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[[Muslim anti-Zionism]] generally opposes the state of Israel as an intrusion into what many Muslims consider to be [[Dar al-islam|Dar al-Islam]], a domain rightfully and permanently ruled only by Muslims.<ref>{{cite book |last=Neusner |first=Jacob |title=Comparing Religions Through Law: Judaism and Islam |year=1999 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-19487-3 }} p. 201</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Merkley |first=Paul Charles |title=Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel |year=2001 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=0-7735-2188-7 }} p.122</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Akbarzadeh |first=Shahram |title=Islam And the West: Reflections from Australia |year=2005 |publisher=UNSW Press |isbn=0-86840-679-1 }} p. 4</ref> Once Islamic rule is established in a country, non-Muslims are given [[dhimmi]] status as protected from violence.<ref>[[Bernard Lewis|Lewis, Bernard]] (1984). ''The Jews of Islam''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-00807-8}} pp.10,20</ref>
[[Muslim anti-Zionism]] generally opposes the state of Israel as an intrusion into what many Muslims consider to be [[Dar al-islam|Dar al-Islam]], a domain rightfully and permanently ruled only by Muslims.<ref>{{cite book |last=Neusner |first=Jacob |title=Comparing Religions Through Law: Judaism and Islam |year=1999 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-19487-3 }} p. 201</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Merkley |first=Paul Charles |title=Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel |year=2001 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=0-7735-2188-7 }} p.122</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Akbarzadeh |first=Shahram |title=Islam And the West: Reflections from Australia |year=2005 |publisher=UNSW Press |isbn=0-86840-679-1 }} p. 4</ref> Once Islamic rule is established in a country, non-Muslims are given [[dhimmi]] status as protected from violence.<ref>[[Bernard Lewis|Lewis, Bernard]] (1984). ''The Jews of Islam''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-00807-8}} pp.10,20</ref>


Palestinians and other Muslim groups, as well as the [[government of Iran]] (since the [[Iranian Revolution|1979 Islamic Revolution]]), insist that the State of Israel is illegitimate and refuse to refer to it as "Israel", instead using the locution "the [[Zionist entity]]" (see [[Iran–Israel relations]]). In an interview with ''[[Time Magazine]]'' in December 2006, [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] said "Everyone knows that the Zionist regime is a tool in the hands of the [[US government|United States]] and [[British government]]s".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570714,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113144234/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570714,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 13, 2007 | work=Time | title=People Who Mattered: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | date=2006-12-16 | access-date=2010-05-22}}</ref>
Palestinians and other Muslim groups, as well as the [[government of Iran]] (since the [[Iranian Revolution|1979 Islamic Revolution]]), insist that the State of Israel is illegitimate and refuse to refer to it as "Israel", instead using the locution "the [[Zionist entity]]" (see [[Iran–Israel relations]]). In an interview with ''[[Time Magazine]]'' in December 2006, [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] said "Everyone knows that the Zionist regime is a tool in the hands of the [[US government|United States]] and [[British government]]s".<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570714,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113144234/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570714,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 13, 2007 | magazine=Time | title=People Who Mattered: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | date=2006-12-16 | access-date=2010-05-22}}</ref>


