I'm neither anti Israel or Anti Semitic.
I'll decide that based on what things you actually say about Jews and Israel. We shall see.
I'm sure that in the back of your mind you realize that most racists don't realize they are racist.
Perhaps it would be helpful if we defined our terms.
Absolutely:
Zionism: the secular political philosophy that the Jewish state of Israel should exist as a refuge for Jews from antisemitism, since history has shown us that we can't trust the nations of the world to protect us.
Religious Zionism: similarly believe in the right of Israel to exist, but bases it on the Bible rather than reason and common sense.
Semite: someone part of a group that traditionally has spoken any number of languages descended from Proto-Semitic.
Antisemite: Someone who hates Jews. Not semites. Jews. This term was coined by a German guy who wanted a word that would specifically refer to his hatred of JEWS as a race. So it doesn't matter if some people find it irrational. It means what it means.
Antizionists: They claim to hate Zionists and not Jews, but actions speak louder than words. Do they attack Israeli embassies?? No.. They burn down synagogues, bomb Jewish preschools with children inside, and shoot Jewish families celebrating Jewish holidays at the beach. Their actions reveal who they really hate.
Jews/Hebrews/Israelites: a joinable tribal group with a shared history, homeland and culture. According to Jewish law, a Jew is anyone born of a Jewish mother or who has completed geirus. Geirus is usually translated as conversion, but it is much more than a change of religions. It really means to be adopted into this tribal people as a full member. This tribe has its origins in Canaan, and Jewish groups all over the world still have middle eastern markers in our DNA.
Judaism: the religion of the Jews. Most Jews either practice some form of Judaism or associate themselves with it, although there are a minority of Jews that are not religious, are atheist, or that belong to other religions.
Israel: THIS WORD HAS MULTIPLE MEANINGS. You have to examine the context to know which definition is being used. Israel can refer to any of the following:
Israel can refer to Jacob, the son of Isaac who went by both names.
Israel is often used as shorthand for the B'nei Ysrael, People of Israel, aka the Jews/Hebrews/Israelites.
Israel can refer to the united Kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon.
Israel can refer to the northern Kingdom of Israel that came into being when the United Kingdom split into two.
Israel can refer to Eretz Yisrael, the LAND of Israel.
Israel can refer to the modern democratic Jewish state of Israel that exists today.
Genocide is the deliberate attempt to exterminate a people either in full (worldwide) or in part (a given territory). If the intent is NOT extermination, then it doesn't matter how many people are killed, it's not genocide.
Apartheid: a society formed upon racial segregation. The lower group is blocked from participation in government and is also discriminated against economically and socially.
SEMANTICAL INFLATION: this is when a defined term is misused, either by taking a horrendous term and misapplying it to something that does not qualify, such as the use of genocide and apartheid to describe Israeli policies, or the false expansion of a perfectly ordinary term to include horrendous things that are not part of its definition, such as when people claim Zionism means expanding Israel's borders or eliminating Palestinians.
The nation state of Israel certainly exists, but it is not true Israel, that would be the Body of Christ. I am not opposed to the true Israel.
Your use of the word "true" delegitimizes all the other definitions of Israel. That is not how language works. You can't say that the "true" meaning of bat is a flying mammal but not a stick with which to hit a baseball.
I realize that a few Christians are still left that are supersessionist, but the overwhelming majority of Christians churches renounced Replacement Theology when they looked at the holocaust and realized that a bad doctrine had brought about an unimaginable evil.
And you are going to have to accept that I will never EVER accept your claim. You are not Israel. You do not get to misappropriate my tribal name. If you want to make your own covenant with God, I'm fine with that, but you do not get to misappropriate my covenant or any of its promises. And while I think it's great if our sacred texts inspire you, and I'm more than happy to share them,
they are not yours.
Has it ever occurred to you that before you so summarily dismiss the Jews, that perhaps you should actually get to know us?
Words mean things. If we allow a group of people to claim titles that do not belong to them,
Em, that would be YOU, Mr. I-am-Israel.
