Anti-Zionism is anti-humanity

Recognizing Zionism as the anchor of Judaism would help remove a hurdle in humanity’s advancement

REPRINTS FROM THE JERUSALEM POST; BY GOL KALEV, October 29, 2022

Gol’s new book – jUDAISM 3.0 – Judaism’s transformation to ZionISM

COMPOSER RICHARD WAGNER, Photographed by Franz Hanfstaengl (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons) — COMPOSER RICHARD WAGNER, Photographed by Franz Hanfstaengl
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Theodor Herzl was confident the world would support his endeavor to reestablish the Jewish state. This would not be due to a moral obligation – not due to Europe’s 2,000 years of abusive persecution of Jews, nor as correction to its deporting the Jews from Judea. “Gevelt” or European guilt will not get us a state. The Jewish state will exist because it would be the necessity of the world!

Herzl believed that once the Jewish mind and spirit are liberated from European oppression, Jews in the Jewish state will make extreme advancements for humanity, and hence, the world would need the Jewish state to exist and prosper.

Herzl, like Moses, championed the concept we call today “peace through strength.”

In Moses’s case, the exodus from Egypt was accompanied by great miracles, which instilled global consciousness that God is with the Jews. This, as described in the Song of the Sea, generated deterrence: “The chiefs of Edom were affrighted; the mighty men of Moab trembling…”

In Herzl’s case, the exodus was also accompanied by miracles: Innovations that come out of the Jewish state alter the state of humanity, such as ending famine by turning air into water and generating medical innovations that increase longevity. There is broad recognition that humanity is advanced through the Jewish state, through Zionism.

Therefore, anti-Zionism is anti-humanity.

As Herzl predicted, nations around the world now want to partake in the success of Zionism. Last month, non-Jews, including the leader of Israel’s Druze community and a dignitary from Dubai, came to Basel to participate in the 125th anniversary celebrations of Zionism.

But in both Moses’s and Herzl’s case, not everybody was happy. The story of Amalek, who attacked Israel on its path toward freedom, remains paramount in Jewish ethos. There is even a Shabbat called “Remember,” recounting that event. Today again, there are those who attack Israel on its path toward elevating humanity. Paradoxically, those attackers now accuse the Jewish state of committing crimes against humanity.

Crimes against humanity vs Humanity’s advancement

As discussed in this column and in my book, Judaism 3.0 – Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism, there are startling parallels between the early days of the antisemitism movement in the 1890s during Herzl’s time and the still early days of the Israel-bashing movement today in the 2020s. One such parallel is the accusation that Jews corrupt humanity.

Celebrated German opera composer Richard Wagner argued that Jews can not compose proper music. But his argument faced a problem since Europeans flocked to concert halls and opera houses to hear Jewish composers’ music. In his book, Giacomo Meyerbeer The Deliberately Forgotten Composer, Prof. David Faiman shows how Meyerbeer, who was Jewish, was the world’s top opera composer of the 19th century.

Therefore, Wagner had to adjust his argument, and claimed in his article “Jews in Music” that inside that seemingly sweet music, there is this Jewish poison. Jews, like Meyerbeer and Mendelssohn, are corrupting humanity through their music – from the inside. But it is not just through music, also through science and the arts. What seems to be, to the unsuspecting observer, as Jewish contribution to humanity is just “pinkwashing” for the polluting actions Jews commit against humanity.

So what to do about it? What is the solution to such hideous acts against humanity? Indeed, Wagner’s philosophy was a cornerstone in the German-led mass murder of European Jewry.

Similar circumstances emerged in the 2020s. Peace broke out between Israel and much of the Arab world, and there is a trajectory toward de-facto normalization with much of the Palestinian population. Therefore, Israel-bashers and Occupationalists (Westerns who hijack the Palestinian cause for their own benefit) face an existential crisis. Their response is similar to Wagner’s response to Europeans loving Jewish music: This is no longer about the Israeli-Arab conflict, nor about the Palestinians. This is about humanity.
Israel-bashers now accuse the Jewish state of crimes against humanity, just like Wagner accused the Jews of crimes against humanity.

Wagner was an expert. He understood what is inside the music, and, therefore, a reasonable person can rely on his opinion that, through music, Jews pollute humanity.

Similarly, the Israel-bashers’ accusations are channeled through expert organizations – Amnesty International, UN Human Rights Council and even respectable media outlets. Therefore, a reasonable person could conclude that indeed the Jewish state commits crimes against humanity.

So what to do about it? The world united against South Africa, and then against Putin. Should the world – for the sake of humanity – now unite against the Jewish state, which (once again) commits crimes against humanity? Many believe so, some obsessively. And that is why Israel-bashing has replaced traditional antisemitism as the primary existential threat to Judaism and to all Jews, including those who bash Israel themselves.

The writer discuss the dangers of Israel-bashing during the launch event for his new book, Judaism 3.0 – Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism

However, those Israel-bashers must stay in Judaism 2.0. This way, they can mask their opposition to Judaism as opposition to Zionism. Once there is a broad global recognition that Judaism has transformed to Judaism 3.0 and Zionism is now the anchor of Judaism, they can only be Israel-bashers if they are okay being Jew-bashers. And like with Edom and Moab back then, that Jew-basher label alone serves as a powerful deterrence.

