Racism is an ugly word.

It is also a very ugly accusation. I will openly admit to anyone that I have my own racist baggage to deal with. I grew up completely unaware of the white privilege I have held since birth, enjoying it nonetheless. I remember every Martin Luther King, Jr. Day being wished a “Happy James Earl Ray Day” by my father, always chuckling when he said it. Growing up, my home, though to me it did not seem as overtly racist as say, a Klan House, certainly had racist attitudes floating about, and though they were never consciously indoctrinated into me, it took me quite a while to shake off the stereotypes of Hispanics and African Americans once I had gotten away. This process of opening to diversity and learning to appreciate it rather than be afraid of it mostly happened in college where my “liberal” professors and university community finally made me understand why we had needed a Civil Rights movement in America—even in the later half of the 20th century, encouraged me to spend time in other countries—but first equipped me to recognize ethnocentrism, and empowered me to confront my own racist attitudes through anti-racism training.

I have racist baggage, and now I am not afraid to admit it. But, I believe I have turned a corner. Given my change of heart, it surprises … hurts … or is it “angers”? me to be labeled as a racist today.

For the past two years, and continuing full-speed-ahead this summer, I have been actively engaged in the movement for Palestinian rights. While this work originally began as an outgrowth of my feeling a call to “serve the oppressed” and minister the “love of Christ,” it has taken on much stronger new meanings—commitment to peace, passion for bringing justice, and foremost, noblesse oblige to human rights as one who has always been on the Power side of the racism equation.

“NAZI!” “IF YOU WANT TO KILL JEWS, GO TO GERMANY!” screamed an Israeli settler woman at me in the middle of al Shuhada Street nearly two years ago.

In the course of this work I have had only the best intentions, yet more than once I have been called racist as a result of my position on the Zionist-Arab (what I believe to the be correct terminology, rather than “Israeli-Palestinian”) conflict. “Nazi” was probably the most outright accusation of racism I have endured; the most common is the label “anti-Semitic.”

If the accusation of being “anti-Semitic” did not constitute such an egregious charge, in my case it seems nearly laughable. First of all, those who are calling me anti-Semitic are ignoring the fact that Jews are not the only Semitic people—Arabs (for whom I clearly have a fondness), Akkadians, Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Ethiopians are also Semitic peoples. Leaving out most of the groups who qualify as Semitic in one’s definition of anti-Semitism (limiting it to mean only racism against Jews) seems rather anti-Semitic (i.e. racist) itself. Additionally, quite ironically, it happens that the last two persons I have dated romantically have both been Jewish; I joke with my friends that I am actually a “Semit-o-phile.” Joking aside, it is a sad case that the work I have done has resulted in me being called racist when the very goal and nature of my work is the exact opposite—undoing racism, supporting human rights.

Zionism is Racism.

The first time I ever experienced Zionism being equated with racism was in graffiti I saw spray-painted on roadblocks around the city of Hebron in the south West Bank. I was spending a week in the city volunteering with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) at the end of my first summer in Palestine. Some visitors may just walk by and ignore this pithy pronouncement, waving it aside as a piece of antagonistic Arab propaganda, but during the week I overheard two CPTers having a brief discussion concerning it. It struck me that the two men disagreed on whether they believed this assertion that Zionism is Racism, and the question began rolling around in my mind. For nearly two years, I have been mulling over this thought, but until now I had never been bold enough to publish my thoughts. I feel compelled to do so now, spurred on to respond to the accusations of my own racism and to truly be faithful to the cause in which I have invested so much.

Looking back, I am not sure why (though I have some ideas) I had never drawn this connection—that Zionism is racism—before; now it seems quite clear to me. My delay in making this connection was probably mainly due to my saturation with pro-Zionist attitudes growing up in a house where we revered the “Chosen people” so much that we never ate pork or shellfish. To be against Israel was also to be against God. (Since beginning my work for Palestinian-human rights, my father has asserted that I am “daring God to curse [me].”) All cursing aside, I cannot ignore reason, nor my conscience.

