The Z-word – Why is it so Hated? 

Exploring biblical, historical and contemporary attitudes to Zionism

If there is one word that sparks so much controversy, anger, and even hatred among certain social, ethnic and religious groups, it is the Z-word – Zionism.  That hatred extends to anything to do with Zionism, and especially any person associated with it – particularly Jewish people. Indeed, the very concept of Zionism is greatly reviled. 

Just consider news from the UK within the past week: Green Party activists have said Zionism should be treated as a form of 'racist ideology'. Meanwhile even self-confessed atheist and secular Jewish comedian Matt Lucas was harassed and branded a ‘Zionist’ by a pro-Palestinian activist on the London Underground. But why is the concept of Zionism so despised?

Zionism and the UN

Fifty years ago, in November 1975, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 3379 that equated Zionism with Racism.  It determined that “Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.” Its purpose was to try to undermine and delegitimise the State of Israel.  Of course, like everything else intended to demonise the Jewish State, it was solely based on a series of lies. 
 
Even though Resolution 3379 was revoked in 1991 following pressure from the United States, the false accusation that Zionism is an apartheid and colonial enterprise engaging in the genocide of the people known as ‘the Palestinians’ persists to this day. Moreover, it has escalated into rampant anti-Semitism across the Western world following the Hamas atrocities of 7^th October 2023.  Every week on our city streets we have heard the chants “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” – a phrase straight out of Article 15 of the Palestinian National Charter of 1968 – which calls for “the eradication of Zionism in Palestine” – i.e. the destruction of the Jewish state.

Return to Jerusalem

It is important for Christians to understand that Zionism runs much deeper than its political application. It is both a central part of Judaism – i.e. the Jewish faith – and intrinsic to the Jewish heart and soul, and has been ever since biblical times. One very graphic and well-known illustration is found in Psalm 137, which was composed during the Babylonian exile:
 
“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion … for there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song.  How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!” (excerpts from verses 1 to 5).  There are many other examples as well.

Every week on our city streets we have heard the chants “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free”

Following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD, when most Jews were exiled from the Land of Israel, many religiously observant Jews began to recite the Amidah Prayer daily – and continue to do so. This prayer includes a petition to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to enable them to return to Jerusalem, to rebuild it, and to dwell there. It beseeches the Lord to regather His people Israel from the four corners of the earth and bring them back into their own land.  The Amidah Prayer, which is based upon the Hebrew Scriptures and other Rabbinical writings, has been prayed by Jewish people for thousands of years – and in recent times is being answered as we see the modern miracle of Israel being restored as prophesied in the Tanakh (Old Testament).

Affectionate Zion

Whenever the name Zion appears in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is used affectionately, passionately, intimately.  The Tanakh refers to Zion in three ways.  Firstly, Jerusalem is identified as Zion: 
 
The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 
Glorious things are spoken of you, O City of God!  (Psalm 87:2)
 
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
the city of the great King.  (Psalm 48: 1 & 2)

The Amidah Prayer includes a petition to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to enable them to return to Jerusalem, to rebuild it, and to dwell there.

Secondly, the Land of Israel is referred to as Zion. Isaiah says: 
 
“The Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places;
And make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.” (Isaiah 51:3)
 
This, of course, is a prophecy we are seeing fulfilled in our generation.
 
Thirdly, the Lord Himself identifies the Jewish people as Zion:
 
“I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens,
lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”  (Isaiah 51:16)
 
Thus, the God of Israel has created a Divine unity between  the city of Jerusalem, the Land of Israel and the Jewish people. While many secular and non-religious Jews may reject this idea, there are many religious Jews who would identify this as part of their faith.  So, this brings us to the question:  Why is the Z-word – and anyone and anything to do with it – so hated?

Christian denial

I would suggest that the Creator of Zion – the City, the Land and the people – i.e. the God of Israel, is, in reality, the object of this satanic hatred. Quite simply, humankind as a whole is in rebellion against Him, and anything He loves, humans often hate.  The Amidah Prayer actually acknowledges this fact, and pleads for God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Some Christians even despise the restoration of Zion and slander it as evil.

Of course, Christians also recognise that we all have sinned and have fallen short of God’s expectations, and we recognise that we can be forgiven through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Forgiveness and resurrection to eternal life are at the very heart of Christian belief. But what about Zionism and God’s purposes for the restoration of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, which we are witnessing before our eyes? Sadly, there are many Christians who are in denial of this fact.  Some even despise the restoration of Zion and slander it as evil.
 
It is the ‘Christian’ haters of Zion I want to challenge.  If we hate something that is close to the heart of God, we are on a very slippery slope. In Psalm 132 we learn that ‘The Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: “This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell for I have desired it.”’  (Psalm 132: 13 & 14).  God is effectively telling us that He has chosen Zion as His throne-room.

Psalm 2

Psalm 2 endorses this further. It includes a fascinating dialogue between God the Father and His Son, who Christians understand to be Jesus: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.  Ask of Me and I will give you the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.’” (Psalm 2:6-8)
 
It is well worth reading the opening verses of this Psalm, because it puts this momentous declaration quoted above in its context.  The first five verses talk about the nations raging against the Lord God and His Messiah and wanting to destroy Zion. Isn’t this a picture of what is happening today?  The Lord also says that He will have those nations in derision and vent His anger against them.

The Lord also says that He will have those nations in derision and vent His anger against them.

Spiritual assault

Does this not point to what is really behind this irrational hatred of the ‘Zionist’ word, as well as everything and everyone associated with it?  Is it not an assault by the spiritual forces of darkness against the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – and His declaration that He has chosen Zion for His dwelling place? 
 
The goal of this assault manifests itself in the hatred of the Jewish people, the Jewish state and the desire to exterminate them, and render the purposes of God null and void.
 
Jewish people can take comfort in the fact that God has promised that that will never happen (see Jeremiah 31:35-37). The fact that they have survived thus far through the most horrendous attempts to destroy them through history is testimony to that.  
 
Am Yisrael Chai!

(image c/o Howie Mischel)