Everybody else: In 200 words or less, what really is a "Zionist"?

Question

Because this word keeps getting thrown around and I don't understand the emotive attachment people are having with it.

Answer 1

Zionism is the belief that all Jewish people have the right to return to and live in the original land that the Old Testament says God promised to them: Palestine.

Background: The ancient Hebrews (Jewish people) drove the original inhabitants (Canaanites, Philistines, Hittites, and others) out after their escape from Egypt in about 1300 BC. They lived in Palestine until the year 70 AD, when the Romans forced them out of the land because of an armed Jewish uprising against Rome. Since then, Jews have lived all over the world, and Arab people (and a few Jewish people, and others) have lived in Palestine.

Zionism is a Jewish ideology. It became popular in the late 1800s, and some Zionist Jewish people started moving to Palestine. After World War II, many Zionist Jews moved to Palestine. They declared a Jewish state there in 1948. The rest is current history.

Answer 2

Before you go through all the valuable comments other answerers mentioned here .. you got to know that zionism is a christian movement in origin .. yes
All jews have rejected in the begining to be part of that .. then under pressure and seduction of money .. only unfaithful and irreligious jews accepted the idea .. then adopted it to hide the implicited christian call behind ..
Zion is a mountain in Palastine .. where many christians believe that jews should by every mean get gothered there even by force .. or to live nearby that mountain .. as they all predict that .. one day before end of times jews will admit their sinfull acts against jesus on that mountain facing the East .. Then,and only then Jesus christ will hapen again ..
Most of christians' minds are filled with such predictions as they usually learn that in the old and new testaments .. which were basically miswritten of course by Jews .. ??!!
Then , by time Zionism was pretended as a nationalists jewish movemment to help the poor jews to return back to their homeland .. it's was a fake to gather them there .. and to let european politicians get rid of them at same time ..
Meanwhile, about 6 million of the world 11 million jews are still resisting the idea of going back there .. simply coz they know that in juadism it's forbidden for them to go back until their real faked jesus come to lead them there .. who will be called king of jews .. and they are still waiting for him .. after they have historically rejected jesus amd mohammed .. and didn't accept them ..
I hope i made it better clear for you .. to start read about the whole thing again ..

Answer 3

Zionism was a movement started in the 19th century - it's basic idea was that the Jews had a natural homeland and their own language and should move back to the middle east. It was actually one of the first nationalist movements, and was originally opposed by religious Jews until after WWII.

Answer 4

#1 relating to or characteristic of a supporter of Zionism; "the Zionist leader Theodor Herzl"
#2 a Jewish supporter of Zionism

Answer 5

A Zionist is a person who believes that the Jews should have their own homeland.

Answer 6

I think you can know them through their own words, here is some words of Zionist leaders, just read them :

"Our race is the Master Race. We are divine gods on this planet. We are as different from the inferior races as they are from insects. In fact, compared to our race, other races are beasts and animals, cattle at best. Other races are considered as human excrement. Our destiny is to rule over the inferior races. Our earthly kingdom will be ruled by our leader with a rod of iron. The masses will lick our feet and serve us as our slaves."
— Israeli Prime Minister Menechem Begin


The body of a Jewish person," Schneerson bragged, "is of a totally different quality from the body of members of all other nations of the world. Bodies of the Gentiles are in vain. An even greater difference is in regard to the soul...A non-Jewish soul comes from three satanic spheres, while the Jewish soul stems from holiness."
--Rabbi Mendel Schneerson


"One million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail."
~ Rabbi Ya'acov Perin in his eulogy at the funeral of Dr. Baruch Goldstein (Cited in the New York Times, 1994-02-28)


"Israeli lives are worth more than Palestinian ones."
Ehud Olmert 2006-06-23


"There is no such thing as a Palestinian peopleâ€Â¦ It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn't exist."
Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel, Statement to The Sunday Times, 1969-06-15


How can we return the occupied territories? There is nobody to return them to."
Golda Meir (quoted in Chapter 13 of The Zionist Connection II: What Price Peace by Alfred Lilienthal )

One more thing, we should know that Zionism is totally differnet with Judaism, there are so many Jews against Zionism :

http://www.jewsnotzionists.org
http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com

Answer 7

Someone who believes in Israels (a Jewish Homeland) right to exist.

Answer 8

someone who's goal is to kill all non-jews without anyone knowing about it