#antizionismnotantisemitismtm

[still-searching-for-something]

First off, I limit this discussion to being modern antizionism--pre-state antizionism could have more leeway, as Israel was an entirely theoretical discussion, and antizionism would not have involved destroying a state, but that's a different conversation altogether.

I hold that there are two, and only two instances where antizionism in the modern day is not antisemitic.

1. You're an anarchist who believes in no states, including Palestine, and including Israel. This comes with the caveat, though, that you have to be condemning all states equally--if you're theoretically in favor of all states being destroyed, but in practice only talk about Israel's destruction, you're antisemitic. And anyway, anarchism is childish, naive, extreme and dangerous--especially in the 'destroy all states immediately' kind of way, so you're a fool at minimum, even if you aren't antisemitic.

2. You're a religiously frum Jew who believes the state of Israel is premature and can only be inaugurated with the coming of Moshiach. This too comes with caveats, however, and I think a good way to demonstrate this is by comparing Satmar and JVP/Neturei Karta.

For those not familiar (I imagine 99% of Jews are familiar with these groups, but any goyim who see this may not be) Satmar is an extremely observant Haredi Orthodox Jewish group, for whom antizionism is an important part of their theology and practice. Jewish Voices for Peace are a hate group which is about as Jewish as a swastika, and Neturei Karta are a cult of self hating Haredi Jews who eagerly tokenize themselves.

Now, I disagree with Satmar in a variety of areas, including how they treat women, how they interpret the Torah and the role of Jews in modern society, and a whole lot more, including their antizionism. BUT, they are one of the few antizionists whom I would argue are not antisemitic, because —this is the key—they push back against any attempt by left wing antizionists to tokenize them or use their antizionist views as “proof” that to be a “good Jew” you need to disavow Zionism and Israel. Satmar also makes no claim to representing a majority Jewish view, and make no effort to dismantle, demonize, or discredit Israel—they just stay away from its government and refuse to interact with it or benefit from it. I guess you could argue this isn't even antizionism as much as it is non-zionism, but I digress.

This stands in stark contrast to JVP and NK, who both consistently support extremist views about Israel, post false accusations and propaganda against it, and portray themselves as the “Jews of conscience”, the REAL Jews and that anyone who disagrees with them is a (((Zionist))) colonizer and genocidal maniac. Satmar was horrified by October 7th. JVP and NK celebrated and then denied it. Satmar distances themselves from the antisemites who point to Satmar as an example of “good antizionist Jews”. Neturei Karta and JVP embrace that role.

Notice how, in my long list of non-antisemitic antizionists (which consisted of two instances), "white progressive goy who wants to see Israel destroyed" was not on it. Nor was Soviet antizionism. Nor is the Tumblrina who whines about Palestinian "genocide" and Israel being an apartheid state. Nor is the Islamist who jerks off the idea of a massive caliphate.

Wow, it's almost like outside of very limited circumstances, antizionism is a cheap cover for antisemitism! Crazy, right?