ZIONISM AND JUDAISM - DIFFERENCES IN MEANING AND ORIGIN

ZIONISM AND JUDAISM

DIFFERENCES IN MEANING AND ORIGIN

Stes de Necker

ZIONISM

The term "Zionism" itself is derived from the word Zion (Hebrew: ציון, Tzi-yon‎), referring to Jerusalem. Throughout Eastern Europe in the late 19th century, there were numerous grassroots groups promoting the national resettlement of the Jews in what was termed their "ancestral homeland", as well as the revitalization and cultivation of Hebrew. These groups were collectively called the "Lovers of Zion."

The first use of the term is attributed to the Austrian Nathan Birnbaum, founder of a nationalist Jewish students' movement Kadimah, who used the term in 1890 in his Journal ‘Selbstemanzipation’ (Self Emancipation). 

Readings of the founders of Zionism shows that they lived in the same Europe which spawned fascism and Nazism, and they adopted the anti-Jewish view that Jews did not belong in Europe as the core of their ideology.

Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have a right to a political state whose territory they occupied in Biblical times, i.e. the Promised Land.

It doesn't imply any religious beliefs. 

Also, not all religious Jews are Zionist. Some of them believe the state of Israel won't exist until after the Messiah comes. However, there is a big overlap between the religious and the political beliefs.

ZIONISM AND THE APARTHEID SYSTEM OF SOUTH AFRICA

In December 1973, the UN passed a series of resolutions condemning South Africa and included a reference to an "unholy alliance between Portuguese colonialism, Apartheid and Zionism."

At the time there was little cooperation between Israel and South Africa, although the two countries would develop a close relationship during the 1970s. Parallels have also been drawn between aspects of South Africa's apartheid regime and certain Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, which are seen as manifestations of racism in Zionist thinking.

In 1975 the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3379, which said "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination". According to the resolution, "any doctrine of racial differentiation of superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust, and dangerous."

The resolution named the occupied territory of Palestine, Zimbabwe, and South Africa as examples of racist regimes. Resolution 3379 was pioneered by the Soviet Union and passed with numerical support from Arab and African states amidst accusations that Israel was supportive of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

The resolution was robustly criticized by the US representative, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, as an 'obscenity' and a 'harm ...done to the United Nations'. 

“The United States ...does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act… The lie is that Zionism is a form of racism. The overwhelmingly clear truth is that it is not.”  (Moynihan 1975)

In 1991 the resolution was repealed with UN General Assembly Resolution 46/86, after Israel declared that it would only participate in the Madrid Conference of 1991 if the resolution were revoked.

Arab countries sought to associate Zionism with racism in connection with a 2001 UN conference on racism, which took place in Durban, South Africa, which caused the United States and Israel to walk away from the conference as a response. 

The final text of the conference did not connect Zionism with racism. A human rights forum arranged in connection with the conference, on the other hand, did equate Zionism with racism and censured Israel for what it called "racist crimes, including acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing".

The problem with the Zionist ideology, as in the case of South Africa’s apartheid system, idea is twofold:

1) Most Jewish people are thoroughly intermingled with other races and cultures. So much so, that Israel requires only proof of one Jewish grandparent.

2) Zionism inevitably means that the native peoples of the holy land, the Palestinians, are displaced even though they have more of a right to be there in the first place.

JUDAISM

Judaism (from the Latin Iudaismus), is derived from the Greek Ἰουδαϊσμός, and ultimately from the Hebrew יהודה, Yehudah, "Judah".

Yahadut, the distinctive characteristics of the Judean ethos, is the religion, philosophy and way of life of the Jewish people.

Judaism is a monotheistic religion, with the Torah as its foundational text (part of the larger text known as the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible), and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Mishnah and the Talmud.

Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God established with the Children of Israel.

JUDAISM AND THE LAWS OF MOSES

The basis of Jewish law and tradition (halakha) is the Torah (also known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition there are 613 commandments in the Torah.

In my article ‘The Laws of Moses’ (My blog dated 30 may 2012) all the Mosaic Laws are listed.

Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups, the Kohanim and Leviyim (members of the tribe of Levi), some only to farmers within the Land of Israel.

Many laws were only applicable when the Temple in Jerusalem existed, and fewer than 300 of these commandments are still applicable today.

Judaism claims a historical continuity spanning more than 3,000 years.

Judaism has its roots as a structured religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age.

Of the major world religions, Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions.

The Hebrews (Israelites) were already referred to as "Jews" in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title "Children of Israel".

Judaism's texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam and the Baha'i Faith. Many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law.

Jews are an ethno-religious group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. 

SUMMARY

Nowadays the deliberate blurring of the distinction between Zionism and Judaism, which includes a re-writing of ancient as well as modern history, is exploited to stifle any criticism of Israel's policies and actions, however extreme and inhuman they may be. This, incidentally, also plays directly into anti-Semitic prejudices by equating Israeli arrogance, brutality and complete denial of basic human rights to non-Jews with general Jewish characteristics.

JUDAISM is a religion and a tradition.

ZIONISM is a political ideology.

Judaism refers to the values, rites and beliefs of the Jewish people.

Zionism refers to the idea that the Jewish people must relocate from the Diaspora to their ancestral homeland.