Is Zionism a Form of Racism?

Harvard University defines Zionism as follows:

“Zionism is a political movement that was initiated in the late 19th century with the aim of actualizing the Jewish sense of peoplehood in a physical nation, leading to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.”

That definition doesn’t sound objectionable, but it skips over the how. How was the State of Israel established? Through terror and skullduggery.

To be sure, Zionism is not the same as Judaism. Jewish people are largely good people with good values, and a number of Jews have been supportive of Palestinian human rights, such as Jewish Voice for Peace and B’Tselem. We must not fall into the trap of conflating Zionism with Judaism.

In 1974, Yasser Arafat — who at the time was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) — delivered a watershed speech at the United Nations General Assembly. In this speech, Arafat called for a world free of “colonialism, imperialism, neo-colonialism and racism in all its forms, including zionism.”

Arafat also called for a one-state solution. He said: “So let us work together that my dream may be fulfilled, that I may return with my people out of exile, there in Palestine to live with this Jewish freedom-fighter and his partners, with this Arab priest and his brothers, in one democratic State where Christian, Jew and Muslim live in justice, equality and fraternity.”

A year later in 1975, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3379. Following are a few notable statements from this resolution:

• “[T]he General Assembly condemned, inter alia, the unholy alliance between South African racism and zionism…”
• “[I]nternational co-operation and peace require the achievement of national liberation and independence, the elimination of colonialism and neo-colonialism, foreign occupation, zionism, apartheid and racial discrimination in all its forms, as well as the recognition of the dignity of peoples and their right to self-determination…”
• “…most severely condemned zionism as a threat to world peace and security and called upon all countries to oppose this racist and imperialist ideology…”
• “Determines that zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.”

This UN resolution, in no uncertain terms, equated Zionism with racism. This was about five decades ago. It’s a miracle that it passed. But it was somewhat short-lived. In 1991 the UN General Assembly decided to revoke this resolution.

More than 30 years have passed since the revocation, and a number of events have taken place since then, including the following:

• In August 2000, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef referred to Palestinians as “snakes”. He questioned rhetorically: “How can you make peace with a snake?” He also said “that God is sorry he ever created those sons of Ishmael.”
• In the early 2000s, Israel approved and began building an apartheid wall, about 85% of which runs through the West Bank (i.e. Palestinian territory). It effectively usurped more Palestinian land and cut off some Palestinians from their farmland.
• A group called Lehava was founded in 2005 with the express goal of preventing assimilation. It opposes marriage between Jews and non-Jews, and opposes the presence of Christians in Israel.
• According to human rights organization B’Tselem, more than 5,700 Palestinian housing units have been demolished since 2006.
• Palestinian vehicles in the West Bank have separate license plates and are not allowed to drive on certain roads reserved for Israelis only.
• Palestinians in the West Bank are under constant surveillance by Israeli forces. The latter’s technology includes facial recognition using a system called Red Wolf.
• Palestinians in the West Bank have their freedom of movement restricted by checkpoints, roadblocks, and regular harassment by Israeli occupation forces.
• Palestinians in Jerusalem are often prevented from praying at al-Aqsa Mosque and are regularly beaten and abused by Israeli occupation forces.
• Human Rights Watch published a piece in April 2021 in which it said “Israeli authorities methodically privilege Jewish Israelis and discriminate against Palestinians.” It also stated: “Every day a person is born in Gaza into an open-air prison, in the West Bank without civil rights, in Israel with an inferior status by law, and in neighboring countries effectively condemned to lifelong refugee status, like their parents and grandparents before them, solely because they are Palestinian and not Jewish.”
• During a “Flag March” in Jerusalem in June 2021, Israelis shouted things such as “Death to the Arabs” and “A good Arab is a dead Arab”.
• In a now-deleted social media post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in regards to the October 2023 assault on Gaza: “This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle.”
• Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in October 2023: “We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly.”
• Deputy Minister of Jerusalem Arieh King said in December 2023: “They [Palestinians] are not human beings and not human animals, they are subhuman and that is how they should be treated.” He also suggested burying them alive using US-supplied Caterpillar bulldozers.

So now I ask you: Is Zionism a form of racism?