Questions from a friend, part 2. My reply.

The second part of this article is my answers to the questions my friend sent me in a FaceBook messenger chat. If you haven't read part 1 I suggest you do so before reading any further.

The first question, ‘why am I anti zionist?’ extends beyond the current situation in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. As with so many of the appalling situations all over our planet, the roots lie in colonialism and, more recently, the insidious nature of US and Israeli intelligence agencies, the CIA and Mossad.

To explain any stance regarding Zionism it is a good idea to look at the concept's origins.

The Encyclopedia Britannica (online) defines Zionism as; a Jewish nationalist movement with the goal of the creation and support of a Jewish national state in Palestine. Though Zionism originated in eastern and central Europe in the latter part of the 19th century, it is in many ways a continuation of the ancient attachment of the Jews and of the Jewish religion to the historical region of Palestine.

Initially the movement did not have wide support amongst Jewish people for a variety of reasons.

When modern political Zionism emerged in late 19th-century Europe, the global Jewish community was deeply divided, and early on, the movement was rejected by significant segments of both religious and secular Jews. 

Many Western and Central European Jews often opposed Zionism because they felt integrated into their home countries. Reform Jews argued that Judaism was a religion, not a nationality, and that they were loyal citizens of nations like Germany, France, and the United States and wealthy and middle-class assimilated Jews feared that Zionism would feed into antisemitic tropes about Jews being a "state within a state" or disloyal to their home nations.

Traditional Orthodox leadership initially rejected political Zionism because it was a secular movement led mostly by non-observant Jews and traditional theology taught that the return to Zion must be led by divine intervention through the Messiah, not by human political and military action.

Many Orthodox communities preferred to focus on religious life and endurance in the diaspora rather than nationalist mobilization.

There was opposition too from Socialist and Leftist Jews.  The Jewish Labour Bund, founded in the Russian Empire in 1897, strongly opposed Zionism, believing that Jewish survival and cultural autonomy lay in staying in Eastern Europe and fighting for workers' rights alongside general socialist revolutions, rather than emigrating to Palestine.

Interestingly much of the support for the zionist agenda in the 19th century came from Christian groups such as Protestant millenarians or restorationists who supported the return of Jewish people to Palestine primarily to fulfill biblical prophecies and hasten the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Prominent figures like Lord Shaftesbury in Britain and later activists in the United States believed that God's covenant with the Jewish people required a physical restoration to the Holy Land as a mandatory prelude to the end times.

The concept of Premillennial Dispensationalism was made popular by Biblical leaders like John Nelson Darby, an Anglo-Irish theologian and a leader of the Plymouth Brethren. Proponents of this theology claimed that Christ’s return would follow the literal gathering of Jews in Palestine. The modern concept of a secret, pre-tribulation rapture was largely created by Darby who popularised the multi-stage return of Christ that defines modern rapture theology.

His followers interpreted biblical passages (such as Genesis 12:3) to mean that nations and individuals who aided the Jewish return would receive divine favor and many thought that a restored Jewish commonwealth in Jerusalem was a necessary trigger for final apocalyptic events, the defeat of the Antichrist, and the establishment of Christ's earthly kingdom.

Supporters of the concept of a Jewish state in Palestine also had geopolitical and cultural motivations.

In 1838 British restorationists successfully lobbied their government to establish a consulate in Jerusalem, viewing the promotion of a Jewish presence in the Ottoman-controlled Levant as a strategic alignment with British imperial interests.

Guilt played a part too. 19th century Britain saw the growth of a cultural wave of philosemitism, especially as violent pogroms swept across the Russian Empire in the late 19th century. Many Christian restorationists felt a humanitarian urgency to find a safe haven for displaced and destitute Eastern European Jews.

Support for practical and socialist Zionism gained support amongst many Eastern European Jews in response to severe, state-sponsored violence like the Russian pogroms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The devastation of the Holocaust in the mid-20th century shattered the belief that European integration could protect Jewish lives, creating a broad consensus for a Jewish state as a necessary refuge.

Although fundamentally based around the same core political and national principles, modern Zionism has a more complex set of ideals.

Cultural and Spiritual Ideals speak of the ‘New Jew’, which fosters a cultural and physical rebirth aimed at transforming the perceived passivity of the diaspora into self-reliance, strength, productivity, and pride.

Another goal was reviving the ancient Hebrew language as a living, modern tongue for everyday national unity, literature, and culture, as was the idea of building an exemplary, progressive society characterized by justice, democratic values, and innovation.

Within Zionism there are diverse ideological streams.

Labor (Socialist) Zionists believe the focus should be on collective agrarian settlement (kibbutzim) and social equality as the bedrock of the new society.

Revisionist Zionists Emphasise the need for a strong military defense, political realism, and uncompromising territorial integrity and religious Zionists view the return to the land and state-building as active steps toward divine redemption and messianic fulfillment.

Crucially the concept of Zionism is not favoured by all modern Jews or even by Jewish citizens of Israel.

To put it clearly, not all Jews are Israelis, not all Israelis are Jews, not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews. 

Despite its claims, Zionism, especially modern Zionism, is a geo political movement.

The idea that one or other ethnic group has a God given claim to a territory is quite frankly nonsensical religious dogma and does not deserve any validation in 2026. We do not make decisions affecting the right of a people to exist based on a specific interpretation of what is at best, a good work of fiction. Even if you believe that a divine entity who lives in the sky did make the world around 6500 years ago, if that entity supports one people over another then that entity is inherently racist. 

Besides, look at the state of the word. If this is all part of some ephemeral plan then you surely have to accept that God isn't up to the job.

