Why the anti-Semites oppose Zionism

Regarding the discussion at the American Renaisance website following Jared Taylor’s article on Jews and AR, I asked a correspondent:

Can you explain to me why the main animus of the anti-Semites in the AR discussion is against “Zionist” Jews? Why should they oppose Zionist Jews, i.e., Jews who believe in the existence of the state of Israel? Wouldn’t the anti-Semites prefer that Jews be in a Jewish state, rather than living as minorities in Western countries?

What exactly is their gripe? They seem quite mad.

Correspondent replied:

Sure. In Nazi-speak, “Zionism” is not just the territorialist ethnonationalism of the Jewish ethnos.

They view this aspect of it as merely the tip of an imaginary iceberg, the rest being the Jewish master-plot for world domination.

Their basic theory is that Zionism and Bolshevism are both epiphenomena, mere expedient techniques that enable the Jews to mount a “one-two punch” to fight for their aim of world domination from both the left and the right.

Long ago, there were, of course, sincere anti-Semitic Zionists, who ardently wanted Israel to exist so their local Jews would move there and go away. There may still be a few around, but I don’t know of any.

Nazis reject this position because they are NOT merely extreme ethnonationalists, who just want their tribe on their tribeland, but instead believe their war on the Jews is a cosmic struggle between the rival spiritual essences.

LA replies:

Well, then, based on what you’ve said, the anti-Semites’ claim that they are only or mainly against “Zionist Jews” is a lie, since, as they see things, Zionism is merely one manifestation of the cosmic Jewish plot. So basically they are doing what they’ve always been accused of doing: pretending to be only against Israel (a position on which most of the world agrees with them), in order to legitimize and advance their real agenda, which is the war against the cosmic Jewish enemy.

(Also, as a side point that has been made before, if the Zionist Jews are so powerful and effective in controlling the world, why is lsrael the most hated country on earth, its very right to exist denied, its long-term and even medium-term survival in doubt, its people considered legitimate targets for terrorist attacks? This is an obvious contradiction in the anti-Semites’ position that they never acknowledge.)

Posted by Lawrence Auster at April 29, 2006 12:24 PM | Send