Is Anti-Zionism the New Anti-Semitism?

Open to Debate

Education, Society & Culture, News, Government, Politics

4.5 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In light of the recent Israel-Hamas war, an old debate is gaining new relevance. The nature of the current conflict has again unleashed a wave of antisemitic threats and violence in the U.S., with synagogues and Jewish-owned business having been vandalized and attacked. But as society surveys the damage, it also asks whether the condemnation of Israeli actions can truly be divorced from antisemitic hostilities? In other words, is being an anti-zionist tantamount to being antisemitic? Or is arguing against a state of-and-for the Jewish people just a thinly veiled way of harboring prejudice? In this debate, which first aired in February 2020, and accordingly has a few dated references which we felt were necessary to keep, Intelligence Squared looks to four expert panelists to debate this question: Is Anti-Zionism the New Anti-Semitism? For the Motion: Bret Stephens - Op-Ed Columnist, New York Times Einat Wilf - Former Member, Israeli Parliament Against the Motion: Peter Beinart - Journalist & Author, "The Crisis of Zionism" Yousef Munayyer - Executive Director, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:31.1	Hi everybody, this is John Donovan.
0:32.8	We have all just come through witnessing yet another round of military conflict in the
0:37.9	Middle East.
0:38.9	I'm talking about the latest outbreak of warfare between Israel and Hamas.
0:43.6	And we have heard all the commentary and we've seen all the actions surrounding it.
0:47.7	And it reminded us of a debate that we put on last year, and it was on the subject of
0:51.4	Zionism, which is the belief that the Jewish people have a right to stay to it in Israel.
0:56.0	The question we examined was this, is being an anti-Zionist tantamount to being anti-Semitic
1:03.3	is arguing against a state of and for the Jewish people just a thinly-veiled way of expressing
1:09.2	prejudice against the Jewish people?
1:11.8	Or can the condemnation of Israeli actions be divorced from anti-Semitic thoughts and
1:16.8	hostilities and feelings?
1:18.6	Given how we've seen the period of this current conflict coincide with another wave of anti-Semitic
1:23.6	threats and violence in the U.S.,
1:25.9	it seemed an appropriate time to re-upt his debate, even though you may notice there were
	...

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