This forum is about to get a lot more interesting.

[Shaktimaan]

109. I hear this charge a lot.

I have NEVER once heard a Zionist suggest that opposing Zionism automatically makes someone a Jew hater.

I DO think that anti-zionism and anti-semitism often go hand in hand and that anti-zionism is frequently used as a veneer to disguise an anti-semitic agenda. Much more frequently I have seen people making anti-semitic remarks out of ignorance, not hatred. You seem to have this mistaken idea that anti-semitism exclusively refers to the active hatred of Jews which obviously isn't true. Just like any form of racism or bigotry, anti-semitism comes in many forms, from the outright Nazi extreme that you are imagining to (more frequently), subtler incarnations.

The charge that it is impossible to criticize Israel without being branded an anti-semite is a false accusation, often used to shield true anti-semites from legitimate recrimination and generally to minimize pro-zionist arguments by muddying the debate. Unless you feel that someone is leveling the charge towards you baselessly at that moment then it is nothing but an ad-hominem attack against the character of Zionists.

This really reminds me of how Rush Limbaugh constantly complains that he is labelled a racist because of his "legitimate" criticisms against Obama, ostensibly made merely because Obama is black while Rush is white. Of course this is bullshit, Rush is called a racist because he IS a racist, and makes racist remarks, not because he critiques the president's policies.