Israel is a spiritual, multi-ethnic, hard-working nation – one founded on nearly four millennia of persecution, leavened by a divine covenant that imparted an enduring national and moral identity on its people.
The dramatic events at Mt. Sinai, when the twelve tribes received theTorahwith its 613 laws, established not only religious principles but a collectivesocialidentity coupled with an allocation of land in perpetuity. It was only when rooted in the promised land itself that the Jewish people could truly become a nation of destiny.
The patriarchsAbraham,Isaac, andJacobeach received a divine promise of land -- the boundaries of which were surprisinglyspecific. Today, while Israel occupies only a small portion of that promised land, this tiny bit remains central to Jews worldwide. Israel is regarded by the Jewish nation in general as "holy" land – donated exclusively to the Jews by the Creator. It is considered amitzvah– a command – for them to dwell there: "You shall possess the land," the biblical versereads, "and dwell in it."
Jewish history and identity -- national, social, and personal -- is inextricably bound toEretz Yisrael: the Land of Israel. It is almost beyond comprehension, therefore, for a Jew to denigrate fellow Jews who support the right of their people to live inEretz Yisrael. When people, including Jews, negate the right of Israel to exist as a state, such an attitude contradicts not only the fundaments of Judaism, but the core of humanitarian compassion.
"Zionism" is basically the right of the Jewish nation to live in its ancestral home -- the land promised them in millennia past. Nothing more, nothing less. The safe haven of this tiny piece of land -- roughly 22,000 sq. km., about the same as the state of New Jersey - is therefore irreversibly important. The journalist Caroline Glickframedthis view as follows: "It is the resurrection of strategic independence — of Zionism — that will secure Israel's future for the next hundred years."
Yet, it has become common for others to denigrate Israel's right even to exist.
In such instances, it has become clear that hostile ideology trumps history, fundamental principles of faith, and basic humanitarian compassion for those Jews who seek sanctuary after centuries of pogroms, genocide, blatant discrimination, prejudice and hatred when their forebears lived among hostile nations. Can such adversaries even be considered credible? It is obvious they have lost much acceptability, including the right to speak on behalf of others, for they have aligned themselves with terrorists and other enemies of Western civilization.
Sadly, pursuant to October 7, 2023, even some supposedly "Jewish" anti-Zionist groups such as J Street and New York Jewish Agenda,accordingto journalist Jonathan Tobin, "supported the efforts of those who sought to prevent Israel from attacking Hamas and Iran." The world appears already to have forgotten that when Jews were pushed into the gas chambers ofAuschwitz-Birkenau,Treblinkaand other death camps, no one first asked them if they were observant or secular, leftist or conservative, Orthodox or Reform, Zionist or anti-Zionist.
Writingabout Phylisa Wisdom, the left-wing activist whom New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed to head the city's "Office to Combat Antisemitism," Tobin remarked that her appointment "symbolizes what has happened to the idea of 'liberal Zionism' in the 21st century."
"If acting and speaking as she has done is what it means to be a liberal Zionist today, then a real disconnect exists. It's not merely time to realize that the phrase has lost its original meaning; instead, we must understand that those who have appropriated that label are neither Zionist nor authentically liberal."
Source: Gatestone Institute :: Articles
