Up to 1 in 4 US Jews sees Zionism as racist, colonialist apartheid movement! (says Israeli thinktank)
Israel’s separation wall, near Bethlehem. 2016.
Philip Weiss writes in Mondoweiss September 18, 2020
One quarter of American Jews express intensely critical ideas about Israel and Zionism, including that Israel is racist, colonial and apartheid. More than that, 31 percent, would vote for Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar regardless of Israel lobby smears of the two congresswomen as antisemitic. Despite the efforts of Israel lobby organizations to blame the left for antisemitism, American Jews don’t buy it: 51 percent see the right as the source of antisemitism, while only 12 percent see the left as playing an equal or greater part in promoting it.
These are the findings of a survey by a rightwing thinktank, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, titled, “American Jewry in Transition: How Attitudes Toward Israel May Be Shifting. Released in July, I only saw the poll now because J Street liked its conclusion that liberal American Jews can be pro-Israel and alienated by the rightwing Israeli government.
The most interesting discovery is that Palestinian solidarity is increasing inside the Jewish community. And as many as one fourth of the 700 American Jews the JCPA surveyed are anti-Zionist!
“Pro-Israel” liberal Jewish-Americans feel at least some sympathy for Palestinians, with overall mild-to-moderate levels of sympathy. What can be considered a distinct but possibly significant minority (which may be up to 25%) appears to hold beliefs that are intensely critical of Israel and Zionism itself, including attitudes that Zionism may be a colonial and/or racist, apartheid movement as practiced in Israel today.
Palestinian solidarity messaging has worked: “human rights” has gained traction even in the Jewish community to create “negative associations” of Israel:
The language of “human rights” by anti-Israel activists plays an important role in the cognitive assessment of Israeli policy and has worked in general to create doubt toward and legitimize questioning of Israeli policy and to reinforce some negative associations with Israel among some people.
BDS has also gotten traction in the Jewish community! Even though everyone from Barack Obama to Jonathan Greenblatt says it’s antisemitic.
In focus group “tests” of perceived sympathy and approval… When examples critical of Israel were couched in “human rights” language, such as with BDS or the Adalah Arab rights center, there was a distinct minority that identified with and expressed sympathy toward these movements (although most were not sympathetic).