Zionism as the anchor of Judaism

The October 14 Jerusalem Post Magazine was dedicated to tackling that question: Is Zionism really becoming the anchor of Judaism, as I claim in this column and in my book? Ten prominent thinkers shared their views. The president of the Jewish state, Isaac Herzog, in a special message to Magazine readers said it bluntly: Reclaiming Zionism is the mission of our generation.

This mission should have partners not just in Israel – where Zionism is the consensus ideology that enables disagreements to be argued passionately but safely (99% of Israeli Jews vote for Zionist parties) – but also around the world.

Just like not everybody in 19th-century Europe agreed with Wagner and the antisemites, not everybody in the 21st century agrees with Amnesty and the Israel-bashers.

In fact, even before Herzl, there were non-Jewish philosophers who pointed to the enormous advancement in humanity that the Jewish state would bring. French thinker Ernest Laharanne predicted in 1860 that the Jews’ return to their land would lead to a dramatic advancement of humanity. “March forward, because you are a generous nation… you [Jews] will be the triumph-arch of the era of the future – that is – the era of peace and unity.” Other thinkers had similar views, and Herzl took note of that: “I did not know until I came into this movement that the Christians, just as Jews, view our return as the beginning of the era of wonder,” he wrote. “The wonder of this era will be expressed through our aspiration for our infinite ideal – to the elevation of humanity.”

Zionism is a light upon the nations. Those who oppose it, rob the world’s nation from that crisp light emanating from Zion, and in doing so, cause great harm to humanity. 

The writer is the author of the newly released book Judaism 3.0 – Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Judaism-Zionism.com). For his geopolitical articles, see: EuropeAndJerusalem.com

THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN THE OCTOBER 29, 2022 JERUSALEM POST MAGAZINE – CLICK FOR THE PDF OF THE MAGAZINE:

This is the eight article in a Jerusalem Post series about the implications of Judaism 3.0:

This generation’s existential threat to Judaism

Applying Herzl’s thinking to counter Israel-bashing

Occuptionalism: The new form of Colonialism is hijacking the Palestinian cause

Occupationalism is enabled by the Jerusalem-based “Conflict Industry,” known for its lavish parties, insularity, high turnover and its own social hierarchy

European blood libels continue, but now there is a solution

Recognizing that we are in Judaism 3.0 would address existential threats to Judaism, but it would also provide Jewish clarity that would advance humanity

Judaism 3.0: Turning threats to Judaism into enablers of its survival

Like antisemitism in Herzl’s time, today’s Israel-bashing and assimilation of American Jewry also have hidden assets in them

Passover to Shavuot and the American-European divide

How the transition affects today’s geopolitics, the flaws of democracies and the emerging rift: Americanism vs. Europeanism

Threat to Judaism through friends, influenced by Israel-bashing movement

Applying Herzl’s thinking, the threat to Judaism might come through our friends. Such Israel-bashing-light was showcased in the Basel Zionism celebrations in 2022

Paving path to peace

A broad recognition of Judaism 3.0 would release the Arabs of the Middle-east from debilitating European dogmas that have occupied their true character for the last 100 years

See in Link: Applying Judaism 3.0 to the countering Israel-Bashing

See also The Jerusaelm Report 2022 New Year Magazine: Judaism’s transformation to Zionism – Countering the Israel-bashing movement

Recognizing that Judaism has transformed would rob the Israel-bashers of their starting point: The premise that Judaism is merely a religion.

Summary of above articles:

Gol Kalev shows how Israel-bashing is today’s existential threat to Judaism, having both a populous dogmatic retail component – Occupationalism, and institutional destruction mechanisms that deploy modern-day blood-libels. In such circumstances, Hasbara (Israeli PR) is futile. Yet, a broad global recognition that Judaism has transformed to Judaism 3.0, and Zionism is now its anchor, would dramatically mitigate the threat.

Taking it a step deeper, Gol then explores the depth of the existential threat by showing how the break from centuries old system of Divine-right-monarchy, created a bifurcation: Divine-right-republic in the United States and non-Divine neo-monarchy in Europe. Deploying Herzl’s political philosophy and his view of the inseparability of corruption from parliamentary Democracy, Gol demonstrates the imbedded danger of a system of “following laws” as opposed to doing so alongside an ideological Divine conscienceless: Passover to Shavuot and the American-European Divide

Gol then shows how Israel-bashers must stay in Judaism 2.0. A broad global recognition that Zionism is now the anchor of Judaism would rob Israel-bashers of their starting point, and would emancipate Palestinians and other Middle-Eastern Arabs from the debilitating European Occupation of their true character, which in turn would lead to peace: Paving the path to peace

For more of Gol’s geopolitical articles: Europe and Jerusalem

Including:

Europe should benefit from Herzl’s vision

Europeanism vs. Americanism – a new global philosophical divide?