Maybe God lost his faith in us and retired. Maybe what religion considers to be God is a lot more like the entity they call The Devil?

Either way, if God ever had jurisdiction over humanity, they have lost that right due to gross negligence or misconduct.

Besides, both Jews and Palestinians have the same ancestors and ethnic origins. Both groups descend largely from the ancient peoples of the Levant, including early Bronze Age populations and the Canaanites.

The idea that one group has more of a right to occupy The Holy Land than another is preposterous and racist.

In 1917 the occupying British government signed the Balfour declaration. The motivation for this was the desire to ensure support of the global Jewish community in allied war efforts and to ensure ‘a friendly presence’ in the region to protect the approaches to the Suez canal and India.

Arab leaders rejected the Balfour Declaration of 1917 because it promised a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, where the native Arab population made up more than 90% of the residents. They viewed it as a betrayal of British promises of Arab independence, an unfair dismissal of their right to self-determination, and a form of Western colonial rule.

The UN resolution 181 of 1947 created a two party state but did not have the approval of Arab leaders in the region and with the years of atrocities committed by groups on both sides of the divide, the idea of a shared state is surely no longer feasible. If it ever was!

From my thorough analysis of the history of Zionism, only one thing is clear. There is no definitive description of what Zionism is. Even amongst the many varied groups who claim to be Zionists.

I'm therefore left with no alternative but to answer the question, “why am I anti Zionist” by looking at the actions and behaviours of the vast majority of modern day zionists.

My initial response is, I am not anti Zionist, I am anti Zionism in the same way that I am anti any doctrine that sees one race superior and another, inferior.

I could point to the well evidenced fact that so many prominent British Zionists, quite obviously, also have deeply racist views, a predilection for publishing lies and criminal backgrounds. Braodcaster David Starkey was forced to apologise in July 2020 for claimimg in aYouTube interview with commentator Darren Grimes, that slavery was not genocide because "so many damn blacks" survived.

Jake Wallis Simons, former editor of the Jewish Chronicle was forced to apologise in 2024 for publishing fake stories about the war in Gaza claiming to reveal secret intelligence about Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The stories supported claims made by Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu and were acknowledged as being wildly inaccurate by the IDF.

British journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Sacerdoti was, at the centre of a 2012, BBC impartiality fiasco after misrepresenting himself as an independent middle east analyst when he had in fact been the director of the Zionist federation.

Then of course we have born again Christian, Pro Zionist (an oxy-moron if ever there was one) Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon. He has a criminal record including violent offences, stalking, mortgage fraud and entering the United States under a false passport.

I have nothing against these individuals personally. I haven't met them. All are prominent Zionists though and if that doesn't tell you something about the integrity of the  people Zionism attracts, I have some magic beans you may be interested in!

Let's look at global figures. The heads of the three biggest trillionaire corporations are all committed and vocally pro zionism.

If I need to point out the lack of morality involved in greedily hoarding the majority of the planet’s wealth and resources whilst people starve, then my golden egg laying goose will be the perfect accompaniment to those magic beans. Did I mention that those corporations, Black Rock, Vanguard and State Street are also the world's biggest arms dealers?

Then of course we have Epstein. The FBI files released by the Department of Justice show Epstein funded groups linked to the Israeli military.

These groups include the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and the Jewish National Fund, an organization that supports illegal settlement activity in the West Bank.

Even fundamental to my opposition to modern day Zionism are the growing hardline and ultranationalist factions that largely reject Palestinian statehood entirely, preferring permanent Israeli control or sovereignty over the disputed territories.

I grew up in apartheid era South Africa. I know what apartheid looks like.

That brings me to proud zionist Benjamin Netanyahu and his genocide of Palestinians.

I will answer the question, “why do I think a genocide is being committed by Israel in part three.

I will end by answering some more of my friend’s questions.

Question. Do I truly believe that Israel should be eliminated from the world map and become an Islamic state?

Answer. No. I have never said that.

Question. Where do I think the Christian and Jewish people should go as they wouldn’t survive in an Islamic state? Iran was cited as an example.

Answer. Once a two state system is established Christian and Jewish people will have the option of living in Israel or many of the majority Islamic states where people of all faiths live together in absolute peace. Something I witnessed personally as I travelled through the region in 2024 and 2025. The claim that Jewish people’ would not survive in an Islamic state”, is demonstrably wrong.

Admittedly, it may become more and more difficult for Jewish people to find security anywhere in the world as global abhorrence to the actions of the current Israeli government mounts.

It is up to the Israeli electorate to do something about that. I remain optimistic as I am in contact with numerous Israel based, Jewish groups who are as appalled at their government’s behaviour as I am. I have also met many UK based Jews who identify as anti Zonist and, anti genocide.

The actions of the regime in Tel Aviv should not be used to tar all Israelis or Jews with the same brush.

With regards Iran, I expect the fundamental, authoritarian regime to be replaced by the type of tolerant, secular democracy that existed before the CIA orchestrated a coup in 1953.

The Iranian people would probably be a lot closer to a return to democracy had the combined efforts of Trump and Netanyahu not plunged the country into a war it neither wanted,nor deserved.  

Speaking of Trump. He’s another great argument for being anti Zionist.

To conclude, I am anti modern Zionism because, modern Zionism has become a racist, hate driven doctrine that uses the utterly bizarre notion that ‘God made us a promise’, to implement the diverse, destructive agenda of the global elite.

I am anti modern Zionism because it is used as a vehicle to drive war, chaos and inhumanity.

And yes, I am anti Zionism because I see the true nature of so many prominent Zionists.