Imagine if in the 1960s, rather than asserting their rights to be treated as equals through nonviolent direct actions, the African Americans of the U.S. had decided to secede and declare independence, forming their own, exclusively African American nation, Afromeriland, established over what was previously the state of Virginia. The non African American people living in Virginia became a minority in the new African American “homeland” and were only granted peripheral rights. While African descendents living in Europe and all other parts of the world flooded in to become a part of the new nation, non African American residents whose families had been residing in Virginia-Afromeriland for 200 years were not granted citizenship, and they were told they could just leave if they did not like their new status. In fact, the Afromerilandi government created much pressure and instituted two separate codes of law to apply to citizens of African descent and their non African American counterparts, making life as difficult as possible to encourage those not of African descent to leave—after all, the rest of the U.S. was still open and safe for the non African Americans, but Afromeriland was the only place the African Americans could ensure that they would be safe from oppression. As a minority that had been oppressed for many years, the African Americans joyously celebrated their new independence … and the rest of America celebrated with them???

This is an absolutely ridiculous scenario. How many supporters of Zionism would support this narrative becoming a reality; my guess is not many. Yet, why then, do supporters of Zionism support the formation of an exclusively Jewish homeland? The fact of the matter is that any ethnic state is inherently a racist state because it by definition requires the subjugation and/or exclusion of those who do not fit the preferred ethnicity.

Why today are Hitler and Nazi Germany considered the epitome of evil? What was their goal?: to create an ethnically pure state. I do not know too many people who would come to Hitler’s defense, claiming that he had a right to place his preferred Aryan ethnic group over all others. Nazi methods of achieving the ethnic state were certainly more blatant—clear genocide rather than just the slow, systematic ethnic cleansing process of Zionism currently taking place in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories—but the methods, whether concentration camps and gas chambers or an apartheid system of walls, roads, checkpoints, and denial of citizenship—are every bit as deliberate. I am not equating what the Nazis did in the World War II Holocaust with the current Israeli Occupation, but wrong is wrong, and whether it is genocide or “just” an apartheid system and ethnic cleansing, it must be identified as the evil it is and steps must be taken to stop it.

Zionism cannot be a “special” case. Others have been oppressed and not resorted to becoming oppressors themselves. It is sad and disturbing to witness the progression of oppression: the Jews in Europe leapt—as if from the roof of a burning building—from the oppression they faced under the Nazi occupation of Europe, but they landed on the backs of the Arabs living in Palestine. David became Goliath, and now, after six million Jews were exterminated in the Holocaust, Palestinians comprise the world’s largest and oldest refugee population with more than half of today’s 10.9 million Palestinians living in Diaspora. The lesson learned from the Holocaust could have been the need for toleration and respect between differing ethnic groups, but instead it birthed a radical xenophobia hell-bent on isolation and exclusivity. As a result, the State of Israel has adopted the phrase, “Never Again,” as its mantra. But, what this means is, “Never again—to us”; what it desperately needs to mean is, “Never again—to anyone.”

Whether a person can agree or not through basic reasoning that in theory Zionism is appropriately classified as racism, there is absolutely irrefutable evidence that the practice of Zionism today is blatantly racist. Anyone who has spent as much time living in the West Bank as I have, living with Palestinians and listening to their stories of life under Occupation, could write a book with all the instances of racism they have witnessed first-hand and heard from locals.

