The Anti-Zionist Idea: History, Theory, & Politics (Faisal Bhabha, Heidi Matthews, & Max Weiss)

Quick Overview

The panel analyzes how anti-Zionism is increasingly framed as unlawful discrimination or anti-Semitism, contrasting the historical UN resolution equating Zionism with racism with current efforts to suppress anti-Zionist discourse. This framing constitutes a strategic "counter-insurgent" effort to re-legitimize Zionism and the state of Israel, often through legal and policy mechanisms, while avoiding direct adjudication of anti-Zionism's discriminatory nature in courts.

Key Points: The UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3379 in 1975, declaring "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination," a resolution later retracted in 1991. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, published in 2016, includes "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination example by claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist Endeavor." Canada, along with multiple provinces and municipalities, has adopted the non-binding IHRA definition, influencing anti-racism strategies and public policy, as seen with Ontario's executive order adoption after Bill 168 failed. Legal cases, such as Robert Walker's human rights complaint against Durham College's Student Association for denying a Hasbara Fellowship table due to BDS support, test whether anti-Zionism constitutes discrimination based on perceived Jewish or Israeli identity. Max Weiss defines "anti-anti Zionism" as a "counter-insurgent form of knowledge production" that demonizes and mischaracterizes anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism or racism, framing it as a "delegitimization campaign" or "asymmetrical warfare." The ongoing Food Benders case in Toronto, involving allegations of anti-Semitic posts like "zionists are not welcome," is expected to address whether anti-Zionism is discriminatory, a question decision-makers have historically avoided adjudicating. Heidi Matthews highlights that self-determination, as argued by Brad Roth, is a remedy for subjugation, not a right of subjugators, and references the ICJ's finding that Israeli policies violate the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.