Anti-Zionism and anti-semitism are definitely not the same. One can be a strong anti-Zionist and at the same time either a strong pro-semitist or completely neutral as regards semites.
Semites are e.g. Arabs, Assyrians, Ethiopians, Jews, and Maronites.
Zionism is an ideology which can be held by e.g. Inuits or sub saharan Africans.
This is one of those "truthy" thingies that is difficult to refute because, in theory, it is true. Yes, Zionism as an ideology is not the same as Jews. Well, yes. For that matter, one could probably make a case for hating
Judaism as a religion while professing not to be anti-Semitic. "I just hate the religion, I have nothing against Jews..."
The problem, of course, is that as most people playing this game are aware, being anti-Israel has become nothing more than an "acceptable" way of expressing anti-Semitism. To be blunt, I strongly suspect that Redpossum would fit into this category. He makes it easier for me when he brings Helen Thomas as an example of a non-antisemite. Her most famous recent public pronouncement on the subject of Jews and Israel
goes as follows:
Tell 'em to get the hell out of Palestine. They should go home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else.
I leave it to you to assess this as an anti-Semitic comment, or merely an anti-Zionist one.
Just to be clear on context: For centuries, Jews in Poland, Germany, yes even in America, and pretty much everywhere else, have been condemned to, at best, life as second-class citizens. Pogroms, special head-taxes, being barred from establishment not unlike black people (Toronto beaches in the 50's still had signs posted "No dogs or Jews allowed"), banned from academia, etc. etc. In the Soviet Union the official jargon for Jews was 'rootless cosmopolitans'. You know, the people who don't have roots
here. Or anywhere else. The mass butchering of 6 million during the Holocaust (and the non-reaction thereto by the nations of the world) was a peak of sorts, but by no means the beginning nor the end, of organized anti-Semitism on every level - in "Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else". So Helen Thomas - or other "But I have nothing against Jews!" anti-Semites can spare us the shpiel.
As for Redpossum. Normally having someone reroute every possible conversation - zero connection to Israel or Jews - back to Israel, is usually a pretty good giveaway as to his/her biases. There are many conflicts on this planet, and probably many reasonable positions one could take with regard to many if not all of them. When Israel seems to so offend someone's delicate sensibilites that it's impossible to quote the NYT without hearing "what can you expect from those
Jew-huggers Zionist mouthpieces?", or on general US positions - as a separate paragraph - the following:
And we have vetoed dozens of UNCSC resolutions condemning the Zionist Occupation State, which has violated every international law on the books, including the use of chemical weapons.
One may be forgiven for suspecting some
biases - particularly when the poster seems unable to utter the word "Israel".
Of course, rather than blathering generalizations, the loving Israel-dissenter is free to explain just what it is about Israel's history that earns it such acclaim among all the territorial and other disputes of the world.