==In Catholicism==
==In Catholicism==
Catholic anti-Zionism, the opposition of Catholics to a Jewish state grounded in a religious justification for obstructing such an effort, has been the position of the [[Catholic Church]] for most of its existence. [[Theodor Herzl]], the secular Jewish founder of modern political Zionism, met with [[Pope Pius X]] in the Vatican in 1904, arranged by the Austrian Count Berthold Dominik Lippay, to ascertain the Catholic Church's position on Herzl's prospective project for a Jewish state in Palestine. "We cannot prevent Jews from going to Jerusalem—but we can never sanction it," said Pope Pius X. He continued, “If Jerusalem's land was not always hallowed, it has been sanctified by Jesus Christ's life. I cannot tell you otherwise as the leader of the Church. Because the Jews have not recognized our Lord, we cannot recognize the Jewish people."<ref name="hp">{{cite web |title=THEODOR HERZL: Audience with Pope Pius X (1904)|date=26 January 1904 |url=https://www.ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/primary-texts-from-the-history-of-the-relationship/herzl1904|publisher=Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations}} Retrieved on 19 February 2023.</ref> This laid down some of the key religious components of the Catholic Church’s anti-Zionism which would take on more of a political character as the planning of Jewish state in the [[Holy Land]] took place beginning in 1917. The Holy See was a strong opponent of the League of Nation’s plans for a Jewish state based in the Holy Land.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=16 June 1922 |title=Mandate favors Jews, Vatican says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/06/16/archives/mandate-favors-jews-vatican-says-gives-absolute-preponderance-to.html|work=The New York Times |location=Manhattan, New York City |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=14 June 1921 |title=Pope criticizes Jews for acts in Palestine; urges appeal to League to define mandate |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/06/14/98704287.html|work=The New York Times |location=Manhattan, New York City |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> The Vatican opposed the concept of Judaism having preponderance in a land which they saw as extremely sacred not only to the Catholic faith but also to the other sects and religions of the world, also stating how it would hurt the native inhabitants if this preponderance was achieved. During the [[Second World War]] the Catholic Church made sure that any effort it took part in to aid the Jewish people threatened by German aggression would not be construed as support for a Jewish homeland in the Holy Land.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=3 July 1999 |title=Pope Pius XII Opposed Jewish Homeland in Palestine |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/07/03/pope-pius-xii-opposed-jewish-homeland-in-palestine/2aabd4de-a159-4c1f-acfa-977914cadc4e/|work=The Washington Post |location=Washington D. C. |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> After the war, under the pontificate of [[Pope Pius XII]], the Catholic Church resisted American pressure to recognize the [[State of Israel]] and, according to American historian [[Frank J. Coppa]] in his biographical study The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII: Between History and Controversy, stood “in opposition to American policy in the Middle East from the founding of Israel to his death in 1958.”<ref>{{cite book |last=Coppa |first=Frank |author-link= |date=2013 |title=The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII |url= |location=Washington D. C. |publisher=The Catholic University of America Press |page=197-198 |isbn=978-0-8132-2016-1}}</ref> [[Gertrud Luckner]] irritated many of her fellow Catholics when she stated that neither “theological considerations nor biblical teachings would justify a negative position among Christians toward the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine,” with the Vatican itself rejecting this notion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Coppa |first=Frank |author-link= |date=2013 |title=The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII |url= |location=Washington D. C. |publisher=The Catholic University of America Press |page=185 |isbn=978-0-8132-2016-1}}</ref>
Catholic anti-Zionism, the opposition of Catholics to a Jewish state grounded in a religious justification for obstructing such an effort, has been the position of the [[Catholic Church]] for most of its existence. [[Theodor Herzl]], the secular Jewish founder of modern political Zionism, met with [[Pope Pius X]] in the Vatican in 1904, arranged by the Austrian Count Berthold Dominik Lippay, to ascertain the Catholic Church's position on Herzl's prospective project for a Jewish state in Palestine. "We cannot prevent Jews from going to Jerusalem—but we can never sanction it," said Pope Pius X. He continued, “If Jerusalem's land was not always hallowed, it has been sanctified by Jesus Christ's life. I cannot tell you otherwise as the leader of the Church. Because the Jews have not recognized our Lord, we cannot recognize the Jewish people."<ref name="hp">{{cite web |title=THEODOR HERZL: Audience with Pope Pius X (1904)|date=26 January 1904 |url=https://www.ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/primary-texts-from-the-history-of-the-relationship/herzl1904|publisher=Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations}} Retrieved on 19 February 2023.</ref> This laid down some of the key religious components of the Catholic Church’s anti-Zionism which would take on more of a political character as the planning of Jewish state in the [[Holy Land]] took place beginning in 1917. The Holy See was a strong opponent of the League of Nation’s plans for a Jewish state based in the Holy Land.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=16 June 1922 |title=Mandate favors Jews, Vatican says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/06/16/archives/mandate-favors-jews-vatican-says-gives-absolute-preponderance-to.html|work=The New York Times |location=Manhattan, New York City |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=14 June 1921 |title=Pope criticizes Jews for acts in Palestine; urges appeal to League to define mandate |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/06/14/98704287.html|work=The New York Times |location=Manhattan, New York City |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> The Vatican opposed the concept of Judaism having preponderance in a land which they saw as extremely sacred not only to the Catholic faith but also to the other sects and religions of the world, also stating how it would hurt the native inhabitants if this preponderance was achieved. During the [[Second World War]] the Catholic Church made sure that any effort it took part in to aid the Jewish people threatened by German aggression would not be construed as support for a Jewish homeland in the Holy Land.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=3 July 1999 |title=Pope Pius XII Opposed Jewish Homeland in Palestine |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/07/03/pope-pius-xii-opposed-jewish-homeland-in-palestine/2aabd4de-a159-4c1f-acfa-977914cadc4e/|newspaper=The Washington Post |location=Washington D. C. |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> After the war, under the pontificate of [[Pope Pius XII]], the Catholic Church resisted American pressure to recognize the [[State of Israel]] and, according to American historian [[Frank J. Coppa]] in his biographical study The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII: Between History and Controversy, stood “in opposition to American policy in the Middle East from the founding of Israel to his death in 1958.”<ref>{{cite book |last=Coppa |first=Frank |author-link= |date=2013 |title=The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII |url= |location=Washington D. C. |publisher=The Catholic University of America Press |page=197-198 |isbn=978-0-8132-2016-1}}</ref> [[Gertrud Luckner]] irritated many of her fellow Catholics when she stated that neither “theological considerations nor biblical teachings would justify a negative position among Christians toward the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine,” with the Vatican itself rejecting this notion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Coppa |first=Frank |author-link= |date=2013 |title=The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII |url= |location=Washington D. C. |publisher=The Catholic University of America Press |page=185 |isbn=978-0-8132-2016-1}}</ref>


