This is something that I’ve wanted to talk about for a while, but I’ve been reluctant to do it because the way that Zionism harms Jews and the way that it harms Palestinians aren’t exactly comparable; it’s almost like the difference between losing a toe and losing both legs. Likewise, appealing to self‐interest, while a good idea, should nevertheless be unnecessary in order to convince people to stop oppression. Distracting people from the atrocities that Palestinians have suffered for decades and continue to suffer is not my goal. I write this because this has been agitating me for a long time and I need to get it off of my chest.
The biggest reason why Zionism is harmful to Jews is that it does nothing to reduce antisemitism. Most Jews previous to the 1940s refused Zionism because they saw it as a mere capitulation to antisemitism, and early Zionists such as Theodor Herzl actually saw antisemites as potential allies, because Zionism meant fewer Jews in the antisemites’ countries; any fervent antisemite would rather Jews leave his country than stay in it. Thus, Zionism is a form of separatism: it merely isolates Jews from the problem, rather than abolishing the problem. This is why the Fascists supported Zionism, or at least something very similar to it (an exodus to Ethiopia or Madagascar for example; early Zionists similarly proposed locations like Patagonia and Uganda before settling on Palestine).
The next reason is how the neocolony harms Jewish diversity. For example, Beta Israel and other black Jews have suffered disproportionately more police abuse (including lethal force), coercion into undergoing sterilisations (though Zionists deny this), concentration into ghetti, segregation of entire schools, and more. The most privileged ethnicity is white (usually Ashkenazic) people, similarly to how white gentiles are the preferred ethnicity in the Northern world.
That is not to say that whiteness per se guarantees an excellent living standard, though, seeing as how the neocolony mistreats Shoah survivors, many of whom live in poverty today, and Zionists are willing to shamelessly brand pro‐Palestinian ones as “antisemites”. Likewise, many of the pre‐1940s settlers considered the Shoah survivors to be weaklings who somehow allowed the destruction of European Jewry. But these snobs had it all backwards: it was the Zionists who were content to let European antisemitism intensify, thereby driving up support for a Zionist neocolony.
Another reason is how the neocolony forcibly inhibits religious freedom. Faithful Judaists avoid unnecessary violence, but the neocolony’s ruling class demands expansion by any means necessary, thus it is common for the neocolonial authorities to literally drag Orthodox Judaists into military service so that the neocolony can expand. The neocolonial police abuse Orthodox Judaists for other reasons as well. For example, there was an incident in 2011 where the neocolony’s Ministry of Transportation instructed its security guards to assault anti‐Zionist Judaists who were peacefully protesting the desecration of graves by a highway construction project. Several rabbis and even children required hospital care.
The last and most obvious reason is that it puts Jews in harm’s way. Hamas and the IDF alike can inadvertently harm Jewish civilians through explosives and firefights. This simply wasn’t a problem a couple of centuries ago, when Judaists and other Abrahamists lived together peacefully in Palestine. Zionism took that peace away from them.
For those of us with a fascination and appreciation for Jewish cultures, I can certainly understand why “Israel” looks alluring from the surface, so there may be a part of you that would be sad to see it go. Avoid the temptation. While I can’t blame you feeling disappointed, there have been and there shall continue to be ways we can immerse ourselves in Jewish cultures without the need for a neocolony. Although Zionism reduced their number, there are still Jewish neighbourhoods, districts, and quarters around the world, and even opportunities to see Jewish cultures converge; Jews have survived for nearly two thousand years without a state and they shall continue to do so, as it is reasonably probable that Palestinians and lower‐class Jews alike shall join hands in dismantling the neocolony.
