Ryli Dunlap
4 min readOct 29, 2024

Zionism is fundamentally an ideology that was predicated on the acknowledgment that existing people would need to be displaced in order for it to be established, and therein lies the fundamental issue that has made this situation so 'complex', as you and others frequently point out.

But, is it really that 'complex'? To many, it is quite simple: A group of people were forcefully displaced in order to established the Zionist goal of a Jewish state.

Theodor Herzl, the father of modern political Zionism even admitted this reality in his journal:

"We must expropriate gently the private property on the estates assigned to us. We shall try to spirit the penniless population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying it employment in our own country The property owners will come over to our side. Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly."

You argue that the 'complex' security situation stems predominately from Arab and Hamas hostility and is a product of their own making. But the root cause of all of this was the plopping down of a 'Jewish State' in an area the local inhabitants didn't want it or consent to, thus necessitating their forceful displacement/removal. And sure, they can live in peace... if they bow before the Israeli flag. Obviously, they aren't eager to submit to these conditions.

I'm not defending the terroristic tactics of Hamas. But, I think we need to acknowledge how we've arrived at the present situation, and admit that the basic tenants of Zionism are perhaps flawed.

Israel has also captured land it acquired through wars - some in which it fired the first shot, like the 6 day war which began with preemptive air strikes by Israel against Egyptian airfields. This complicates the claim that Israel was never interested in territorial conquest or ambition. In addition, the continual expansion of settlements is driven by religious ideological quests to seize more land for Israel and Jews (and therefore squeeze out others).

I don't argue that the security situation for Israel is now complex, but that's largely of its own making, and the way it came into being. Anyone forcefully occupying another land with a local population that doesn't take kindly to being removed from it is bound to find themselves in a security situation that is 'complex'. The Soviets found themselves in a 'complex' situation in Afghanistan, as did the Americans. The American colonialists eventually solved their 'complex' security situation with the indigenous population by wiping out 55 million of them, then forcing the rest into reservations. Israel I think is headed in the same direction, if it clings to the Zionist ideology of maintaining a state defined solely by its Jewish identity.

"Where Nazism was rooted in racial supremacy"

There's plenty of racial and religious supremacy coming from the Israeli side, such as the belief that they are god's chosen people, god gave them the land, gentiles are inferior etc. etc.

This video highlights some of these views, then juxtaposes the views of random people on the street with an interview with Ronnie Barkin, an Israeli-born human rights activist and anti-Zionist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFoxL3sOAio

One point Ronnie makes in this is that Israeli identity depends on denying Palestinians theirs, and how Israel is Jewish, like how South Africa was white.

Another thing I find comical (though sad) are the Americans that have come to Israel, talking as if the land is 'theirs' simply because they are Jewish, when - as Americans - they have far less connection to the land than the Palestinians that were displaced. This seems to be quite common in Israel: recent immigrants from places like the US or the former soviet countries (the largest immigrant population to Israel) lecturing the Palestinians about how they have no right to the land, because god promised it to them for being Jewish.. blah blah blah

This sort of talk and manner of thinking is just as dangerous as the Nazi ideology that fueled discrimination and genocide. It's the same mindset as the Islamic fundamentalists as well, and that's what I have a hard time backing or supporting.

There's a saying that goes something like: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck... then it probably is a duck..

The same concept applies to ideologies that have the propensity to veer towards racism, discrimination, and ultimately forced displacement and genocide driven by racial and religious superiority complexes.

Sure, the constitution of Israel can say whatever it says about rights, liberties, and freedoms. But, it does not fundamentally change the origins of Zionism - from its very inception with Herzl - being predicated on the forced displacement of Palestinians. The US Constitution too talks about freedom and the 'inalienable rights of man' even as that same country came into existence by wiping out an indigenous population and permitting chattel slavery. There's a large element of hypocrisy in so-called 'Western' ideals and values in the sense that some of the most violent actions are taken in the name of preserving ideals and freedoms written on paper, but that are not actually practiced or extended to all citizens equally and fairly.

Many Israelis and Jews are critical of the ideology of Zionism, and warn that the state of Israel is committing a repeat of history in terms of violent exclusionary policies of a people based on religious and ethnic lines, like this Holocaust survivor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMwzYPxJETg

And this scholar and former IDF soldier that asserts that what is happening to the Palestinians is in fact a genocide:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDePmAFle4A

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Ryli Dunlap
Ryli Dunlap

Written by Ryli Dunlap

Aspiring writer. Recovering programmer. Many opinions — some unpopular. I unload them here. Blog: https://pontifi.co Dance/Music: https://rylito.com

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