Zionism, Jews and Israelis, what is the difference and why some Jews distance themselves from Israel?

Zionism: Zionism is a political movement and ideology that supports a homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, where the Jewish nation is said to have originated over 3,200 years ago. Zionism is generally considered to mean support for Israel. The term Zionism is also sometimes used retroactively to describe the millennia-old Biblical connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.

Jews: Jews are followers of Judaism or, more generally, members of the Jewish people (also known as the Jewish nation, or the Children of Israel), an ethno-religious group descended from the ancient Israelites and from converts who joined their religion. The origin of the Jews is traditionally dated to around 1800 BCE with the biblical account of the birth of Judaism. Until the late 18th century, the terms Jews and adherents of Judaism were practically synonymous, and Judaism was the prime binding factor among the Jews, although it was not strictly required to be followed in order to belong to the Jewish people. Following the Age of Enlightenment and its Jewish counterpart Haskalah, a gradual transformation occurred where many Jews came to view being a member of the Jewish nation as separate from adhering to the Jewish faith. The Hebrew name Yehudi (plural Yehudim) came into being when the Kingdom of Israel was split between the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah. The term originally referred to the people of the southern kingdom, although the term B'nei Yisrael (Israelites) was still used for both groups. After the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom leaving the southern kingdom as the only Israelite state, the word Yehudim gradually came to refer to people of the Jewish faith as a whole, rather than those specifically from Judah. The English word Jew is ultimately derived from Yehudi. Judaism shares some of the characteristics of a nation, an ethnicity, a religion, and a culture, making the definition of who is a Jew vary slightly depending on whether a religious or national approach to identity is used.

Israeli: The name "Israel" is rooted in the Hebrew Bible, where Jacob is renamed Israel after wrestling with a mysterious adversary. The biblical nation fathered by Jacob was then called "The Children of Israel" or the "Israelites". Citizens of the modern State of Israel are referred to, in English, as "Israelis". For over 3,000 years, Jews have regarded the Land of Israel as their homeland, both as a Holy Land and as a Promised land. The land of Israel holds a special place in Jewish religious obligations, encompassing Judaism's most important sites — including the remains of the First and Second Temples, as well as the rites concerning those temples. Israel is a democratic republic with universal suffrage that operates under the parliamentary system. According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2004, of Israel's 6.9 million people, 77.2% were Jews, 18.5% Arabs, and 4.3% "others". Among Jews, 68% were Sabras (Israeli-born). According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2004, 76.2% of Israelis were Jews by religion, 16.1% were Muslims, 2.1% Christian, 1.6% Druze and the remaining 3.9% (including Russian immigrants and some ethnic Jews) were not classified by religion. Israel has two official languages; Hebrew and Arabic.

Sources for above definitions: Wikipedia.org

Term Differences and the Distance from Israel:

Many regard the terms "Zionist", "Jewish" and even "Israeli" as almost synonymous terms. There are some parallels but the terms can only be connected using the following summarizing sentence: “Zionist idea for having Jewish people return to land of Israel.”

Actually, these “differences” confusion is not surprising, as Zionist leaders, the Israeli leadership and Jewish communities worldwide all take part in blurring the distinctions between these terms and they certainly have their own reasons for doing so. The identification of the Zionist movement with the Jewish people gave the Jewish nationalist movement the legitimatization it needed so badly in its early days. The most obvious factor is the definition of Israel as a "Jewish democratic" state. Israel has not yet succeeded in resolving the inherent contradiction therein (Jewish state - belonging to the Jewish people, democratic state -belonging to all its citizens). One thing that many people do not know is that Israel recognizes a "Jewish" nationality, but not an Israeli one. In reality most Jews do not want to return to the land of Israel, and the Israeli people are composed mostly of Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews who are quite different in their culture from their brethren the Western Ashkenazi Jews.

Many Jewish communities in the world understand the link to Israel and the importance of its existence to their existence. However, nowadays, many disregard their link to Israel and its need to their survival. Many Jews are fully integrated into the society they live in and see Judaism as a religion only (not a nation, an ethnicity, or a culture). If Diaspora Jews will consider themselves as a nation, ethnic group or a separate culture, that may impede their full integration, according to their way thinking (not all think this way) and according to the people in the country they live in. Many Diaspora Jews also try to completely distance themselves from Israel and Judaism using several reasons. The most prevalent one is that they are really not Jews, but European. A book written by a Jewish historian, Arthur Koestler, who died in 1983, suggests that Ashkenazi Jews ancestors picked up the Jewish religion many centuries ago and are actually Kuzars. This opinion is now propagated by many Diaspora Jews as another reason to disconnect from Israel and furthermore disconnect from Judaism. However, wider genetic studies of diverse present day Jewish communities show a remarkable genetic cohesiveness. Jews from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, North Africa and European Ashkenazim all cluster together with other Semitic groups, with their origin in the Middle East. A common geographical original can be seen for all mainstream Jewish groups studied [Science News, October 3, 1998]. This genetic research has clearly refuted the libel that the Ashkenazi Jews are not related to the ancient Hebrews, but are descendants of the Kuzar tribe -- a pre-10th century Turko-Asian empire which reportedly converted en masse to Judaism. Researchers compared the DNA signature of the Ashkenazi Jews against those of Turkish-derived people, and found no correspondence. Another group of Jewish people distancing themselves from Israel are the Hassidic Jews. They completely disconnect themselves from Israel and see Israel as a state that should not exist before the arrival of the Messiah. Another major group of Jewish people believe that contrary to the popular opinion that Zionism would solve "the Jewish problem," the continuation of anti-Zionism will solve the issue. Rabbi Berger was among those who insisted that the answer to anti-Semitism is not the withdrawal and isolation of Jews in a separate state where they would have preferential national and political rights. The anti-Zionist advocates instead the implementation of genuine democratic rights for all people in all nations, which hopefully reduce anti-Semitism. A minority of Jewish people distancing themselves from Israel and Judaism will go to great lengths to convert to Christianity, Buddhism, Scientology and also to Islam.

Many Jewish communities in the world understand the link to Israel and the importance of its existence to their existence. However, many do not understand or acknowledge this link, and will go to great length to distance themselves from Israel and Zionism. The perception that the blurring of the distinctions between "Zionist", "Jewish", "Israeli" have certain interest and reason just for the Jewish people is wrong. These distinctions as almost synonymous are perceived by most of the gentiles.

Written By: Albert Talker

Sources:

Wikpedia.org

Alfred Lilienthal (The Zionist Connection II)

Rabbi Elmer Berger (Zionist Ideology: Obstacle to Peace)

Michael Neumann (What Is Anti-Semitism)