Israel and Zionists try to confuse the public by conflating Judaism with Zionism; they commit their crimes and hide behind the Jewish people. Palestinians, on the other hand, distinguish between Jews, Judaism and Zionism and hold the Zionists responsible for the crimes they commit against them, not the Jews.

While the Zionists say, “Every Jew is a Zionist,” the Palestinians have raised the slogan, “Not every Jew is a Zionist, and not every Zionist is a Jew,” in order to make it clear for people to distinguish who the enemy is.

In contrast, there are hypocritical politicians, from the government and the shadow government, who are not ashamed of their ignorance, confuse Zionism with Judaism and attack those who hold the Zionists responsible for the internationally condemned crimes committed by Israel against Palestinians, to appease Israel and its lobby. By doing so, they hold Jews responsible for these crimes, not the Zionists. This is dangerous and the highest form of anti-Arab and anti-Semitism.

Therefore, in light of the genocide being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people, it is important to define what Zionism is and what it represents.

A colonial ideology

Zionism is a political ideology developed in 1896 by an Austrian Jew, Theodore Herzl. In his book “The Jewish State” he suggested Palestine or Argentina be given to the Jews to establish a Jewish colony. He wrote: “Shall we choose Palestine or Argentina? …In both countries, important experiments in colonisation have been made…We shall take what is given us, and what is selected by Jewish public opinion.”

Herzl’s ideas to establish a Jewish colony and Jewish nationalism were shaped by the colonial and nationalist ideologies of the European bourgeoisie, which were pervasive at the time, and included concepts of racial superiority and contempt for colonised peoples.

One year later, Herzl called for a conference........

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