Source: Is Anti-Zionism a Form of Anti-Semitism?

[...] The establishment of an intended “Jewish state” in a country where an Arab majority and a small Jewish minority lived at the time could only mean their expulsion from their land. Tolerance prevailed at that time, with religious Jews living in Palestine before Zionism, as is clear from the many Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safad. Arab peoples had no familiarity with anti-Semitism. The Ottoman Empire and Arab countries occasionally underwent waves of incitement and brutal practices against religious minorities, especially in times of crisis. Yet this was the exception rather than the rule. There were no particularly hostile anti-Jewish phenomena that could be called anti-Semitism. It is noteworthy that one of the first condemnations against secular Zionist settlement in Palestine was issued by the Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem. They were the first to denounce Zionist settlement in Palestine ideologically in a petition directed to the Ottoman sultan.

Azmi Bishara, General Director and Member of the Board of Directors

Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, Doha, Qatar

https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/is-anti-zionism-a-form-of-anti-semitism/

Meet the anti-Zionist "Hilltop Youth"... wait what?!?

Former Hilltop Youth Dov Moral on Shin Bet's structural problem, with a fascinating comparison between Hilltop Youth and Kahanist's raison d'être...

[2025] Israel's secret police, Shin Bet, operates anti-democratically, systematically violating human rights-of Palestinians and Israelis alike

Moral was Hilltop Youth. Unlike Kahanists like Ben Gvir who are Zionist wanting to transform the state from within, Hilltop Youth are anti-Zionist, seeing the state itself as obstacle: blocking them from "dealing with" Palestinians, building the Temple, establishing halakhic rule. Their strategy: force every tension between "Jewish" and "democratic" to explode.

Moral participated in "price tag" attacks. Celebrated the Duma murders. Shin Bet interrogated him, which involved sleep deprivation, psychological manipulation, coercion.
Then heartbreak sent him into depression. Time abroad shifted his perspective. Now he's a human rights law intern handling administrative detention cases, married to a Haaretz editor, father of two.

So when right-wing outrage erupted over Shin Bet's so-called "Jewish Division" (the unit monitoring far-right Jewish extremists) Moral's critique focused on the real problem with the Shin Beth. The recordings exposed anti-democratic methods, but the real problem is these same methods are used daily against Palestinians without similar outcry. For example, administrative detentions jumped from ~1000 before the war to ~3500 after.

"The problem isn't the Jewish Division or the Palestinian Division. The problem is the powers given to Shin Bet and how easily exceptions are accepted." Close one division and these tools will be redeployed when politically convenient.

Hebrew https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/2025-04-07/ty-article-opinion/.premium/00000196-0fd8-d93f-a7f7-4fffcaaa0000 or https://archive.ph/A4ZcP

Hebrew https://www.mako.co.il/news-israel/2023_q3/Article-9cabc77ef6b5981027.htm

#ShinBeth #HilltopYouth #Kahanism #BenGvir #Israel #Palestine #apartheid #PolicState #Zionis #AntiZionism