There’s a common perception among the progressive crowd that it’s cool to go against Israel, especially if you’re young and Jewish. After all, what’s cooler and more rebellious than taking on your own side, and even more so if it’s already seen as the big and powerful side?
On the surface, this makes sense. It always looks good to side with the underdog and the victims — in this case, the Palestinians. You can see this phenomenon with leftist Jewish activists who call on the U.S. to end support for Israel’s “apartheid” system and who put all the blame for Palestinian hardship on the Jewish state.
This approach looks like a classic case of courage — bash the strong and defend the weak. In reality, though, if we look more closely, all it reveals are activists who are rather conformist and risk-free.
Siding with the Palestinians, the world’s most coddled and celebrated victims, is as safe a bet as they come.
Siding with the Palestinians, the world’s most coddled and celebrated victims, is as safe a bet as they come. This is even more true in recent years, when the rise of intersectionality has intertwined the Palestinian cause with virtually every other progressive cause.
We can see this, for example, when Palestinian activists who protest Israel’s response to terror attacks are joined by multiple progressive groups.
“Pro-Palestinian activists say their numbers are being swelled by a more intersectional progressive coalition of supporters in the U.S.,” Time magazine reported in May 2021, after Israel responded aggressively to Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza. “More than 100 progressive groups signed onto a May 14 statement asking Biden to denounce ‘Israel’s use of disproportionate and deadly force against Palestinians in Gaza.’”
In other words, even when Israel is justified in defending its people against terror, the message is clear for Jewish activists who want to be accepted in progressive circles: Go with the crowd, side with the Palestinians and you’ll be just fine.
The harder path, the more courageous path, is to side with the Zionists. Yes, this won’t put you in popular territory, which is precisely the point.
Seen through that lens, the harder path, the more courageous path, is to side with the Zionists. Yes, this won’t put you in popular territory, which is precisely the point. If you really believe in something, you don’t care what others think. You’re willing to pay the price. That is the mark of a rebel.
It’s true that few words are less popular in polite society today than the word “Zionist.” But the true rebel thinks: the hell with polite society.
Rebel Zionists know that Zionism is the dramatic manifestation of a people yearning for 1900 years to return to their biblical homeland. They know they are part of one of humanity’s greatest and most miraculous stories. If that means they get looked down upon by the self-righteous cliques of Zionist bashers, they see that as a badge of honor.
The rebel Zionist doesn’t apologize for the fact that Israel must be very strong just to survive in the world’s most dangerous neighborhood. The rebel Zionist knows that Israel would be a lot more popular with progressives if hundreds of Israelis would die during rocket attacks instead of protecting themselves in bomb shelters.
The rebel Zionist has looked at that equation and has given the progressive world the middle finger: Sorry, we won’t die just to make you love us.
So, as Israel commemorates its 75th anniversary, it’s a good time for Jews to do a little soul searching. Will you hide your Zionism because you’re afraid to stand out and stick your neck out? Will you take the side of the Palestinians because it makes you feel virtuous and surrounds you with the comforting glow of progressive conformists and mainstream elitists?
Or will you throw caution to the wind, live dangerously and take the road less travelled? That is, will you stand up as a proud Zionist and accept Israel with all its faults even if it makes some people around you uncomfortable?
If you’re not sure, consider this fact: The progressive crowd that bashes Zionists rarely does anything to help the Palestinians. If anything, by infantilizing them as if they have no agency, they reinforce a chronic victimhood that only perpetuates their misery.
The rebel Zionist has no problem telling Palestinians that peace is a two-way street and they must do their share if they want a better future. The rebel Zionist has the fortitude to warn Hamas and other terrorists that Israel will crush them when they launch their terror at Israeli civilians. And the rebel Zionist knows that the best way to confront BDS haters on college campuses is not through fear and anxiety but through Zionist pride.
Rebel Zionists, in short, understand that their people need them. They are not at all embarrassed that Israel is powerful. Just the opposite: They think it’s really cool to not be victims and to stay alive.
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