Is “Zionist” an antisemitic dog whistle at this point?

[TheReckoning]

?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Not necessarily, but it's commonly used in a way where someone makes blatantly anti-Semitic statements and then just replaces "Jews" with "Zionists" in them and thus then tries to argue they're not anti-Semitic afterwards.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I mean, 94% of Jews are Zionists. Referring to it in itself isn't a dogwhistle, but calls for the targeting of "Zionists" without any qualifiers definitely are.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

It describes a political viewpoint, a kind of proud Jewish nationalism or support of it. You obviously see many pro Zionist and anti Zionist people and to deprecate the term feels highly questionable. I see it as simply a descriptor.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

Depends on the context, but some people do use it derogatorily

[Lief 🗽]

In the vast majority of cases, yes obviously.

[Landslide Lyndon]

No. Zionism is another name for Jewish/Israeli nationalism.

[Fuzzy Bear]

No. Zionism is another name for Jewish/Israeli nationalism.

This.

[Progressive Pessimist]

It definitely can be. It kind lf depends on how it's used:

"Zionists need to treat Palestinians like humans."-not particularly objectionable.

"Death to Zionists."-problematic.

[Big Abraham]

What else are we supposed to call them, pray tell?

[Ferguson97]

It can be, depending on the speaker.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

What else are we supposed to call them, pray tell?

Israeli Nationalists more or less means the same but has less baggage

[Big Abraham]

What else are we supposed to call them, pray tell?

Israeli Nationalists more or less means the same but has less baggage

Zionism existed well before the State and Israel and Israelis existed.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

What else are we supposed to call them, pray tell?

Israeli Nationalists more or less means the same but has less baggage

Zionism existed well before the State and Israel and "Israelis" existed.

I’m aware but I don’t see how that’s relevant. The State of Israel definitively does exist and there are nationalists there who want to expand their borders.

[Big Abraham]

What else are we supposed to call them, pray tell?

Israeli Nationalists more or less means the same but has less baggage

Zionism existed well before the State and Israel and "Israelis" existed.

I’m aware but I don’t see how that’s relevant. The State of Israel definitively does exist and there are nationalists there who want to expand their borders.

You said "Israeli nationalist" was a suitable alternative term but it's really not, and my point about Israelis demonstrates that. At best, it's only suitable in a post-1947 context, not even half of Zionist history. And there are many different types of Zionism. Are the Labor Zionists of the kibbutzim "Israeli Nationalists"? Maybe in some cases, but it hardly seems the appropriate term to use as a catch-all. Especially since Zionists also largely describe themselves as such. There's nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

With the way that I see it being used recently, it does seem to be an anti-Semitic dogwhistle in many/most cases.

I've seen it used primarily in a derogatory way, either as a replacement for "Jews/Jewish people" or to disparage anyone who even mildly criticizes the pro-Palestinian movement.

[AtorBoltox]

I increasingly think this term doesn’t make any sense post 1948. Asking ‘are you pro or anti Zionist’ is kind of like asking if you’re for or against the Risorgimento, it’s not a relevant question in the modern world

[AtorBoltox]

What else are we supposed to call them, pray tell?

Israeli Nationalists more or less means the same but has less baggage

Zionism existed well before the State and Israel and "Israelis" existed.

If I started writing “Palestinians” like this I'd probably get a 90 day temp ban

[T'Chenka]

For some people, yes.

More generally, no, absolutely not. It has a real meaning. All narratives like this are going to do is even further conflate valid good-faith non-racist criticism of Israel's government and it's actions with anti-semitism. Which is already a massive problem in western media and society. No need to make the problem even bigger.

Watering down important words like "racist", "sexist", "anti-semitic", "nazi" etc etc is actually very dangerous for a society and can in the end have very bad results.

[AtorBoltox]

For some people, yes.

More generally, no, absolutely not. It has a real meaning. All narratives like this are going to do is even further conflate valid good-faith non-racist criticism of Israel's government and its actions with anti-semitism.

If someone’s ‘criticisms’ of the Meloni government included declarations that the Risorgimento was illegitimate and that the Italian state should be abolished I think most reasonable people would conclude this person has some kind of problem with Italians deeper than just disagreeing with their political leadership

[Antonio the Sixth]

It's in this infuriating category where some people are obviously using it as a dogwhistle and a lot more people are too clueless to realize it's a dogwhistle (or just don't care) and end up muddying the water for everyone. Basically the left-wing (or "left-wing") equivalent of a 4chan meme.

[wnwnwn]

It depends, but a lot of people call themselves zionists for a reason.

[Beet]

It's used similar to CCP. Is CCP a racist dogwhistle for Chinese people?

[AtorBoltox]

It's used similar to CCP. Is CCP a racist dogwhistle for Chinese people?

'Zionism' is the name of the governing party of Israel?

[Lief 🗽]

It's used similar to CCP. Is CCP a racist dogwhistle for Chinese people?

Where are big crowds of people calling for the death of all CCP members?