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Religious anti-Zionism

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Neturei Karta, an anti-Zionist Jewish group

While anti-Zionism usually utilizes ethnic and political arguments against the existence or policies of the state of Israel, anti-Zionism has also been expressed within religious contexts which have, at times, colluded and collided with the ethnopolitical arguments over Israel's legitimacy. Outside of the liberal and socialist fields of anti-Zionist currents, the religious (and often ethnoreligious) arguments tend to predominate as the driving ideological power within the incumbent movements and organizations, and usually target the Israeli state's relationship with Judaism.

Within Judaism

Main article: Haredim and Zionism

From the beginning of the Zionist movement, there were many traditional religious Jews who opposed it due to their opposition to nationalism (Jewish or otherwise) which they regarded as a secular ideology, and because of an inherent suspicion of change. Much of the thought generated by traditional religious anti-Zionism is focused on the Three Oaths, a portion of the Talmud which forbids waging war to establish a Jewish state. Key traditionalist opponents of Zionism included Israel Meir Kagan (Lithuania), Chaim Soloveitchik (Brisk), Sholom Dovber Schneersohn (Chabad), Isaac Breuer, Hillel Zeitlin, Aaron Shmuel Tamares, Elazar Shapiro (Muncatz), and Joel Teitelbaum, all waged ideological religious, as well as political, battles with Zionism each in their own way.[1]

Today, the main Jewish theological opposition to Zionism stems from the Satmar Hasidim, which has more than 150,000 adherents worldwide. Even more strongly opposed to Zionism is the small Haredi Jewish organization known as Neturei Karta,[2][3] which has less than 5,000 members, almost all of whom live in Israel. According to The Guardian, "[e]ven among Charedi, or ultra-Orthodox circles, the Neturei Karta are regarded as a wild fringe".[4]

In Islam

Muslims have made several arguments to oppose the state of Israel. Importantly, the vast majority of Palestinians (around 93%)[5] follow Islam.

Quran 22:39–40 gives permission for Muslims to fight those who "drove them from their homes", thus some Muslims believed jihad against Israel was justified due to the 1948 Palestinian expulsions.[6] Likewise Iranian Islamists also cited the expulsion of Palestinians in their opposition to Israel.[7] The founder of Hamas, Ahmad Yassin, said "we are not fighting Jews because they are Jews! We are fighting them because they assaulted us, they killed us, they took our land, our homes."[8] Yusuf al-Qaradawi cited the expulsion of Palestinians.[9] A fatwa from the European Council for Fatwa and Research condemned "Zionists who usurped Palestinian lands and forcibly expelled the Palestinians from their own homes."[10]

After the Oslo Accords, there were debates on the agreement's legitimacy from an Islamic perspective. Abd al-Aziz Ibn Baz, the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, supported the accords, while Yusuf al-Qaradawi opposed them.[11] Ibn-Baz argued Islam allowed for both definite and indefinite peace agreements; Muhammad had concluded permanent treaties with several Arab tribes.[11] However, indefinite treaties may only be made if there are in the community's interest, and may be broken when they harm the community's interest;[11] Ibn Baz urged Palestinians to cooperate with Accords to avoid bloodshed.[11] Both Ibn-Baz and Qaradawi agreed that according to Quran 8:61 (Translated by Yusuf Ali) Muslims should accept peace if the enemy offers it to them. But Qaradawi opined that Israeli actions did not show intention towards peace as Israel continued its occupation and expanded settlements.[12]

Palestinian Muslims and other Muslim groups, as well as the government of Iran (since the 1979 Islamic Revolution), insist that the State of Israel is illegitimate and refuse to refer to it as "Israel", instead using the locution "the Zionist entity" (see Iran–Israel relations). In an interview with Time Magazine in December 2006, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said "Everyone knows that the Zionist regime is a tool in the hands of the United States and British governments".[13]

Some Muslims view the existence of Israel as an intrusion into what sharia law defines as Dar al-Islam, a domain they believe should be ruled by Muslims, reflecting the historical conquest of the Palestine region in the name of Islam.[14][15]

