(Jewish Group) What Being Gay Taught Me About Zionism

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!)

This Wednesday marks the 70th anniversary of Israel’s independence, which incidentally lands a week after Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s a symbolic reminder of how far the Jewish people have come in such a short span of time. Yet seventy years later, the debate over the history of the country continues to divide people across the political spectrum and throughout the world.

Where one stands on Israel and Palestine has become a litmus test for how one is perceived in progressive movements. Excoriating any connection one might have to pro Israel activity is becoming the new norm and embracing such a view is considered part of gauging how dedicated someone is to intersectional liberal values. Look no further than the LGBT community where a group of women bearing a Jewish pride flags were forcefully removed from the Chicago Dyke March last June. Organizers of the march defended their position, claiming Zionism is an “explicitly white supremacist ideology” — which would be laughable if it weren’t so disturbing.

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As an LGBT Jew, I know firsthand how pervasive stereotypes can spread like cancer. For years the word gay was embedded with deep layers of shame and disgust. People used the word as an insult to mean someone was “perverted” or “lame.” But as more people started coming out, we reclaimed the true meaning of the term, separated from the infused animus. Likewise, the word Zionist has become falsely equated with something as repulsive as racism, expansionism, and even Nazism. Zionists are just people who support Jewish right to self-determination in the land of Israel — nothing more and nothing less. When you compare Zionists to racists, you’re speaking ill of the likes of Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, Betty Friedan, and of course, the vast majority of Jews. The more we avoid using the “Z word” the more we validate that it’s a word deserving of condemnation.

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I believe in Zionism and I also believe in the rights of Palestinians to have an independent state of their own, free from occupation, which most Israelis and Palestinians actually agree on. For people who refuse to see Israel with any positive qualities, I understand their qualms. Israel’s government is deserving of legitimate criticism, but the full rejection of Israel’s right to exist is not deserving of credibility. Being Zionist doesn’t mean I give blind support to every Israeli policy any more than my American patriotism gives blind support to every President or their administration’s policies. Just as equal marriage for gay couples has no affect on the sanctity of marriage for straight couples, the existence of a Jewish state bears no threat to the existence of a future Palestinian state. Both can exist in harmony, and Zionism is perfectly compatible with Palestinian solidarity.

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