RocketJSquirell
Member
There is no legitimate criticism of Zionism.
There is legitimate criticism of Israeli policy. There is legitimate criticism of Israeli military action. There is legitimate criticism of the words or actions of individuals who make decisions about Israeli government. There are all kinds of legitimate criticisms about politics.
But unless you disagree with the entire concept of national self-determination of peoples, there is no legitimate criticism of Zionism.
This is 100% correct.
Zionism is the national movement of the Jewish people. Before you criticize Zionism you must ask yourself if you criticize any other national movement and if so on what basis. Do you criticize Russian nationalism? Norwegian nationalism? French nationalism? Tibetan nationalism? Kurdish nationalism? Canadian nationalism? Turkish nationalism? Iranian nationalism? American nationalism? etc.... Do you have a consistent, rational, and fact based criteria for your criticism? Unless you are completely anti-nationalist (you reject all ideas of statehood and national affiliation, including that of the nation in which you live) criticizing Zionism is almost certainly illegitimate.
One of the great things about Zionism is that unlike most other national movements ( say, the Arab Palestinian national movement) it consciously embraces diversity and respect for minority populations. This is reflected in the Israeli declaration of establishment (and elsewhere)
"THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPo...tion of Establishment of State of Israel.aspx
One can certainly question whether the government of Israel has been able to live up to its goals set forth in the Declaration, whether a particular policy or law promotes or does not promote those goals, whether there is a better way of achieving those goals, etc.... However, in order to avoid being a hypocrite, at best, or an anti-Israel hater, at worst, I would urge you to apply the same standard to the actions of the Israeli government that you apply to the actions of all other governments and that you criticize actual policies, laws and practices, not fictitious ones.