WHAT IS WHITE SUPREMACY?
White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to all other races and should thus dominate them.
Contemporary white supremacist ideology stems from the pseudoscientific antisemitic and anti-Black racial “science” that emerged in the seventeenth century.
This racial “science” established the foundation for the Holocaust.
WHITE SUPREMACY AND ANTISEMITISM
Antisemitism is foundational to white supremacy, but it is not exclusive to white supremacy. As the “world’s oldest hatred,” antisemitism predates both white supremacy and other forms of anti-minority bigotry. Antisemitism is foundational to white supremacy; in other words, white supremacy built upon the foundation of already existing antisemitism.
It’s important to understand how and why antisemitism is foundational to white supremacy. The main role that antisemitism plays in white supremacy is scapegoating: (1) blaming Jews for societal issues shifts responsibility and blame away from the actual perpetrators, and (2) creating a system of “divide and conquer,” isolating Jews by pitting us against other marginalized minorities.
All white supremacists are antisemites, but not all antisemites are white supremacists.
WHAT IS ZIONISM?
Zionism is support for Jewish self-determination in the Land of Israel, the ancestral homeland of the Jewish People.
Self-determination is the concept that peoples who share a national identity — not to be confused with nationality — have a legal right to choose their own governance, rather than being forced into living under the thumb of an empire. Self-determination is a basic tenet of international law, applicable to all peoples.
The term “Zionism” comes from an event that occurred in 539 BCE, known as the “Return to Zion.” Modern political Zionism dates back to the nineteenth century.
In 1897, Jewish delegates from across the world met for the First Zionist Congress. There, they defined Zionism in simple terms:
“Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Eretz Israel [the Land of Israel] secured under public law.”
That’s it. Beyond support for Jewish self-determination in the Land of Israel, Zionists come in all political persuasions and stand everywhere on the political spectrum.
WHAT IS ANTI-ZIONISM?
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. In other words, it’s an “anti” ideology that’s not necessarily “for” anything — other than to oppose Zionism. That means that literally anyone who opposes Zionism is an anti-Zionist.
In many cases, people who oppose Zionism are literally white supremacists, including Adolf Hitler and infamous Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
WHEN ANTI-ZIONISTS FREQUENTLY COLLABORATE WITH NAZIS…IS THAT "ANTI WHITE SUPREMACY"?
Since anti-Zionism has existed, anti-Zionists have collaborated with white supremacists, time and time again, in order to further their ulterior motive of either opposing a Jewish state from forming, or, later on, their ulterior motive of destroying the Jewish state.
Some examples:
- During the Holocaust, Hitler himself promised the leader of the Arab Higher Committee and father of Palestinian nationalism, Haj Amin al-Husseini, an ardent anti-Zionist and vicious antisemite, that Nazi Germany both supported “an uncompromising struggle against the Jews” in Palestine and that Nazi Germany was “resolved” to prevent a Zionist state from ever forming.
- During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, both Palestinian Arab paramilitaries — the Army of the Holy War and the Arab Liberation Army — were trained by former German Nazis. The Nazis even formed their own legion, Black International, to fight alongside the Palestinian Arabs against the Zionists. Fawzi al-Qawugji, the leader of the Arab Liberation Army, had severed in the Nazi forces himself.
- In the 1950s, the Soviets, who loudly proclaimed themselves “anti-Zionists,” exported Nazi propaganda films to the Arab world to “inflame” anti-Israel sentiment. These were films that had been produced by the Nazis in Germany during the Nazi regime.
- Wolfgang Abramowski and Willi Pohl, two German neo-Nazis, helped the Palestinian terrorist “anti-Zionist” group Black September plan the 1972 Munich Massacre. They provided weapons, forged passports and other documents, and drove the terrorists around as they planned their attack.
How is this "anti white supremacy"?
WHEN WHITE SUPREMACISTS CALL THEMSELVES ANTI-ZIONIST…IS THAT "ANTI WHITE SUPREMACY?"
Virtually all extremist white supremacists are self-described “anti-Zionists.” It was white supremacists, for example, that came up with the “Zionist Occupation Government” antisemitic conspiracy theory, which alleges that a secret “Zionist” organization controls international banks and international governments. If this also sounds familiar to left-wing anti-Zionist discourse, that’s because it is. It was white supremacists who came up with the antisemitic slur “Zio,” which left-wing antisemites, such as the organizers for the Chicago Dyke March, have started using today.
Wilhelm Marr, a scientific racist (i.e. white supremacist) who coined the term “antisemitism,” himself called Zionism a “foul Jewish swindle.”
Hitler was an ardent anti-Zionist as well. For example, he personally assured Amin al-Husseini, the father of Palestinian nationalism, that Germany “supports an uncompromising struggle against the Jews…[this] would include, of course, opposition to a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which is nothing more than a national hub for the destructive influence of Jewish interests.”
Infamous Ku Klux Klan member and former Grand Wizard David Duke is, too, a virulent anti-Zionist. In 1990, he stated, “The Jews are trying to destroy all other cultures…the only Nazi country in the world is Israel.” When Ilhan Omar tweeted in 2019 that Israel has “hypnotized the world,” David Duke praised her: “By defiance to Z.O.G. [Zionist Occupation Goverment] Ilhan Omar is NOW the most important Member of the US Congress!”
How is this "anti white supremacy"?
WHEN ANTI-ZIONISTS CONSISTENTLY USE NAZI IMAGERY…IS THAT "ANTI WHITE SUPREMACY"?
Swastikas are a common sight at anti-Israel protests, and Nazi imagery is common in the Palestinian Territories.
How is this "anti white supremacy"?
WHEN ANTI-ZIONISTS DO NOT BELIEVE JEWS SHOULD HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AS EVERYBODY ELSE…IS THAT "ANTI WHITE SUPREMACY"?
Self-determination is a basic tenet of international law. To review: self-determination is the concept that peoples who share a national identity — not to be confused with nationality — have a legal right to choose their own governance, rather than being forced into living under the thumb of an empire. Self-determination is a basic tenet of international law, applicable to all peoples.
Opposing the self-determination of one group and one group only in their ancestral homeland is, by definition, employing a double standard. When the double standard is employed specifically against the very first people white supremacists targeted — that is, Jews — then how in the world is opposing Jewish self-determination “anti white supremacy”?
Let’s break this down.
Some anti-Zionists will claim that their problem is not with Zionism exclusively, but with all nationalism. Yet these are the very same anti-Zionists that support the “free Palestine” movement, which is, of course, a nationalist movement — in other words, Palestinians seek to establish a nation-state named Palestine, which, by definition, is a form of nationalism.
Even if these anti-Zionists really do oppose all nationalism, including Palestinian nationalism, then how come it’s the one and only Jewish state that has to go first? Jews, who have been persecuted in every corner of the globe, somehow should give up their sovereignty before anyone else does?
Many anti-Zionists claim to support Land Back, but not for Jews. Why, exactly? Because most Jews were gone from the Land of Israel too long? Would they revoke Land Back for other groups in a few hundred years? Will they say “Sorry, you’ve been colonized and/or displaced for too long. The colonizers win. No more Land Back for you”? Anti-Indigenous bigotry is, after all, a major part of white supremacy.
So how is this "anti white supremacy"?
DOES THIS MEAN ALL ANTI-ZIONISTS ARE INHERENTLY WHITE SUPREMACISTS?
No. That would be a logical fallacy. However, this does mean that no, anti-Zionism is in no way "anti white supremacy."
Anti-Zionists have done a really, really good job of attaching themselves to virtually every social justice cause to garner support, including, apparently, the fight against white supremacy.
Don't fall for the propaganda.
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