" What's 'Zionism' "

UT :
I have a big question for you...
SimShalom :
me? ok
UT :
could you explain to me what is Zionism?
SimShalom :
Zion is the name used for the Land of Israel, in the Bible, and means "Excellent" or 'The Marked Place'.
But it really only got its current usage about 120 years ago, when it became a POLITICAL "movement" that encompassed many different Jews mainly in Eastern Europe who started to push for the settlement of what was then known as Palestine, and which has become the "umbrella name" for the general movement of the return of all Jews to their original homeland the Land of Israel, thus ending a (very long) 2,000 year exile among the nations of the world.
And a Zionist is a person who believes in this cause and even works for it.
And now that there is a State of Israel, it is accepted that the Jews who live in it are the ultimate Zionists since they live, fight, and many times die there...
UT :
so basically someone who wants the return of Jews to Israel is a zionist?
SimShalom :
just "wanting" them to return is an emotion, maybe even a religious belief among evangelical Christians,and in a very broad sense means they SUPPORT Zionism, but it doesn't really make them into Zionists. A Zionist needs a more immediate connection to the Jews , especially to the Jews of Israel, a Jew who has an objective to live there is a Zionist, or one that gives lots of money to Israel, or Israel causes.
Generally non-Jews do not get the label 'Zionist", but there are some rare exceptions where a gentile has made great CONTRIBUTIONS of some sort to the Zionist cause
UT:
ahh I see
okay, I never really understood that much
SimShalom :
it's a HUGE topic..some Jews are actually vehemently "Anti-Zionist"... some for religious reasons because they believe only the Jewish Messiah has the right to resurrect the Jewish State.
Others oppose it for political reasons, like they reject and even fight against the idea that Jews should have such an exclusive nationalistic idea, like the Jews of Germany prior to the Holocaust who said Germany is their "Zion", and Berlin is their new "Jerusalem"...but it did not do them much good in the end, obviously
UT:
hm I can imagine it is a big topic
SimShalom :
Of course most Arabs, and most Muslims hate Zionism and Zionists, to them it's a "curse" and they have fought against it for a long time, till this very day, they do not acknowledge the Jews' right to a homeland in Israel which is the central foundation of Zionism
UT :
yeah I always thought that it was their right
SimShalom :
Arabs have other perspectives on this subject...and it's best not to confront them on it, without a "body-guard" since they can get very heated up about how the Jews "stole" "their" land.....even tho Jews have always lived in Israel/Palestine.



- posted by Izak @ 10:57 PM