In Christianity

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church rejects a theological basis for Zionism[16][17][18] and has historically opposed it.[19][20] The Vatican has nonetheless had diplomatic relations with Israel since 1993 (as a result of the Oslo Accords).[21][22] It has also had diplomatic relations with the State of Palestine since 2015.[23] Many Catholics are themselves divided over political support of Israel.[24][25][26][27]

History of the relationship between the Vatican and Zionism

Theodor Herzl, the secular Jewish founder of modern political Zionism, met with Pope Pius X in the Vatican in 1904, arranged by the Austrian Count Berthold Dominik Lippay, to ascertain the Catholic Church's position on Herzl's prospective project for a Jewish state in Palestine. "We cannot prevent Jews from going to Jerusalem—but we can never sanction it," said Pope Pius X. He continued, “If Jerusalem's land was not always hallowed, it has been sanctified by Jesus Christ's life. I cannot tell you otherwise as the leader of the Church. Because the Jews have not recognized our Lord, we cannot recognize the Jewish people."[28] Pope Pius X went on to tell Herzl that the Catholic Church also opposed the acquisition of the "secular lands" of Palestine by the Zionist movement.[28] This laid down some of the key religious components of the Catholic Church’s anti-Zionism which would take on more of a political character as the planning of Jewish state in the Holy Land took place beginning in 1917. The Holy See was a strong opponent of the League of Nation’s plans for a Jewish state based in the Holy Land.[29][30] The Vatican opposed the concept of Judaism having preponderance in a land which they saw as extremely sacred not only to the Catholic faith but also to the other sects and religions of the world, also stating how it would hurt the native inhabitants if this preponderance was achieved.

During the Second World War the Catholic Church made sure that any effort it took part in to aid the Jewish people threatened by German aggression would not be construed as support for a Jewish homeland in the Holy Land.[31] After the war, under the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, the Catholic Church resisted American pressure to recognize the State of Israel and, according to American historian Frank J. Coppa in his biographical study The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII: Between History and Controversy, stood "in opposition to American policy in the Middle East from the founding of Israel to his death in 1958."[32] Gertrud Luckner irritated many of her fellow Catholics when she stated that neither "theological considerations nor biblical teachings would justify a negative position among Christians toward the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine," with the Vatican itself rejecting this notion.[33]

After the election of Pope John XXIII the Catholic Church moderated its political position in regards to Zionism. At the coronation of Pope John XXIII the Israeli Ambassador Eliahu Sasson was in attendance, and was appointed as 'Special Delegate of the Government of Israel.'[34] In 1993 the Vatican state recognized the State of Israel as a result of the signing of the Oslo Accords.[35][36]

In 2010, in a synod chaired by Pope Benedict XVI a statement denouncing Israel's control in the West Bank and Golan Heights as an occupation calling for "the necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories", furthermore the synod's statement condemned religious Zionism, "Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable".[37] Later in 2018, when he was no longer the pontiff, Benedict XVI stated that "a theologically-understood acquisition of land (in the sense of new political messianism) was unacceptable...a strictly theologically-understood [Jewish] state—a Jewish faith-state that would view itself as the theological and political fulfillment of the promises—is unthinkable within history according to Christian faith and contrary to the Christian understanding of the promises."[38]

In 2015, under the administration of Pope Francis, the Vatican recognized the State of Palestine.[39] Francis has advocated for a two-state solution.[40][41]

In March 2024, Vatican Cardinal Fernando Filoni stated that he had his doubts over whether a two-state solution was still viable, and that an "integrated" one-state solution with full rights for all inhabitants may be a better option.[42]

Notable individuals

Protestantism

Many Protestant churches have rejected a religious basis for Zionism and condemned the ideology, despite Protestants also making up the majority of those who adhere to Christian Zionist beliefs.[53]

