No state has a “right to exist”
JVL Introduction
“Do you support the right of Israel to exist? is the media’s favoured go-to when out to discredit any interviewee.
Nick Robinson duly rolled it out recently against Zack Polanski after the Green Party conference adopted its Zionism is Racism motion.
As Cook makes clear,
Peoples have a right to exist. When that right is abused, it invariably involves very serious violations of international law – often through crimes such as apartheid, ethnic cleansing or genocide.
States, by contrast, don’t have a “right” to exist. They simply do exist as a matter of fact – until they suddenly don’t. Like apartheid South Africa. Like Rhodesia. Like Czechoslovakia. Like Yugoslavia. Like Nazi Germany.
Furthermore,
Israelis have a right to exist – they have a right not to be oppressed, ethnically cleansed, genocided – and the state that represents them is legitimate so long as its role is to protect them from these kinds of threats. So long as it provides them with a degree of dignity and security.
But Israelis lose the right to maintain their state as it is if that state is used to oppress, ethnically cleanse or genocide another people, like the Palestinians. Then it becomes an illegitimate state, just like apartheid South Africa or Nazi Germany. It must be reconstituted in ways that regain its legitimacy.
This article was originally published by Jonathan Cook's Substack on Mon 12 Oct 2026. Read the original here.
No state has a ‘right’ to exist – least of all an apartheid, genocidal state like Israel
After the Greens passed a motion declaring ‘Zionism is racism’, every establishment journalist is suddenly playing dumb about the most elementary of issues in international law
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My own feeling about the statement ‘Zionism is Racism’ is that it does not make much sense. Zionism as an idea has evolved over time and now seems to revolve around the idea that Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people. As I have commented a number of times before Jewish people are a faith group not a race. It seems to be agreed that the state of Israel discriminates against people who live there, but who are not of that faith group and even against those of a different skin colour who are members of that faith group. If I followed that example I would declare that England is the nation state of the English people and join the people who fly red crosses on a white background from lamp posts.
By modern times, all large tracts of land able to support human life have people living on them. There’s no such thing as an empty land, free of existing inhabitants.
Typically the existing inhabitants expect to retain their property and rights. Even if they’re willing to welcome newcomers (not always a given) they tend to expect the new people to abide by their ways during at least the early stages of living together. Several groups may blend into one over time … but that process depends partly on there being low levels of inter-group conflict and some advantage in becoming a united group.
Whether you’re talking about a faith group or something more easily understood as a race, 19th century and later Zionist leaders wanted a territory over which their group would enjoy perpetual supremacy over the existing inhabitants. No human beings accept the loss of their security, rights, property and way of life unless they’re forced to … so “Zionism is [necessarily] Racism”. It can’t be anything else.
Here are a couple of thoughts that have cropped up in recent conversations.
On the one hand Israel will never allow an independent Palestinian state alongside itself as in the 2 state solution. On the other hand how comfortable would Palestinians be living in a single state alongside Israelis who have supported the genocide in Gaza?
Can anyone link to authoritative numbers which indicate the prevailing preference among Palestinians in general?
Another question I am encountering re the one state solution is this. Would the single state be a safe haven for Jews in other parts of the world facing persecution? On the other hand would the automatic right of all Jews to become Israeli citizens be revoked?
Given that the term ‘Israel’ applies to a settler colonial occupation the only right it has is to end the occupation and return the land to the Palestinian people. And this applies to the occupation by the so-called ‘UK’ in the north if Ireland.
On a minor note the article, mistakenly, appears to include Nick Robinson in ‘brightest and best’ journalists.
Zionism is a modern european ideaology using middle east Judasim and historical events to excuse its ethnic cleansing of an indigenous group and at the same monopolising holacust to create their own race. Very much the same has nazism and fascism. They create race contrary to anthropology and archeology evidence.
The idea of a superior group is long established in colonial and imperial ambitions.
A race is pushing it.
Zionism promotes racism through its deeds. It is not a race but promotes ideaology of nazism, fascism and racism through its actions. It uses Judasim which equally is a religion. However the monotheistic form (they varied)of Judaism was borne out of the middle east by an indigenous group. Zionism ideaology and acts are racists and it seems to believe ancient indigenous were europeans.
Is Zionism another form of racism? – Yes