To the Editor,
The Jerusalem Report
In
his article, “BDS Seeks To Disassociate Zionism from Judaism” (The
Jerusalem Report, May 27, 2024), Robert Greenstein argues that those who
maintain that Judaism and Zionism are separate and distinct are simply
trying to avoid charges of “antisemitism.” In Greenstein’s view, “For
most Jews…Zionism is central to our religious and cultural identity.”
This
idea may embody wishful thinking on the part of Mr.Greenstein. To
argue that opposition to Zionism is “antisemitism” is to ignore the long
tradition of Jewish opposition to Zionism, of which he appears to be
unaware. His argument, then, is ahistoric in the extreme.
Zionism
was vigorously opposed by Jews who were both Orthodox and Reform. In
1929, Orthodox Rabbi Samuel Tamarat wrote that the very notion of a
sovereign Jewish state as a spiritual center was “a contradiction to
Judaism’s ultimate purpose.” He noted that Judaism at root is not some
religious concentration which may be localized or situated in a single
territory. Neither is Judaism a ‘nationality,’ in the sense of modern
nationalism, fit to be woven into the three-foldedness of ‘homeland,
army and heroic songs.’ No, Judaism is Torah, ethics and exaltation of
spirit. If Judaism is truly Torah, then it cannot be reduced to the
confines of any particular territory. For as Scripture said of Torah,
‘Its measure is greater than the earth.’”
Rabbi
Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King,
Jr., declared that, “Judaism is not a religion of space and does not
worship the soil. So, too, the State of Israel is not the climax of
Jewish history, but is a test of the integrity of the Jewish people and
the competence of Israel.”
Zionism
tells us that Israel is the “homeland” of all Jews and that Jews living
elsewhere are in “exile.” How many Jewish Americans does Mr.
Greenstein think believe that they are in “exile?” Jews have been quite
at home in America for 250 years. They live in a society where there
is complete religious freedom and separation of church and state. This
cannot be said of Israel, which is a theocracy. Non-Orthodox rabbis are
forbidden by law to conduct marriages or perform funerals. Their
conversions are not recognized. Non-Orthodox Jews have fewer rights in
Israel than in any Western country.
In
1897, the Central Conference of American Rabbis adopted a resolution
disapproving of any attempt to establish a Jewish state. The resolution
declared, “Zion was a precious possession of the past…but it is not our
hope of the future. America is our Zion.”
Before
World War 11, Zionism was a small minority movement among Jews. It is
now on its way of becoming such a minority again. The Holocaust, which
killed six million Jews, was one of the horrors of history. The
Palestinians had nothing to do with the Nazi slaughter of European
Jews. Yet their country——not Prussia or Bavaria—-was taken from them
and through the Zionist policy of ethnic cleansing——described in great
detail by Israeli historians Benny Morris, Ilan Pape, Avi Shlaim and
others——they became victims of an Israeli government which turned its
back on Jewish moral and ethical values. The Palestinians, sadly, are
the last victims of the Holocaust.
Using
the term “antisemitism” to describe criticism of Zionism, and Israel’s
slaughter of civilians in Gaza, is simply a tactic to silence critics.
Some of the most vocal critics, indeed, are Jewish. Aryeh Neier, whose
Jewish family escaped Nazi Germany, a founder of Human Rights Watch and
long-time leader of the American Civil Liberties Union, characterizes
Israel’s assault on civilians and refusal to arrest West Bank settlers
who stop and destroy trucks carrying food and medicine to starving
Palestinians, as “genocide.”
Mr.
Greenstein and others who seek to silence criticism of Zionism are
living in something of a dreamworld. Among Jewish Americans, Zionism is
increasingly seen as a dangerous wrong turn,a retreat from Judaism’s
moral and ethical tradition.
Sincerely,
Allan C.Brownfeld,
Alexandria, Virginia,
Editor of ISSUES, the quarterly journal of the