User:GHcool/Opinions on Zionism

My opinions on Zionism were formed through my Hebrew school educational experience, through my family, many of whom are Israeli, through my many travels to Israel, and through my reading and attending lectures during my college years and beyond until the present day. In my opinion, Zionism is best understood as the pre-1948 national movement of the Jewish people for self-governance in their ancestral and cultural homeland, the Land of Israel. After Israel became a state in 1948, Zionism is most often expressed as general support for the Jewish state, although a Zionist is not required to (and often doesn't) agree with every action the government of Israel takes.

Accusations

 * "To say that [racial discrimination] cannot be connected to the Zionist movement is false." - User:Pco
 * "With Israeli President Olmert's [sic] approval rating below 20% due to his strict Zionist policies toward separating all Jews from all Muslims, one must assume that the majority of Israel's citizens are not Zionist." - User:Pco
 * "Similar to George Bush's statement 'You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists', [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert was quoted as saying 'Whoever believes in the right of the Jewish People to have a sovereign Jewish state in any part of the Land of Israel is a Zionist." - User:Pco
 * "Zionism is a political movement rooted in religious doctrine. If wikipedia [sic] doesn't state that Zionism is both religious and political right from the beginning (which is why it is undemocratic) then wikipedia [sic] is giving bias to the term in favor of the State of Israel.  ... If I decided to make California for Atheists only ..., then you would see that as a racist and religiously discriminatory idea, ....  No one would call zionism [sic] racism if the goal of the state was not obviously to deny the existence of all non-jews.[sic]" - User:71.135.36.250
 * "zionism [sic] is discrimination through political rhetoric - no matter how you slice it. ... I'm not saying it's evil, the articles [that she derives her conclusions from] say it themselves.  I am referencing the articles that say these things, you just don't want to admit it.  Democracy cannot exist with Zionism because Zionism by definition is for Jews only.  Why can't you admit that? Why can't you let me state the truth? You are the one that is POV ... how can there be consensus with 10 zionists [sic] against one secular?" - User:Pco addressing SlimVirgin, a well-respected administrator on Wikipedia.
 * "[I]t's impossible to insert any evidence against Zionist politicians [on Wikipedia without it being reverted], no matter how well referenced and indeed proud they may be of their murderous racism." - User:PalestineRemembered
 * "Although I personally find such linkages [between Israeli policies in 2008 and Nazi German policies during the Holocaust] often offensive, I think to a degree they are also necessary in the fact they point to some aspects of right-wing policy of those in Israel bearing uncomfertable similarities to the policies pursued by the Nazis (i.e. the 'ghettoization' of the Palestinians)." - 86.140.39.142

Reality
Pco is actually Darrow Boggiano, the founder of Political Cooperative, a far-left faux political party in the United States. As a member of WikiProject Israel, Pco implicitly agreed to abide by the project's stated "Goals" which clearly state that members should "[c]reate and maintain fair and unbiased information on Israel." Sadly, Pco has failed this obligation at every level by distributing disinformation throughout talk pages (which is bad enough), but also within articles without citations or consensus (which is unforgivable).

Like most proponents of the "Zionism is racism" UN resolution, Pco has probably never heard or read an NPOV definition of Zionism so she could decide for herself whether or not Zionism is actually racism. According to Random House Webster's College Dictionary, Zionism is simply "a worldwide Jewish movement for the establishment and development of the State of Israel." An anti-Zionist, therefore would be someone who is against "the establishment and development of the State of Israel." Olmert's statement is not a "dilution" of the definition; rather it is a reminder of what the definition has always been and always will be. Like any political ideology, there is a wide variety of interpretation of this ideology (Christian Zionism, Labor Zionism, etc.), but what they all have in common is exactly what Olmert said: the belief that the Jewish people have a right to a sovereign Jewish state in at least a part of the Land of Israel.

It is doubtful that any reasonable, fair-minded person aware of the history of the Jews and of the Middle East would be against the development of a modern nation in the Middle East safe for Jews to live in (assuming that person is not from a nation that is in a state of war with that nation). Furthermore, Zionism is a term that more accurately reflects a pre-Jewish state mentality than for identification with the State of Israel in the 21st century. Without a doubt, Israel practices racial discrimination, but then again so does every other government in the world preferring certain citizens more than others. Therefore, proponents of the "Zionism is racism" campaign should equally insist that Hindutva, Kemalism, and pan-Arabism are all racist or "undemocratic" ideologies.

Luckily, unlike Pco, most Wikipedians play by the rules of reliable citations, no original research, and (for the most part) NPOV. Pco has also been warned for violating Conflict of interest and has made a personal attack in an edit summary against a respected administrator that was so uncalled for that I refuse to repeat it on my user page. Although as far as I know, Wikipedia does not have a rule against wacko opinions (provided they are not included into articles as original research), its important to note that Pco has a funny way of defining what is and is not racist. The fact that she made light of the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Iran in which she wrote, "I think that a holocaust deniers [sic] conference is a good idea - Mahmood must have learned something ... Yes, let them rant and have a conference - they will eventually realize their errors ..." speaks volumes about her point of view when it comes to the Jewish state, Jewish history, and perhaps even Judaism in general. For this reason, I urge honest Wikipedians not to take anything that Pco says seriously on any matter pertaining to the Jewish people.

As for the comparison of some of Israel's policies to some of Nazi Germany's policies, it is simply wrong and embarrassingly so. People who make this comparison do so either out of ignorance or to shock and insult. Israel does not "ghettoize" Palestinians and, in Israel, justice is blind concerning the race/religion of its citizens. This was not the case in Nazi Germany. There is no correlation here at all.

Recommended links

 * "A Definition of Zionism" from Jewish Virtual Library
 * My Jewish Learning: Zionism
 * "What is Zionism?" from the Anti-Defamation League
 * Zionism - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary