Zionism is, at its essence, the national liberation project for Jews as applied to creating a Jewish nation-state in Israel. Its object and purpose centers around Jews. Since Israel has been established, Zionism today means just that one thinks creating Israel was a pretty good move and it should stick around (a definition inspired by, if not outright plagiarized from by virtue of not being able to find a link, Phoebe Maltz). Consequently, being a Zionist doesn’t mean supporting any given Israeli policy. It does, however, mean affirming Israel’s right to exist, be treated fairly and equally in the global community, and be secure.
In America (and throughout the world, but let’s just stick with America) most defenders of Zionism as I define it are not Jews. This is not because Jews aren’t Zionists (by and large, they are), but just because because most figures with a national audience are not Jews. With the possible exception of Joe Lieberman (who spends most of his time today talking about how peachy things are in Iraq), pretty much of all the national figures who explain why America should support Zionism are non-Jewish. These people — Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, George W. Bush, whomever — are what I mean by proxies. They are non-Jews who are all out there in the public arena defending Zionism.
My thesis is that Zionism cannot be (or at least, is not) effectively defended by proxies….
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