Zionism for dummies..and people who act like dummies.

There doesn't seem to be a day that goes by where someone, either on DailyKos or somewhere else in the blogosphere, purposely or accidentally uses the term Zionism or Zionist improperly.  To a certain extent, it is understandable-between the right wing Greater Israel types, the left wing anti-Israel types, the Arab attempts to define Zionism as a form of racism and the flat out white supremacist/lunatic set who see the Zionist Occupied Government everywhere, the word(s) have been thrown around improperly for a long while.  Through this diary, I hope to clear up what Zionism is and also explain that Zionism is not, as some assume, a singular movement devoid of differences of opinions.

First, a clear definition of the large concept seems appropriate.  In order to avoid any claims of bias in definition, I'll stick to the dictionary folks over at Merriam Webster:

Main Entry: Zi·on·ism   Pronunciation: \ˈzī-ə-ˌni-zəm\ Function: noun Date: 1896 : an international movement originally for the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine and later for the support of modern Israel — Zi·on·ist  -nist\ adjective or noun — Zi·on·is·tic  \ˌzī-ə-ˈnis-tik\ adjective

Seems pretty benign on its face.  Of course, this is an overly simplistic view of Zionism and doesn't account for the difference of means of acheiving this goal nor does it explain the reasoning behind why people would ascribe to this philosophy.

So, to better understand the "why" and "how" of it, lets look at the various types of Zionism:

1. Labor Zionism- For the better part of Israel's existence, this form of Zionism has dominated politically.  Labor Zionism believed a Jewish state could only be formed by appealing to the working class people and by creating a progressive community within Mandate Palestine.  The kibbutzim movement stems from Labor Zionism and amongst the major forms of Zionism, it's practicioners generally hold the most progressive views towards peace with the Palestinians.

1. Liberal or General Zionism-By way of comparisson, this form of Zionism can be readily compared to our Democratic Party-they believed in a strong middle class, liberal values and capitalism.  Although some of the adherents of this form of Zionism later helped found Likud, this was seen as a centrist view between that of the Labor Zionists and the Revisionist Zionists.

1. Revisionist Zionism-In many ways, this view seems to be what most progressives assume is the general definition of Zionism when they discuss it.  This movement was founded by Ze'ev Jabotinsky and is the forerunner of the modern day Likud Party.  Both the Irgun and Stern Gang, the paramilitary groups in Mandate Palestine, were run by Revisionist Zionists.  Revisionist Zionists are proponents of the 'Greater Israel' concept, that of a state that exists on both sides of the Jordan River. There has been strong resistence to this form of Zionism both in the past and currently.  Prominent intellectual Jews including Albert Einstein had gone as far as to call Revisionist Zionism a form of fascism.

1. Religious Zionism- This form of Zionism is common today amongst the settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  Although many Orthodox Jews initially opposed Zionism as disobeying G-d's will, certain Orthodox leaders believed the creation of a Jewish state was, in fact, justified by Jewish law.  They are often allied with Revisionist Zionists due to their shared belief in retaining all of Israel and the territories.

5)Post Zionism- Although not technically a form of Zionism, it is important to note that some Jews, both in Israel and in diaspora, believe the mission of Zionism has been completed and that Israel should move past it's status as a Jewish state.  This should not be confused with Anti-Zionism, although there clearly is some overlap.

Now, one thing that should be noted from these definitions is the complete lack of mention of the United States and the Palestinians.  Why are these two facts important?  The former is important because all too often, people use the term 'Zionist' with reference to American politicians and American political issues.  This would be like comparing Alex Rodriguez to Lebron James-they may have many similar qualities, but they play in two very separate ballparks.

The latter is important because of the (false) claims that Zionism amounts to racism.  In fact, what Zionism is about is Jewish identity and how that identity should apply (or not apply) to the existence of Israel.  That is not racism by any definition.