‘Kill the Zionists!” While I hope that ignorance is at play more than hatred, my concern is that for the narrative to continue to fit one’s reality, such obliviousness evolves into the justification to do harm and so it becomes evil.

If you are open to learning about the political movement to bring Jews back to their homeland — to successfully de-colonize Israel from British power and from centuries of Ottoman Empire rule — I recommend Shlomo Avineri’s “The Making of Modern Zionism.” And I highly recommend Jake Wallis Simons’ “Israelophobia: The Newest Version of the Oldest Hatred” that was published just before the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre. His historical accounts about Nazi collaboration with Arab countries and Soviet antisemitic propaganda should cause readers to see how “anti-Zionism” is current and past cover for antisemitism.

Simons writes that “antisemites have rarely possessed the ability to see into their own hearts.” When Jews were identified as a religious group in medieval times, Christians thought it was their sacred mission to punish the Christ killers. The philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote about the way SS officers and everyday Germans thought of themselves as heroes for exterminating Jews as a race since they were biologically inferior and threatening the future of humanity.

Today, under the cover of social justice, Israelis (Jews) are blamed for the terrorism Hamas inflicts on both Israelis and Palestinians. Jewish progressives that participate in this madness, according to Simons, “can hold their heads even higher than their non-Jewish comrades because they are of such value to the movement.” Watch this interview with Ateret Violet Schmuel to learn about her process from far-left Jewish Brown University student to an awakening about the lies she was fed about Israel: “‘I Was Told Jews Were Colonialists’: Ex. Anti-Israel Extremist Details Her Journey,” at youtube.com/watch?v=zvVmYwLAjUI.

Jews predate both Christians and Muslims by centuries. Jews are indigenous to Israel. It was renamed Palestine by the Romans, and when the state of Israel was founded, the country’s original name was reclaimed. When the option of two states was offered, the Arabs turned it down. Subsequently, over 700,000 Arabs left Israel while at the same time, over 900,000 Jews were expelled from the surrounding Arab countries. Today, very few Jews (and in some cases, none) live in the neighboring Arab countries while over 2 million Arabs live in Israel, a democracy. Not included in this number are the Hamas-ruled Gaza and the Palestinian Authority-governed West Bank.

I was planning to write about something else this month, but false narratives persist. When a guest columnist compared Zionism to white Southerners who support Confederate symbols, I was shocked. The writer is a highly educated person who not only does not understand the progressive history and practice of Zionism, he belittled the problem in the South by referring to “centuries of oppression of Blacks.” It is about slavery, not just “oppression.”

I lived in the South and I can assure you there is nothing benign about the displays of the Confederacy. When they say “Southern heritage,” it is code for white supremacy.

Zionists, on the other hand, helped the exponential growth of kibbutizm in Israel. Arabs were included in this largely agricultural labor movement, and Israel has extended its expertise and innovations to African countries through over 30 Israeli NGOs that formed a large-scale movement called Israel21c to end poverty and hunger and create sustainable practices for food growth in the midst of climate change challenges in African nations.

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This is hardly how a racist, genocidal, apartheid nation acts. Israeli hospitals that specialize in trauma are known for taking care of thousands of Syrian refugees with serious injuries and Iraqi women who suffer sanctioned violence from abusive partners. Do you think those countries would take in Jewish Israeli victims of violence?

It is unconscionable that Jews cannot appear “Jewish” in public places without being greeted with chants to “Kill Zionists” or “from the river to the sea,” which any Israeli will tell you means the total genocide of Jews and their allies in Israel. Down is up and wrong is right when people who claim to care about social justice perpetuate antisemitism and demonize Israel while giving a free pass to countries that seriously oppress women and offer routine torture for LGBTQ people.

Yes, there is a horrible war in Gaza for too many months now. Who caused it? Who is perpetuating it? Who has no regard for their own civilians?

I was also prompted to write about this because a professor of mine who did not like my column last month wrote to me that I was on a “right-wing” Zionist path and needed to be rescued. Me, right-wing? I didn’t know. I imagine most of the people throwing around the word Zionist as an insult have no idea about its history or application. That or they believe that every demographic except Jews have the right to self-determination and a homeland. Can you see into your own heart?

J.M. Sorrell is a feminist at her core. She questions identity politics when nuance, critical thinking and empathy are missing and when the party line is so fixed that dissension inspires expulsion and name-calling. Not her first rodeo.