ZIONISM

Zionism is an ideology that says the Jewish people should retain their right to establish a state in their original homeland given to them by God in the Abrahamic Covenant.A Zionist is one who supports the right of the Jewish people to establish and defend a state in their historic homeland of Israel. Jewish religious life and culture have always centered around the land of Israel. Jews have always looked at themselves as a nation or a distinct people, the people of Israel. There has been a Jewish presence in the land for the past 3,700 years.

The political Zionist movement began in 1896 by Theodor Herzl who wanted the Jews to return to the land of Israel, or Zion. The word "Zion" refers to the hill of Zion, the hill on which the Temple of Jerusalem is situated. There has always been an expectation that Israel would be restored to the Land, which has been part of God's plan for Israel as mentioned in the Bible.

Israel finally became a nation in 1948 when Israel was granted sovereignty as a nation by the United Nations. This allowed a great return of Jews that were in exile and freed the Jews from some of the anti-Semitic discrimination and persecution they had experienced while they were scattered. Zionism today advocates on the behalf of Israel to address the problems and threats to their existence and their security.

There are also the Christian Palestinianism and Replacement Theologians or Supersessionists who believe in the allegorical interpretation of the Bible. This allows them to spiritualize God's Word instead of interpreting it as it is plainly stated. These groups claim that the Jews rejected Christ and God has therefore abandoned the Jews and the nation of Israel and replaced them with the Church. The Christian Palestinians say that Christ was a Palestinian living in Palestine and therefore the Jews and Israel are occupying forces in Palestine and should be removed altogether. Replacement theology is also used to say that God is through with the Jews and they have been replaced by the church and thus they have no right to the land.

The violence in Palestine is not because of an occupation but because the Palestinian Arabs and most Moslems, throughout the Middle East, refuse to live in peace with Israel. The Arabs were attacking the Jews long before the state of Israel was established in 1948. It should be noted that no country had its legitimacy questioned when it occupied another country. No one believed the United States should be destroyed because it occupied Iraq. Not one country advocated the destruction of Iraq when it occupied Kuwait either. No country is presently advocating the destruction of Russia because they are occupying parts of Ukraine. Of course, Moslems always advocate the destruction of Israel and the USA regardless of the situation.