26 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: [Updated] Who runs /r/Holocaust? Each line represents a moderator overlap. [OC]
From "How to Criticize Israel Without Being Anti-Semitic[1]":
**Don’t say “Zionists” when you mean Israel.** Zionism is no more a dirty word than feminism. It is simply the belief that the Jews should have a country in part of their ancestral homeland where they can take refuge from the anti-Semitism and persecution they face everywhere else. It does not mean a belief that Jews have a right to grab land from others, a belief that Jews are superior to non-Jews, or any other such tripe, any more than feminism means hating men. Unless you believe that Israel should entirely cease to exist, you are yourself Zionist. Furthermore, using “Zionists” in place of “Israelis” is inaccurate and harmful. The word “Zionists” includes Diasporan Jews as well (most of whom support a two-state solution and pretty much none of whom have any influence on Israel’s policies) and is used to justify anti-Semitic attacks outside Israel (i.e., they brought it on themselves by being Zionists). And many of the Jews IN Israel who are most violent against Palestinians are actually anti-Zionist—they believe that the modern state of Israel is an offense against God because it isn’t governed by halakha (traditional Jewish religious law). Be careful with the labels you use.
Comment by DdCno1 at 23/07/2014 at 07:28 UTC
11 upvotes, 0 direct replies
We need a bot to post this in every "discussion" on Israel on this site, but I doubt it would improve the quality of the comments in a significant way. I'm assuming they'd just switch over to new code words.
Comment by DontYouMeanHAHAHAHA at 23/07/2014 at 13:19 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I think the problem is also that considering the Jewish identity of Israel, saying Israel seems to imply Jews as well, and then people just go for the most political word, Zionism.