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Why is the term "Zionist" common on Lemmy and what is the political alignment driving this? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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As far as I knew, "Zionist" as a negative was primarily used by the Nazis for all that blood libel stuff. I think it may have been used under Stalinist communism as well. The KKK and other white supremacist groups use it. You also see Zion in hymns, usually as a reference to heaven.

FWIW, I'm not a supporter of Israel or the ongoing Palestinian genocide. I also think that most of the Muslim states are terrible as well. Organized religion and its involvement in the state is a cancer and it doesn't much matter if it's Judaism, Islam, or Christianity. Fundamentalism is terrible.

Anyhow, when I see "Zionism" to refer to support of Israel, it pings my bullshit detector. It isn't a part of normal discourse as I know it in the US. It feels like whomever is spouting it has been propagandized when I see it. It seems to be accompanied by varying degrees of jingoism and anger. Tends to be a very black and white worldview, almost naive. Reminds me of Qanon brainwashing but for the Left.

As this is Lemmy, it's not coming from neo-nazis.

What is driving this?

Is it tankies? (Which I don't know a lot about, but they seem to be heavily propagandized and unpleasant.)

Is it Muslims?

Some sort of Left ideology that isn't common in the US?

Is it politically naive kids that have been fed talking points?

Is it Russian, Chinese, or some other state level disinfo/propaganda?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

As other people have explained, basically it's a viewpoint supporting the existence of Israel. Israel itself is sometimes called "the Zionist entity" as a propaganda term by its opponents/enemies, as a way of refusing to say the name "Israel" or acknowledge it as a country. You might have heard the term used that way and picked up the undertone. It's like saying "the orange-haired figure" as a way of pointedly refusing to say the name Trump or calling him the president.