(November 2, 2013 at 10:15 pm)WesOlsen Wrote: Anti-zionism has taken many forms over the years but is certainly not exclusively a right-wing ideology. In fact i'd be tempted to say that it's been adopted by anti-racist left wingers (such as myself) in more recent times, more than by anyone else. We mustn't confuse anti-zionism with anti-semitism. Discussing Judaism is slightly different than discussing christianity or islam because Jews consider themselves both a religion AND an ethnic group.
I oppose Zionism (that is, the idea that the jews are entitled exclusively to a certain piece of land because of religious horse shit) because I oppose both racism and religious fascism. I wouldn't expect the UK to be reserved for one racial group only, and neither do I think that its ok for any other country to implement racist policies. Like I say though, there's a delicate interplay between race and religion when it comes to Judaism, so it's always important to emphasise that racism is inherintly wicked but that religion by-and-large remains optional (and all belief systems, whether religious, political or otherwise) must remain open to criticism.
I'm sure in American politics the reasons are very varied for being pro or anti Israel, just as they are in Europe, but we must not mistake opposition to zionism for being some sort of exclusive nazi or fascist ideology.
Fuck the labels, this is about human credulity as part of our evolutionary history. Jews were not the first to feel entitled. "Divine right" is a motif that existed even in polytheism. The idea that your fortune was given to you by a god.
American Christians pull the same bullshit with "Christian Nation" forgetting the continent was stolen from natives. Even some Mexicans claim that states like California, Arizona and Texas were originally part of Mexico, but they too fail to see that Spanish invaders took the land from natives before the states bought them from the Spanish and French.
The reality is that no one is really entitled to land, we simply as a species compete for resources and go where those resources are. Borders change and power shifts over long periods and religions too die or change so much over time they don't look like the one when they started.
I am anti superstition so if someone thinks by proxy of race or religion or nationality they are entitled especially by a god, sorry, no you are not.
You can be my neighbor, and marry into my family, and you can be my friend, but don't ask me to buy that you are "special". When people claim being special, I ask them IN WHAT CONTEXT.
Yes you are special, to you, then to your family and friends, and to your community, but to evolution, none of us are special.