Racist attitudes andpractices pervade the country. Three-quarters of Jewish Israelis oppose including Arab parties in the government; the same number say they would not live in the same building as Arabs. Last year all the major Israeli Knesset (Parliament) parties voted to remove two Arab parties because they opposed the “Gaza war” (i.e. Gaza massacre, appropriately evaluated by the U.N.-commissioned Goldstone report as constituting crimes against humanity). Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli Foreign Minister and West Bank settler, and his Yisrael Beiteinu party have eagerly pushed to pass a “loyalty oath” into law requiring Arab-Israelis to decree their loyalty to a “Jewish state” and expelling those who refuse; “You are only temporarily here. One day we will take care of you,” he said to Arab deputies during a Knesset debate. (i) In a recent survey, half of Israeli high school students said that they do not believe Arab citizens should be granted equal rights to those of Jews. (This sample even included Arab-Israeli students and was only referring to equal rights for citizens—those Arabs living within the 1948-Israel border—which does not include any Arabs of the West Bank or Gaza Strip!) (ii) In Hebron, down the street from the “Zionism is Racism” graffiti adorning a roadblock at an Israeli checkpoint in the middle of the city, I read graffiti by another hand, scrawled on the wall of an Arab home next to a Jewish settlement: “Gas the Arabs.”

You have heard me use the words “racism” and “apartheid” now numerous times. These are heavy, scary terms, but they are the most fitting terms to describe the Israel Occupation.

Some of my Jewish friends will agree with this assessment whole-heartedly, some will reject the equivocation of Zionism with racism, and some will tepidly agree with my assessment, but they will balk at actually remedying things through denouncing Zionist philosophy, claiming that sadly it is a “necessary evil” in a world where Jews have faced and continue to face grave persecution. I will absolutely not deny the suffering faced by many identifying with Jewish faith and/or ethnicity through the centuries (notably, mostly at the hands of Christians, not Arabs or Muslims). But, Zionism—as a political movement fed by the depravity and horror of the Nazi Holocaust and now as a religious movement spurred by unreasonable theologies—has led to a hyper-paranoid state where the “need for security” justifies any action, no matter how irrational or racist it may be. Past suffering does not negate a nation’s responsibility to act justly.

Part of what emboldens me to finally make these statements is the support of numerous Jewish intellectuals. Some people might like to easily dismiss what I say as anti-Semitism from a goy, but even after dismissing me, there are plenty of others, Jewish themselves, who cannot be dismissed so easily. Folks like Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Anna Baltzer, Mark Braverman, Jeff Halper—the list could go on for some time—are all standing up and speaking out to expose the litany of human rights violations perpetrated by Israel and encouraging others to stand with them against these injustices. Last summer, I attended a lecture by Naomi Klein in the city of Ramallah during which she actively urged the use of these scary words: Racism. Apartheid. “Be BOLD!” she said. I can no longer be afraid to use these words boldly if I am going to be true to my conscience: putting justice and love ahead of fear.

This premise—accepting Zionism as racism—seems to be much easier to accept for those of a secular persuasion than those who are wrapped up in religion. I am quite confused as to why this is the case. Perhaps it is because the secular among us can see things rather clearly; it is not difficult to reason one’s way to this position, and using human rights as grounds for taking a moral stance, rather than a constructed theology, is a much more concrete and obvious path to travel. Sadly, many religious folks have chosen that reason and human rights are not worth their time. They appeal only to theology, often constructed solely on one very limited (and poor) interpretation of their Bible.

In religious Jews, I have seen this theologizing on the conflict create harm when the ideas that Jews are favored by God among all peoples and that God promised a large piece of real-estate to them in the Middle East rules their pattern of thought. Yet, this does not compute for me based on my reading of the Hebrew Bible. In my reading, the entire idea of being God’s chosen people was not because there was something innately special about the Jews that warranted receiving special treatment—the Hebrew authors of Deuteronomy attribute chosenness to the Jews being the least of the nations and to God’s love and faithfulness (Deut 7.7-8); then, out of their diminutive number, they could fulfill the purpose of chosenness—being a beacon of Yahweh’s justice/righteousness for all those around them to emulate. The concept of chosenness of Israel is repeatedly paired with the purpose of that chosenness: to be a blessing to all nations (e.g. Gen 12.2-3; 18.18; 22.18; 26.4; 28.14) and to be a light to the nations (e.g. Ex 19.6; Isa 42.6-7; 49.6; 51.4; 60.3). One palatable Jewish interpretation of chosenness: “The concept of the Chosen People thus does not imply any exclusivity of salvation. To the contrary, it implies no additional benefits, but only additional responsibilities—the regimen of the 613 commandments of the Torah.  … Chosenness thus implies no requirement for Jews to impose their will, to dominate or rule the non-Jews … . “ (iii)