Church stances

The Reformed Church in America at its 2004 General Synod found "the ideology of Christian Zionism and the extreme form of dispensationalism that undergirds it to be a distortion of the biblical message noting the impediment it represents to achieving a just peace in Israel/Palestine."[54]

The Mennonite Central Committee has criticized Christian Zionism, noting in a 2005 publication that in some churches under Christian Zionist influence the "congregations 'adopt' illegal Israeli settlements, sending funds to bolster the defense of these armed colonies."[55]

As of September 2007, churches in the US that have criticized Christian Zionism include the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA),[56] and the United Church of Christ.[57]

In the United States, the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches in November 2007 approved a resolution for further study which stated that the "theological stance of Christian Zionism adversely affects:

  • justice and peace in the Middle East, delaying the day when Israelis and Palestinians can live within secure borders
  • relationships with Middle Eastern Christians (see the Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism)
  • relationships with Jews, since Jews are seen as mere pawns in an eschatological scheme
  • relationships with Muslims, since it treats the rights of Muslims as subordinate to the rights of Jews
  • interfaith dialogue, since it views the world in starkly dichotomous terms"[58]

On 9 July 2012, the Anglican General Synod passed a motion affirming support for the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).[59] This was criticised by the Board of Deputies claiming the Synod 'has chosen to promote an inflammatory and partisan programme'.[60] The EAPPI was simultaneously criticized for its publication of a call for sit-ins at Israeli embassies, the hacking of government websites to promote its message, and support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.[60][61]

In April 2013 the Church of Scotland published "The Inheritance of Abraham: A Report on the Promised Land", which rejects the idea of a special right of Jewish people to the Holy Land through analysis of scripture and Jewish theological claims. The report draws on the writings of anti-Zionist Jews and Christians.[62] According to Ira Glunts, it was revised after Scottish Jews harshly criticized it, replacing input from Mark Braverman with material from Marc H. Ellis, both Jewish.[63] The revision says that criticism of Israel's policies toward the Palestinians "should not be misunderstood as questioning the right of the State of Israel to exist".[64]

In 2014, a controversy arose when the United States Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) published a study guide, Zionism Unsettled, quickly withdrawn from sale on its website, that asserted that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was fueled by a "pathology inherent in Zionism".[65] Cary Nelson argued that the work and the Church's position were flawed, anti-Zionist, and antisemitic.[66] In 2022, the same denomination's general assembly determined that Israel is an apartheid state.[67]