After the election of [[Pope John XXIII]] the Catholic Church moderated its position both theologically and politically in regards to [[Zionism]]. At the coronation of Pope John XXIII the Israeli Ambassador Eliahu Sasson was in attendance, and was appointed as ‘Special Delegate of the Government of Israel.’<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=1 April 2014 |title=An Incomparable Pope – John XXIII and the Jews |url=https://insidethevatican.com/magazine/vatican-watch/incomparable-pope-john-xxiii-jews-long/|work=Inside the Vatican |location=Front Royal, Virginia |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> Theologically the [[Second Vatican Council]] ended direct hostility to a Jewish homeland in the Holy land.<ref>{{cite news |last=D’Costa |first=Gavin |date=1 January 2020 |title=Catholic Zionism |url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/01/catholic-zionism|work=First Things |location=New York City |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> In 1993 the Vatican state recognized the State of Israel. And in 2001, under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, the Pontifical Biblical Commission stated “It should not be forgotten . . . that a specific land was promised by God to Israel and received as a heritage.”<ref>{{cite news |last=D’Costa |first=Gavin |date=1 January 2020 |title=Catholic Zionism |url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/01/catholic-zionism|work=First Things |location=New York City |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> However in 2010, in a synod chaired by [[Pope Benedict XVI]] a statement denouncing Israel’s control in the [[West Bank]] and [[Golan Heights]] as an occupation calling for "the necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories", furthermore the synod’s statement condemned religious Zionism, "Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable".<ref name="DailyStar">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=120751#ixzz13JnZfQnn|title=Hariri hails Catholic bishops' call to end Israeli occupation|work=The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon}}</ref> In 2015, the Vatican state recognzied [[State of Palestine|Palestine]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/13/vatican-to-sign-state-of-palestine-accord|title=Vatican to sign State of Palestine accord|work=the Guardian|date=13 May 2015}}</ref> Furthermore, in 2018, noted Catholic theologian and former pontiff Pope emeritus Benedict XVI stated that “a theologically-understood acquisition of land (in the sense of new political messianism) was unacceptable...a strictly theologically-understood [Jewish] state—a Jewish faith-state that would view itself as the theological and political fulfillment of the promises—is unthinkable within history according to Christian faith and contrary to the Christian understanding of the promises.”<ref>{{cite web|title=“Genuine Brotherhood” without Remorse: A Commentary on Joseph Ratzinger’s “Comments on ‘De Iudaeis’” |url=https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/scjr/article/download/11925/9823/|website=Boston College|access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref>
After the election of [[Pope John XXIII]] the Catholic Church moderated its position both theologically and politically in regards to [[Zionism]]. At the coronation of Pope John XXIII the Israeli Ambassador Eliahu Sasson was in attendance, and was appointed as ‘Special Delegate of the Government of Israel.’<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=1 April 2014 |title=An Incomparable Pope – John XXIII and the Jews |url=https://insidethevatican.com/magazine/vatican-watch/incomparable-pope-john-xxiii-jews-long/|work=Inside the Vatican |location=Front Royal, Virginia |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> Theologically the [[Second Vatican Council]] ended direct hostility to a Jewish homeland in the Holy land.<ref>{{cite news |last=D’Costa |first=Gavin |date=1 January 2020 |title=Catholic Zionism |url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/01/catholic-zionism|work=First Things |location=New York City |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> In 1993 the Vatican state recognized the State of Israel. And in 2001, under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, the Pontifical Biblical Commission stated “It should not be forgotten . . . that a specific land was promised by God to Israel and received as a heritage.”<ref>{{cite news |last=D’Costa |first=Gavin |date=1 January 2020 |title=Catholic Zionism |url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/01/catholic-zionism|work=First Things |location=New York City |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> However in 2010, in a synod chaired by [[Pope Benedict XVI]] a statement denouncing Israel’s control in the [[West Bank]] and [[Golan Heights]] as an occupation calling for "the necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories", furthermore the synod’s statement condemned religious Zionism, "Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable".<ref name="DailyStar">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=120751#ixzz13JnZfQnn|title=Hariri hails Catholic bishops' call to end Israeli occupation|work=The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon}}</ref> In 2015, the Vatican state recognzied [[State of Palestine|Palestine]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/13/vatican-to-sign-state-of-palestine-accord|title=Vatican to sign State of Palestine accord|work=the Guardian|date=13 May 2015}}</ref> Furthermore, in 2018, noted Catholic theologian and former pontiff Pope emeritus Benedict XVI stated that “a theologically-understood acquisition of land (in the sense of new political messianism) was unacceptable...a strictly theologically-understood [Jewish] state—a Jewish faith-state that would view itself as the theological and political fulfillment of the promises—is unthinkable within history according to Christian faith and contrary to the Christian understanding of the promises.”<ref>{{cite web|title="Genuine Brotherhood" without Remorse: A Commentary on Joseph Ratzinger's "Comments on 'De Iudaeis'" |url=https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/scjr/article/download/11925/9823/|website=Boston College|access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref>


