Zionism and Jewish identity
JVL Introduction
Professor of Philosophy Joseph Levine, a Jewish Voice for Peace activist in Boston, responds to a recent American article which argues that, because Zionism is an essential component of Jewish identity, it is antisemitic to criticise it. Wouldn’t such an argument apply equally to white supremacists, asks Levine, to exempt them from criticism too?
The argument for identity is one that effectively rules out any question as to whether Zionism is just or not. Its aim argues Levine is “to structure the public debate so that criticisms of Zionism cannot be aired in the first place…”
This article was originally published by Mondoweiss on Mon 2 Sep 2019. Read the original here.
‘Zionism is at the core of Jewish identity, so anti-Zionism is anti-Semitic’ — A response
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Actually, the issue doesn’t need lengthy examination. As said, the conflation of ‘Jewish Identity’ and ‘Zionism’ falls apart under even the most simple scrutiny, since many who consider themselves as Jewish do not identify with Zionism as being essential to that identity.
Demolition complete.
Now … about Palestinian identity …?
Joseph Levine makes some good arguments, particularly the Catch 22 one, but I’m not sure whether the analogy with white supremacism works. The reason is that Judea Pearl’s position seems to be worse than Joseph admits, as the “reasoning” outlined here indicates that Pearl thinks that those Jews who are not Zionists are not actually Jews. How else can you interpret the idea that “Zionism is an essential component of Jewish identity”? I don’t think white supremacists would argue that those white people who are not racist bigots are not white, as they hope to recruit more white people to their ranks. The analogy only works if you reject Judea’s “identity” aspect of Jewishness and go wholesale for the claim that you only become a Jew once you embrace Zionism, which is what he is actually saying. Well, thanks for that.