See also

References

  1. ^ Shaul Magid, “In Search of a Critical Voice in the Jewish Diaspora: Homelessness and Home in Edward Said and Shalom Noah Barzofsky’s Netivot Shalom,” Jewish Social Studies n.s. 12, no. 3 (Spring/Summer 2006), p.196
  2. ^ [1] Archived February 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Neturei Karta - Orthodox Jews United Against Zionism". Nkusa.org. Archived from the original on 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
  4. ^ In a state over Israel by Simon Rocker (The Guardian) November 25, 2002
  5. ^ "Are all Palestinians Muslim?". Institute for Middle East Understanding. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  6. ^ Jonathan C. Brown. Misquoting Muhammad. Oneworld publications. p. 124.
  7. ^ "What Drives Israel-Iran Hostility? How Might it be Resolved?". 22 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Sheik Vows to Continue the Hamas Holy War Against Israel". New York Times. 1997-10-23.
  9. ^ Sagi Polka (2019). Shaykh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi: Spiritual Mentor of Wasati Salafism. p. 173.
  10. ^ Routledge Handbook of Political Islam. Taylor & Francis. 2012. p. 247.
  11. ^ a b c d Modongal 2023, p. 131.
  12. ^ Modongal 2023, p. 137.
  13. ^ "People Who Mattered: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad". Time. 2006-12-16. Archived from the original on January 13, 2007. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  14. ^ Neusner, Jacob; Sonn, Tamara (1999). Comparing religions through law: Judaism and Islam. London; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-19486-0.
  15. ^ Merkley, Paul Charles (2001). Christian attitudes towards the state of Israel. Montreal; Ithaca: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-2188-9. OCLC 48487645.
  16. ^ "Vatican-Israel Relations". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2024-03-07. Overall, the Vatican's relationship with Israel is based on international law, not theology...
  17. ^ SJ, David Neuhaus (2020-10-27). "People of Israel, Land of Israel, State of Israel". LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA. Retrieved 2024-03-07. ... despite the diplomatic recognition of Israel, Jewish spokespeople have continued to lament the Church's continued reluctance to affirm the theological significance of the Jewish claim to the land and the existence of the State of Israel.
  18. ^ "Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church | EWTN". EWTN Global Catholic Television Network. Retrieved 2024-03-07. Christians are invited to understand this religious attachment [of the Jews to the Land of Israel] which finds its roots in Biblical tradition, without however making their own any particular religious interpretation of this relationship... the existence of the State of Israel and its political options should be envisaged not in a perspective which is in itself religious, but in their reference to the common principles of international law.
  19. ^ "THEODOR HERZL: Audience with Pope Pius X (1904)". Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations. 26 January 1904. Retrieved on 20 March 2018.
  20. ^ "The Vatican, American Catholics and the Struggle for Palestine, 1917-1958: A Study of Cold War Roman Catholic Transnationalism". Western University. Retrieved on 20 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Vatican-Israel Relations". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  22. ^ Tharoor, Ishaan (2021-12-01). "What the Vatican's recognition of the state of Palestine means". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-02-13. The Vatican formally recognized only Israel in 1993, after the signing of the Oslo Accords.
  23. ^ "Israeli response to Vatican recognition of PA as a state 26 Jun 2015". mfa.gov.il. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
  24. ^ Ciani, Adriano (2011-12-12). "The Vatican, American Catholics and the Struggle for Palestine, 1917-1958: A Study of Cold War Roman Catholic Transnationalism". Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. The near-monolithic American Church of the pre-Conciliar period had, by the late 1960s, given way to a plurality of views on a number of questions relevant to the Vatican and the international Roman Catholic Church, including, as Drinan‟s work reveals, on Israel and Zionism.
  25. ^ "Israel and the World of Catholicism(s)". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  26. ^ SJ, David Neuhaus (2020-10-27). "People of Israel, Land of Israel, State of Israel". LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA. Retrieved 2024-03-07. ... a debate has been raging about the position of the Catholic Church regarding a state that defines itself as Jewish and sees itself in continuity with ancient Israel in the biblical scriptures...
  27. ^ Alper, Becka A. (2022-05-26). "Modest Warming in U.S. Views on Israel and Palestinians". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  28. ^ a b "THEODOR HERZL: Audience with Pope Pius X (1904)". Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations. 26 January 1904. Retrieved on 19 February 2023.