Practicing Catholics such as [[Nayef Hawatmeh]] lead anti-Zionist organizations with Hawatmeh’s organization the [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] going as far as joining the Hamas-led offensive [[Operation Al-Aqsa Storm]].<ref>{{cite web|title=HAWATMEH, NAYEF ( ABUL NOUF) (1938-) |url=http://passia.org/personalities/349|website=Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs|access-date=2023-10-11|archive-date=2023-10-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012012932/http://passia.org/personalities/349}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/leader-of-palestinian-group-injured-in-syria-bomb/|work=The Seattle Times|access-date=11 October 2023|title=Leader of Palestinian group injured in Syria bomb|date=22 February 2013}}</ref>
Practicing Catholics such as [[Nayef Hawatmeh]] lead anti-Zionist organizations with Hawatmeh’s organization the [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] going as far as joining the Hamas-led offensive [[Operation Al-Aqsa Storm]].<ref>{{cite web|title=HAWATMEH, NAYEF ( ABUL NOUF) (1938-) |url=http://passia.org/personalities/349|website=Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs|access-date=2023-10-11|archive-date=2023-10-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012012932/http://passia.org/personalities/349}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/leader-of-palestinian-group-injured-in-syria-bomb/|work=The Seattle Times|access-date=11 October 2023|title=Leader of Palestinian group injured in Syria bomb|date=22 February 2013}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite news |last=Ivanovich |first=David |date=12 September 1984 |title=Christian Palestinians Share Moslems’ Hopes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7L48AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA14&dq=Christian+Palestinians+Share+Moslems’+Hopes&article_id=6884,1537313&hl=es&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjEi5XYkoOCAxWjEVkFHT7KA-EQ6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=Christian%20Palestinians%20Share%20Moslems’%20Hopes&f=false|work=The Press-Courier|location=Oxnard-Camarillo-Port Hueneme Area |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/al-qassam-fighters-engage-iof-on-seven-fronts-outside-gaza:|work=Al Mayadeen English|access-date=11 October 2023|title=Al-Qassam fighters engage IOF on seven fronts outside Gaza: Statement |date=8 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://alhourriah.org/article/125237|work=Alhourriah|access-date=11 October 2023|title=
<ref>{{cite news |last=Ivanovich |first=David |date=12 September 1984 |title=Christian Palestinians Share Moslems' Hopes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7L48AAAAIBAJ&dq=Christian+Palestinians+Share+Moslems%E2%80%99+Hopes&pg=PA14&article_id=6884,1537313|work=The Press-Courier|location=Oxnard-Camarillo-Port Hueneme Area |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/al-qassam-fighters-engage-iof-on-seven-fronts-outside-gaza:|work=Al Mayadeen English|access-date=11 October 2023|title=Al-Qassam fighters engage IOF on seven fronts outside Gaza: Statement |date=8 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://alhourriah.org/article/125237|work=Alhourriah|access-date=11 October 2023|title=
خلال بيان لها قبل قليل.. كتائب المقاومة الوطنية (قوات الشهيد عمر القاسم) الجناح العسكري للجبهة الديمقراطية: |date=8 October 2023}}</ref>
خلال بيان لها قبل قليل.. كتائب المقاومة الوطنية (قوات الشهيد عمر القاسم) الجناح العسكري للجبهة الديمقراطية |date=8 October 2023}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 09:55, 30 October 2023

