Accusation: Zionism is Racism

With the Durban II conference only days away, the slanderous statement that came out of the first conference is still on the agenda for this second round. and still governments don't have the guts to say "This is not acceptable"

The Reality:

Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. Zionism began when Jews, like peoples all over the globe, aspired to a country to call their own. They strove to reassert Jewish sovereignty in their ancient homeland.

There is no conflict between the establishment of a Jewish state and the preservation of the rights of all the inhabitants of the land.

Israel's law of return is no different from the laws of return existent in many other states. Yet its law is the only one criticized as racist by countries who, like Jordan, would not allow a Jew to become a citizen even if He/She was born there.

The Facts:

Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. Zionism began when Jews, like peoples all over the globe, aspired to a country to call their own. They strove to reassert Jewish sovereignty in their ancient homeland.

Zionism came to be after thousands of years of persecution of the Jewish people as a movement to grant them sovereignty over a territory in which they could rule their own destinies without fear from persecution based on their religious beliefs and cultural background. The realization of the Zionist dream came to be with the founding of the State of Israel.

Aside from the facts referred to with regards to legal and social provisions against discrimination and the pluralistic character of Israeli society it must be made absolutely clear that there is no conflict between the establishment of a Jewish state and the preservation of the rights of all the inhabitants of the land. The Zionist ideal was first expressed in Theodor Herzl's book "The Jewish State." And the country he foresaw would be an expression of the highest ideals, in which Jews and non-Jews would live together in peace and equality.

Israel's law of return is often referred to as a major source of criticism. Its detractors state that this piece of legislation reflects a policy of discrimination on the part of the State of Israel in an effort to maintain a prevalence of Jews in the country's demography. Therefore, since a major part of Zionist ideology is constituted by the need for the Jewish people to return to Israel, its detractors state that Zionism is Racism.

Nothing however could be farther from the truth. As Alan Dershowitz states, the law of return

"…should be viewed as a humanitarian law. It followed the immigration waves during Israel's first years that brought Holocaust survivors along with refugees forced out of Arab countries. Since its passage, Jews have been rescued from the repression and Antisemitism of the soviet bloc, from "disappearances" under Argentinean dictators and from famine in Ethiopia."

Moreover, the fact that the law of return exists does not preclude any other person wishing to reside in Israel from applying after having met certain pre-requisites established in law. These pre-requisites are similar to those established by countries such as the United States or France. Additionally, Israel has a long history of opening its doors to those in need of assistance, particularly in extreme cases of peril. Examples of this are 100 Albanian refugees from Kosovo during the Bosnian Civil War or Vietnamese refugees of war received in Israel when no other country would open its doors to them.

In contrast Jordan, a country who also has a law of return, specifically prohibits anyone of the Jewish faith from being a citizen; even in cases of returning Jews born in its soil. Other examples of laws of return that have existed or still exist are Germany and China. Yet, only Israel, which has citizens of virtually every religion, ethnicity, race and national origin, is characterized by its enemies as racist.