Sadly, today what the State of Israel (which should not be equated with the biblical nation of Israel, anyway) demonstrates is the exact opposite of a beacon of justice or light to the nations. Israel is the most extensive violator of U.N. Security Council resolutions. (The U.S. has used its veto power in the U.N. more than 40 times to defend Israeli violations of international law.) (iv)Instead, Israel looks like the institution of a Jewish Herrenvolk. Holding Israel accountable to justice is not anti-Semitic. If this were the case, all of the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible were incredibly anti-Semitic! On the contrary, justice (not God’s favoritism)is absolutely central in the Hebrew Bible.

Christian theologizing on the conflict has led to as many, if not even more, problems. American Christian Zionist support for Israel is one of the foremost contributors to the continuance and furtherance of the Occupation. Christian Zionists wield much political clout in the U.S., and therefore politicians who would like to remain in office are too fearful of holding the State of Israel accountable to international standards of justice because their political base will cut them off if they do not conform to the level of blind support that is customary.

Christian Zionism is an incredibly racist, tribalistic, and destructive theology. Jews in Israel realize that Christian Zionists hold a very racist theology: self-servingly supporting the state of Israel so that all Jews will return (a prerequisite for the Messiah’s return) and also believing that two-thirds of Jews will be killed in the “Tribulation” and the rest instantly converted to Christianity. But, Israeli Jews look the other direction while receiving the vast amounts of support from Christian Zionists because this serves their own interests in perpetuating the Jewish State. Besides the wacky Dispensationalist theology of Christian Zionists (formulated by John Nelson Darby in the mid-20th century), their theology is puzzlingly xenocentric, enthusiastically ratifying the notion of Jews as God’s “chosen people.”

It baffles me, however, why Christians prescribe to such a theology when this tribalist, racist God is clearly not the God seen in Jesus (key figure in Christianity or not??) or the rest of the Christian Bible’s New Testament. Setting forth a new theology of inclusion, in Galatians 3.26-29 Paul declares that the Gentile Christians are heirs to the Abrahamic covenant: “for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise”—the promise of Deuteronomy 7.8 referenced above (which, quite notably, is a conditional promiseif you pay attention and read a bit farther into verses 9-12).

The Christian Zionist fixation on Jewish chosenness is bewildering since according to their own canon, actually, Christians are the chosen people, not Jews. Christians became the “chosen” when the Jews stumbled over works-versus-faith and failed to recognize Jesus (Rom 9.30-32). 1 Peter explicitly declares this as the author ascribes the exact role and purpose of the Jewish-chosen in the old covenant to the newly-chosen-Christians in the new covenant: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (vv. 9-10). This is the same role that was given to the Jews of the Hebrew Bible, but with the advent of Jesus and the beginning of a new covenant (i.e. new “testament”), it is ceded to Christians. Some Christian balk at receiving this message, worried about a “replacement theology.” Yet, these New Testament writers were preaching a theology of inclusion, not replacement; the Jewish people are not barred from salvation, but invited in along with the rest of humanity to be God’s holy chosen people—a people set apart by their commitment to justice/righteousness, lighting the way to the Kingdom for all other peoples.

