews culturally and spiritually.
6. 6. Zionist Jews consider modern Hebrew and Hebrew literature as among the best creations of Jewish culture. Non-Zionist Jews are more likely to feel the same way about Yiddish.
7. 7. Zionist Jews are fundamentally Jewish nationalists, who believe that a Jewish life is worth more than a Palestinian one. Therefore they are more likely to advocate the use of force against Palestinians and the Arab world. Non-Zionist Jews are fundamentally Jewish internationalists who value Jewish and non-Jewish life equally.

It is true that there are Left Zionists who join non-Zionists in stressing recognition of Palestinian rights, diplomacy and compromise as the means to achieve peace in the Middle East. However, they do so out of a belief that this outcome is in the best interests of the Jews of Israel, rather than out of concern for human rights in general.

I do not believe anti-Zionism is a viable option for progressive Jews. Nearly all of the six million Jews in Israel wish to remain in a Jewish state, and nationalism is as strong today in the Middle East as ever. There is simply no constituency at this time for a bi-national state or single state of Jews and Palestinians. However, the Zionist attempt to equate Zionism with Judaism and to denigrate Jewish dissenters as anti-Semites must be resisted. A non-Zionism (or perhaps a better term would be “post-Zionism”) that respects the right of Israeli Jews to self-determination, within the context of a two-state solution, and guarantees equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel is, in my opinion, a Jewish ethical imperative.

BENNETT MURASKIN is a regular contributor to Outlook, Humanistic Judaism and Jewish Currents.

From Outlook: Canada’s Progressive Jewish Magazine, Vancouver, BC. Outlook Website

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