Racism is the ideological justification of oppressing other people for the sake of oppressing them. On its various forms and excuses racism justified the rule of one group of people over the other, whether by conquest and imperialism, or by segregation and institutional discrimination within the home country, based on ethnic, religion, and cultural lines or any other differences that may exist.
Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people; it sought and gained for the Jews self rule and self-determination, a right every nation has (including the Palestinians) where Jews are ruled by Jews and not by other rulers and nations. Before Zionism Jews where a chronic minority: always depended on the (mostly lacking) good grace of others. Prior to the formation of the state of Israel even democratic countries were unable to ensure the safety and well being of their Jewish citizens.
Since racism is about justifying the rule of one group of people over another, and Zionism is about Jews ruling Jews; that is people ruling themselves, Zionism is the exact opposite of racism.
WHAT ABOUT THE OCCUPATION?
Given what has been said above shouldn’t Israel be considered racist because it maintains an occupation over the West Bank?
NO! Is every occupation racist or imperialistic?
What about the occupation of the Confederated States by the Northern States at the end of the American Civil War, which ended slavery there? Was that racist?
And what about the occupation of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, which ended their spate of horrors across the world known as the Second World War?
The fact is that there is no war without occupation, and this war (the Israeli Arab conflict) will always be 19 years longer then the said occupation.
The phase in this conflict known as the Six Days War of June 1967, that resulted in this occupation was a defensive war.
Once the threats to Israel are gone, them being the inability of major players in the Arab world and the Middle East to accept the RIGHT of the Jewish state to exist and the RIGHT of Jews for life and liberty, the road to negotiation and peace will be open, which will end the war and with it the occupation. This is exactly what happened in Sinai Peninsula in 1982, when a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt lead to evacuation of the peninsula from Israeli armed forces and settlers.
WHO’S THE RACIST?
The fact of the matter is that occupation and settlements are not the key markers of racism.
THE DELIBERATE SYSTEMATIC KILLING OF CIVILIAN IS!
This form of abhorrent conduct by Palestinian Arabs against Israeli and Jewish civilians is the most famous feature of the conflict in spite of massive pro Palestinian propaganda, and it predates the state of Israel, and predates the emergence of Zionism.
The earliest known attack was the Safed pogrom, known as ‘The Great Plunder Safed’. It was a 33 days long fest of violence against the Jews of Safed, perpetuated by Palestinian Arabs from the nearby villages.
And since then the methods may have changed but not the conduct.
In denying Jew these equal and most basic rights, anti-Zionists commit an act of discrimination, racism. Which is just as racist as the systematic and deliberate killing of civilians.
Murderous violence that preceded Zionism:
From left to right, victims of the Nebi Musa riots, Jerusalem 1920, the slain body of Haim Brener – the Jaffa riots of 1921, The Kizelshtein family, survivors of the Hebron massacre, 1929. Jewish refugees fleeing Arab Jaffa on their way to Tel Aviv – 1936, the bus and some and some of murdered passengers from the Ma’ale Akrabim attack - 1954. The Ma’alot attack – 1974. The immediate aftermath of the suicide bombing in Sbarro pizzeria 2001.
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