Israel/Palestine
In reply to the discussion: Why Liberal Zionists Won't Join BDS [View all]Shaktimaan
(5,397 posts)Are you being facetious and making incendiary statements for fun or are you actually describing this POV as a legitimate belief you hold?
Your examples, baptist and Muslim for example, are exclusive types from the same single, more general category. They are both types of religion. Liberalism and Zionism however, fall into different categories which are not exclusive to each other. Zionism is a form of nationalism that supports self-determination for the Jewish people. Liberalism is a political philosophy founded on support of liberty and equality.
There are no inherent aspects of Zionism that violate liberal ideals. As with all other forms of state nationalism there are proponents representative of the entire spectrum of political thought, ranging from arch conservative to ultra liberal and all points in between.
Insisting that members of a group, ANY group, are monolithic in their thinking, and incapable of sharing values that you identify with is a blatant attempt to dehumanize them; to cast them as somehow inherently different (always in a negative way) than yourself. We find examples of this act occurring again and again throughout history; whenever someone has sought to disenfranchise a specific group, it is the first step in a process that ultimately makes it easier to then shun, discriminate, cast out or even eventually kill its members.
That you can so casually defend the notion that Zionists are incapable of liberalism is shocking enough. But to fail to recognize this notion for what it is... to refute that it even qualifies as bigotry by virtue of its accuracy? That I find downright chilling. And in no way representative of liberal ideals.
I'll leave you with a relevant quote about Zionism from Martin Luther King Jr.
When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You're talking anti-Semitism.
I wonder if many would agree with your sentiment that Dr. King was not actually liberal after all?