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1. Zionism is Jewish nationalism

2. More specifically, Zionism is a Jewish nationalist movement, founded by Theodor Herzl, which sought the creation of a Jewish state in Israel. Zionism is the modern form of the 1900 year old dream of Jewish people to become free to rebuild a state in the land of Israel. This idea has existed within the Jewish community since the Roman Empire destroyed the nation of Judea almost 2000 years ago.

Political Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to freedom and political independence in their own homeland. Political Zionism is the ongoing effort of Jews to use political means to develop and secure the Jewish people's national existence in the land of Israel.

Zionism recognizes that Jewish peoplehood is characterized by certain common values relating to religion, culture, language, history and basic ideals and aspirations, although secular and religious Zionists emphasize these aspects differently. Zionism believes that Israel should be a historically, culturally and religiously Jewish state. This does not mean that all citizens should be or must be Jews, nor does it even mean that Jewish citizens must be religiously observant Jews. As defined by the documents and practices of Zionists over the past century, what this means in practice is that Israel is Jewish in much the same was that Italy is Italian, or that Ireland is Irish. Not all Israelis are Jews. There is a significant minority of Arab Israelis, and there are Israelis of many other ethnic and religious groups as well.

The desire of Jews to return to what they consider their rightful homeland was first expressed during the Babylonian exile and became a universal Jewish theme after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. and the dispersal that followed.

But whilst Israel was a universal Jewish theme, that universal Jewish theme is not the same thing as Zionism. Until the rise of Zionism, most Jews believed that the Jewish people would return to Israel with the coming of the Messiah, i.e., only after divine intervention; some proposed that Jews attempt to return earlier, by their own devices, but until the rise of Zionism in the 19th century they were a minority.

= Orthodox Judaism, Reform Judaism and Zionism

When Zionism was first proposed it was highly controversial and a great many Jews opposed it. Many Jews would rather try to integrate into the society they lived than try to return to Israel. This was the position taken by Reform Judaism at the time. Reform Judaism changed its opinion after the Holocaust, and the Reform movement became a strong supporter of the State of Israel. In practice, most American Jews (of all religious denominations) did not want to emigrate to Israel; there, support for Zionism came through political, financial, and other means short of actually moving.

Many Hasidic Jews and other ultra-Orthodox Jews believed that any attempt to return to Israel before the coming of the Messiah was sacrilegious. At one time the Lubavitcher Rebbes were anti-Zionist, though the more recent Rebbes have changed their position from one of anti-Zionism (i.e., active opposition to Zionism) to one of mere non-Zionism (i.e., neutrality towards it).

Today, the overwhelming majority of all Jewish organizations and denominations is strongly pro-Zionist.

Jewish anti-Zionism Today

Though by far the majority of Jews today are Zionists, there is nonetheless a small number of ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews who are opposed to it. Major Jewish anti-Zionist movements include Satmar and Neturei Karta. These groups are not only anti-Zionist; they are also against the legitimacy of all of Reform Judaism, all of Conservative Judaism, and most of Orthodox Judaism as well. The Neturei Karta and Satmar set themselves apart from the rest of the world's Jewish community; some Jews view them as virtually anti-Semitic.

Orthodox rabbi denounces anti-Zionists

Satmar website

Is Zionism Racist?

The United Nations General Assembly declared that "Zionism is a form of racism" in Resolution 3379 of Nov 10, 1975. The General Assembly rescinded this resolution in Resolution 46/86 of December 16, 1991.

The State of Isarel gives full civil rights to all Israeli citizens, of all national, ethnic and religious backgrounds, including Jews, Christians, Bedouins, Druze, Arabs, Karaites and Vietnamese; this includes a very large number of Palestinians. Israel is the only nation in the Middle East where elected Jews and elected Arabs work together in a nation's parliament.

Similar to Italy, Morocco, Germany and few other nations, Israel has ethnically preferential immigration laws; its laws prefer Jews to non-Jews, but do allow people of all faiths and ethnic background to become citizens. This is in contrast to Arab states, especially Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and Jordan, whose immigration laws are so restrictive as to make immigration for all purposes impossible for non-Arabs; further, the laws of these Arab nations forbid Jews from becoming citizens. In contrast, most Western countries have abolished all ethnic or racial criteria in their immigration laws and treat members of all races and ethnicities equally for immigration purposes. Zionists feel that there is a double standard, as Arab nations are never accused of being racist.

As a matter of clarification, Judaism isn't a race; there are people from all racial groups in the Jewish people: Caucasians, Hispanics, Indians, black Africans, and Asians. Judaism may better be viewed as an ethnic group that evolved from a nationality in exile. Using the terminology of Mordecai Kaplan, many Jewish scholars define Judaism as an evolving religious civilization. The national component to Judaism has always existed during the last 2000 years, but for political reasons Jews never had the ability to implement their beliefs in this area. From the Jewish point of view, the establishment of Israel as a state means that the Jews have achieved the goal of reconstituting itself within its original borders. .

The Law of Return of 1951 stated, based on the Rabbinical practice, that:

4B. For the purposes of this Law, "Jew" means a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism.

In 1970, an ammendment was made so that the law read as:

4B. For the purposes of this Law, "Jew" means a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion.

The origins of this ammendment lie in the case of Brother Daniel (Daniel Rufeisen), a Polish Jew persecuted by the Nazis and who converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite monk. Israel's Supreme Court ruled that he was not eligible for citizenship under the Law of Return because he converted to Christianity. The rationale given by the Court was that the Law of Return was intended to sponsor Zionist consolidation of the Jewish nation in Israel; and by converting and choosing a life path outside of this nation, Rufeisen effectively gave up his intention to become a part of the Zionist effort, thus not qualifying for the Law of Return.

The decision aroused a controversy in the Israeli public. The consensus that emerged from the following public debate was that since Judaism is not seen by Jews exclusively as a religion (see above), once one rejects one's nationality, one can no longer simultaneously demand membership in it. Moreover, as a member of European clergy, Rufeisen's personal safety from possible persecution by Nazis was guaranteed. Having spent several years in Israel using a temporary permit, Rufeisen was granted citizenship by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, on the basis of the Law of Citizenship.

Section 4b of the Law of Return argues that being Jewish is both a nationality and a religion. Some could argue, based on this, that the authors of the Law of Return intended it as a religious measure, thus effectively creating religious discrimination.

The Israeli constitution (like the British, contained in several pieces of legislation) provides that Israel is a Jewish state, yet also makes clear that non-Jewish Israelis have rights equal to those of Jewish citizens. Making certain that these rights are upheld in practice, however, has proven to be a difficult balancing act.

See for an argument that Zionism is Racism, and for an argument to the contrary.

Zionist conspiracy

Many people in fringe groups, such as the Neo-Nazi party and Hamas claim that the true aim of Zionism is world dominance; they call this the Zionist conspiracy and use this to support anti-Semitism. This position has historically been associated with Fascism and Nazism. See also conspiracy theory. The most imporant text in this regard may be the Protocols_of_the_Elders_of_Zion.