  29. ^ "Mandate favors Jews, Vatican says". The New York Times. Manhattan, New York City. 16 June 1922. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  30. ^ "Pope criticizes Jews for acts in Palestine; urges appeal to League to define mandate". The New York Times. Manhattan, New York City. 14 June 1921. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  31. ^ "Pope Pius XII Opposed Jewish Homeland in Palestine". The Washington Post. Washington D. C. 3 July 1999. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  32. ^ Coppa, Frank (2013). The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII. Washington D. C.: The Catholic University of America Press. pp. 197–198. ISBN 978-0-8132-2016-1.
  33. ^ Coppa, Frank (2013). The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII. Washington D. C.: The Catholic University of America Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-8132-2016-1.
  34. ^ "An Incomparable Pope – John XXIII and the Jews". Inside the Vatican. Front Royal, Virginia. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  35. ^ "Vatican-Israel Relations". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  36. ^ Tharoor, Ishaan (2021-12-01). "What the Vatican's recognition of the state of Palestine means". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-02-13. The Vatican formally recognized only Israel in 1993, after the signing of the Oslo Accords.
  37. ^ "Hariri hails Catholic bishops' call to end Israeli occupation". The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon.
  38. ^ ""Genuine Brotherhood" without Remorse: A Commentary on Joseph Ratzinger's "Comments on 'De Iudaeis'"". Boston College. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  39. ^ "Vatican to sign State of Palestine accord". the Guardian. 13 May 2015.
  40. ^ "Pope prays for peace and for a two-state solution in Palestine and Israel - Vatican News". www.vaticannews.va. 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  41. ^ "The Israel-Palestine War through a Catholic lens". CatholicTT. 13 October 2023.
  42. ^ "Vatican cardinal hints at possible rethink on two-state solution in Middle East". Crux. 2024-03-18. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  43. ^ Rowe, Paul; Dyck, John; Zimmermann, Jens (2014-06-20). "The Crescent and the Cross are the Marks on My Hands". Christians and the Middle East Conflict. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-80111-5.
  44. ^ "30Giorni | Chronicles from prison (by Father Manuel Musallam)". www.30giorni.it. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  45. ^ Chorherr, Christa (2008). Wessen Heiliges Land? Christen im Israel-Palästina-Konflikt. Wien: Braumüller. ISBN 978-3-7003-1643-5.
  46. ^ Zile, Dexter Van (8 June 2010), "Gun-Running Bishop On Flotilla", The Camera: Media Report, 19 (2): 10–11, ISSN 1086-7503
  47. ^ Casper, Lionel I. (2003). The rape of Palestine and the struggle for Jerusalem. Gefen Publishing House Ltd. p. 189. ISBN 978-965-229-297-1.
  48. ^ Steve Weizman (5 February 2009). "Israel impounds Gaza-bound ship". Associated Press. Retrieved 16 June 2017 – via Toronto Star.
  49. ^ "HAWATMEH, NAYEF ( ABUL NOUF) (1938-)". Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs. Archived from the original on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  50. ^ "Leader of Palestinian group injured in Syria bomb". The Seattle Times. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  51. ^ Ivanovich, David (12 September 1984). "Christian Palestinians Share Moslems' Hopes". The Press-Courier. Oxnard-Camarillo-Port Hueneme Area. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  52. ^ "خلال بيان لها قبل قليل.. كتائب المقاومة الوطنية (قوات الشهيد عمر القاسم) الجناح العسكري للجبهة الديمقراطية". Alhourriah. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  53. ^ "Factsheet: Christian Zionism". Religion Media Centre. 2022-02-21. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  54. ^ "Position on Christian Zionism". Reformed Church in America. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  55. ^ Weaver, Alain Epp (July–September 2005). "Introduction" (PDF). Peace Office Newsletter. 35 (3, Christian Zionism and Peace in the Holy Land). Mennonite Central Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-03-21.
  56. ^ Berman, Lazar. "Presbyterian Church group: Zionism is the problem". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  57. ^ "Resources on the Middle East". Global Ministries: a common missional witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  58. ^ "Response to Christian Zionism". National Council of Churches USA. 2013-11-04. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  59. ^ "Support work for peace in divided region, Synod urged". Church Times. 2012-07-13.
  60. ^ a b "Board of Deputies statement on the Synod EAPPI vote". Jewish Chronicle. 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2014-08-02.
  61. ^ Quinn, Ronan; Botnen, Trond (2007), "40 ways to end the occupation" (PDF), Chain Reaction (6): 25
  62. ^ Pfeffer 2013.
  63. ^ Glunts 2013.
  64. ^ "Church of Scotland Thinks Twice, Grants Israel the Right to Exist" Archived 28 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The Jewish Press, 12 May 2013.
  65. ^ JTA 2014.
  66. ^ Nelson 2019, pp. 1–22, 3–7.
  67. ^ Prince-Gibson 2022.

Further reading

  • Alavi, Seyed Ali (2019). Iran and Palestine: Past, Present, Future. Routledge.
  • Modongal, Shameer (2023). Islamic Perspectives on International Conflict Resolution:Theological Debates and the Israel-Palestinian Peace Process. Routledge.
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