- When people talk about
Israel's founding movement, Zionism, it's often negative.
- The Zionists.
- These Zionists.
- (beep) Zionists (beep) pricks.
- Because of the century-long conflict
that's led to a difficult day-to-day life
for many Palestinian Arabs.
But Israel was also born as a safe-haven for the persecuted,
and emerged as a beacon of democracy,
humanitarian aid and cultural triumphs.
So unlike other complicated "-isms"
that are supported even with their flaws,
why is it so challenging today to be proud of Zionism?
That challenge is what this series will explore.
- So I've always said, as a gay Jew,
the progressive world, the left,
whatever you want to call it,
love me for my sexual orientation,
but hate me for my Jewishness.
And obviously that is not true across the board,
you know we have to try and be nuanced,
but I would say overwhelmingly,
being a Jewish Zionist
means that I'm unwelcome in many leftist spaces,
and that is particularly damaging
because I'm also a gay man.
- Over the last few years, the political climate
and rhetoric in the US and around the world
has become more and more polarized.
8 in 10 adults think debate
is more negative and less respectful than in recent years,
with three-quarters saying it's become less fact-based.
It's gotten so bad that people can't even agree
on how to disagree.
The same study found that 61% of Americans
give different meaning
to the same racist or sexist words and language.
Discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
has also followed this trend,
being reduced to a David versus Goliath story
that pits Israel as Goliath,
making clear which side you should be on.
Nobody roots for Goliath.
Except that there are also those who see Israel as David,
a vulnerable state,
surrounded by historically hostile Arab nations.
This good versus evil framework really resonates,
especially with people sympathetic to progressive movements
trying to uplift marginalized groups,
including many Jews
that feel deep compassion for Palestinians
who've truly suffered for decades.
- You know, we're not talking about sides,
we're talking about people.
And if we want to understand the fullness of the history,
the wholeness of the history,
then we have to understand kind of,
multiple perspectives on it.
- The accepted term for this kind of solidarity
is intersectionality,
the concept of drawing connections
between different groups of people
struggling with discrimination,
using overlapping experiences
to understand the bigger picture
of why people become marginalized.
Many progressive movements
that fight for discriminated groups have allied themselves
with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza,
who are subject to military control
and don't share all of the same rights as Israeli citizens.
But in doing so, they've washed away
the nuance, complexity and context of the conflict,
making any association with Israel just negative.
In 2011, Occupy Wall Street supporters
equated Zionists with the 1%.
- You got the money!
That's why you're fightin', Jewish man.
- In 2014, the official platform
of Black Lives Matter labeled Israel a genocidal state.
In 2017, organizers
of the Women's March on Washington,
precursor to the "MeToo" movement
and the largest single protest in American history
blamed Jews for the historic exploitation
of people of color.
And in 2019, event marshals at the DC Dyke March...
- In order to have the Jewish pride flag
not be about Zionism,
all you gotta do is just move the star.
- So allies not...
- It's not that hard.
- Move the star, move the star.
- For Israel supporters
with a progressive streak,
instances like these make them feel like an outcast
in an unwelcome world,
forcing a choice between embracing Zionism
or the values driving progressive culture.
- You can separate the sovereign state, the state policy,
with just the concept of a modern Jewish state,
which is a miracle.
Two-thousand years after expulsion,
we are back in our indigenous homeland,
being masters of our own fate.
And that's amazing,
but that doesn't mean we have to agree
with every Israeli policy,
that doesn't mean we necessarily have to feel a connection
to, you know, Israelis or Tel Aviv.
You know I think we should,
I think that it's important that,
I believe that Zionism is an integral part
of the Jewish Pride movement personally,
but there has to be nuance.
You know, nothing is black and white.
- Using social issues like race,
privilege, wealth and ethnicity
to reframe the conflict is trending,
but in portraying Israelis, Zionists, and Jews
as one negative monolithic force,
it rides a wave of classic anti-Semitic stereotypes.
This dynamic has played out especially at universities,
which serve as a lightning rod
for the wider cultural conversation,
and where social activism
is a huge part of the college experience.
In the wake of protests sparked by George Floyd's death,
Rose Ritch, a college senior
and Vice President of USC's student government at the time,
was criticized on social media for being
"outspoken on issues that alienate Palestinian Trojans."
Within hours, Rose's Instagram account
was hit with anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic attacks
from the USC community.
Fearing for her safety,
Rose resigned from her leadership position,
calling out the anti-Semitic culture
that led to her decision.
Rose's letter has circulated
as a kind of bellwether for the state of Zionism on campus.
- I went to the University of Glasgow,
and every single day I faced a barrage of
intense anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism and I was the only
"out" Jew, the only "out" Zionist,
and it was incredibly difficult and I
experienced anti-Semitism from the lecturers,
from my professors, from my peers, from organizations.
And it really was a sink or swim moment,
and at the same time I had to bite
because I could not sit back and allow
my people to be denigrated without doing something.
- So intersectionality
brings members of different identity groups together,
and Zionists alone are being turned away?
But if "Zionist" is an identity,
just as race, religion, gender, sexual orientation,
ethnic group or political leanings are,
then having to choose between Zionism and progressivism
is actually a false choice,
because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
is not about indigenous people versus colonialists,
people of color versus whites, or poor versus wealthy.
The conflict is really about two peoples that each claim
the same geographic area as their homeland,
whose fight for safety and self-determination
has led to a painful history
of bloodshed and political tension.
This series will help you see Israel's story
in a realistic light,
by confronting the most extreme accusations head on,
to find the nuance and historical complexity underneath.
That way you, and only you,
can decide where Israel and Zionism fit into your identity.