With absolute indignant outrage, I ask those so-called “Bible-believing Christians” who support Zionism: why are these parts of the Bible being excluded from your belief system? If the prophets so openly criticized the nation of Israel, holding it accountable to its original mission of caring for the widow, the orphan, the alien in the land, and the oppressed, why do you turn a blind eye to the injustices committed by this modern State? Even worse, you continually lend your hand in support in furthering its wrongdoing! Jesus came and began a new era in which all people were welcomed to be the children of God. The passages presented above clearly must be excised from any Zionist’s canon to continue supporting the destructive, racist policy of Zionism.

I will never believe in a God who supports what I witness happening here in Occupied Palestine; a God of racism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, murder, and exploitation is no God worth my belief.

Two days after I arrived this summer, I was hanging out with my friends Elias and Said at a restaurant in Beit Sahour. Elias told me that he had gotten a ticket in Jerusalem earlier that day. Knowing Elias’ car has Palestinian plates, which does not allow him to drive in Jerusalem, I questioned how he could have gotten a ticket. He told me that had received the ticket for jaywalking. “Silly enough,” I thought. “It may be a stupid reason to give someone a ticket, but at least it’s not another act of discrimination.” But, then he continued his story, telling me of how, as he was standing there with the Israeli police officer issuing him a ticket, she stopped another man who had just made it across the street. Elias had been crossing by himself when the police officer stopped him, but this man had been jaywalking along with an entire group of Jewish people. The one thing they had in common: they were both Arab. In my two years of knowing Elias, this is a small drop in the bucket of stories just like it that he has told me or that we have encountered together.

In two years of considering the topic of Zionism as racism, debating myself, discussing and debating with others, this is the only conclusion I am able to reach. It would be much more comfortable to be a moderate, especially with the religious and political climate of the U.S., but I can find no middle ground. What is wrong is clearly wrong, and to be moderate in this instance would be to totally betray my conscience and my friends who have the injustices of Zionism forced upon them every day.

Why am I writing this now? I thought it necessary to reframe my work this summer both for those who have known my work since its inception and for those who are unfamiliar with what I have been doing. I am leading a summer program in the West Bank called Palestine Summer Encounter, educating Westerners on the realities of life in Occupied Palestine so that they can be ambassadors to their home communities, in turn educating more people, and hopefully to some degree slowing the hemorrhage of support from the West to the unjust Israeli Occupation. Formerly, I framed this work as a “ministry” so that my church missions board would support me. Well, the cat is out of the bag—I am not here to convert Muslims. I am here to convert minds to believing that human rights apply to Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Territories—not just the Jews residing here. I am here to make atonement for the racist mentality that formerly limited my capacity to act righteously, to love mercy, and to be in accord with god.

Many people who read this are going to disagree with me. Yet I will continually insist, this is not a radical position; it is a reasonable position. But, sadly, it does seem far removed from what today is mainstream thought. These are my views as an individual, and I do not claim to speak for my employers, my church, or my friends. My hope is that soon, though, many will join my voice and speak out with me to denounce the injustices being carried out in Occupied Palestine.

Racism is an ugly word, but it is an even uglier practice. I cannot ignore everything I see here on a daily basis; it is very ugly. I am not a Zionist because I do not wish to be racist anymore. I am anti-Zionism because I am anti-racism. 

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(i) “Ethnic Cleansing and Israel: ‘The Ultimate Aim is the Transfer of Arab-Israelis’” by Conn Hallinan. March 3, 2009. Provided by The Duroob Institute for Leadership Development and Social Growth, Galilee.

(ii) “Poll: Half of Israeli high schoolers oppose equal rights for Arabs” by Or Kashti. March, 11, 2010. Ha’aretz newspaper. <http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/poll-half-of-israeli-high-schoolers-oppose-equal-rights-for-arabs-1.264564>

(iii) “The Concept of the Chosen People: An Interpretation” by Raphael Jospe. Published in Judaism (volume 43, p. 135), 1994.

(iv) Occupation 101. A film by Sufyan Omeish and Abdallah Omeish. A Triple Eye Films production. 2007.