While anti-Zionism usually utilizes ethnic and political arguments against the existence or policies of the state of Israel, anti-Zionism has also been expressed within religious contexts which have, at times, colluded and collided with the ethnopolitical arguments over Israel's legitimacy. Outside of the liberal and socialist fields of anti-Zionist currents, the religious (and often ethnoreligious) arguments tend to predominate as the driving ideological power within the incumbent movements and organizations, and usually target the Israeli state's relationship with Judaism.

Within Judaism

Main article: Haredim and Zionism

In the early history of Zionism many traditional religious Jews opposed ideas of nationalism (Jewish or otherwise) which they regarded as a secular ideology, and because of an inherent suspicion of change. Key traditionalist opponents of Zionism included Isaac Breuer, Hillel Zeitlin, Aaron Shmuel Tamares, Hayyim, Elazar Shapiro (Muncatz), and Joel Teitelbaum, all waged ideological religious, as well as political, battles with Zionism each in their own way.[1]

Today, the main Jewish theological opposition to Zionism stems from the Satmar Hasidim, which has more than 150,000 adherents worldwide. Even more strongly opposed to Zionism is the small Haredi Jewish organization known as Neturei Karta,[2][3] which has less than 5,000 members, almost all of whom live in Israel. According to The Guardian, "[e]ven among Charedi, or ultra-Orthodox circles, the Neturei Karta are regarded as a wild fringe".[4]

In Islam

Muslim anti-Zionism generally opposes the state of Israel as an intrusion into what many Muslims consider to be Dar al-Islam, a domain rightfully and permanently ruled only by Muslims.[5][6][7] Once Islamic rule is established in a country, non-Muslims are given dhimmi status as protected from violence.[8]

Palestinians and other Muslim groups, as well as the government of Iran (since the 1979 Islamic Revolution), insist that the State of Israel is illegitimate and refuse to refer to it as "Israel", instead using the locution "the Zionist entity" (see Iran–Israel relations). In an interview with Time Magazine in December 2006, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said "Everyone knows that the Zionist regime is a tool in the hands of the United States and British governments".[9]

In Catholicism

Catholic anti-Zionism, the opposition of Catholics to a Jewish state grounded in a religious justification for obstructing such an effort, has been the position of the Catholic Church for most of its existence. Theodor Herzl, the secular Jewish founder of modern political Zionism, met with Pope Pius X in the Vatican in 1904, arranged by the Austrian Count Berthold Dominik Lippay, to ascertain the Catholic Church's position on Herzl's prospective project for a Jewish state in Palestine. "We cannot prevent Jews from going to Jerusalem—but we can never sanction it," said Pope Pius X. He continued, “If Jerusalem's land was not always hallowed, it has been sanctified by Jesus Christ's life. I cannot tell you otherwise as the leader of the Church. Because the Jews have not recognized our Lord, we cannot recognize the Jewish people."[10] This laid down some of the key religious components of the Catholic Church’s anti-Zionism which would take on more of a political character as the planning of Jewish state in the Holy Land took place beginning in 1917. The Holy See was a strong opponent of the League of Nation’s plans for a Jewish state based in the Holy Land.[11][12] The Vatican opposed the concept of Judaism having preponderance in a land which they saw as extremely sacred not only to the Catholic faith but also to the other sects and religions of the world, also stating how it would hurt the native inhabitants if this preponderance was achieved. During the Second World War the Catholic Church made sure that any effort it took part in to aid the Jewish people threatened by German aggression would not be construed as support for a Jewish homeland in the Holy Land.[13] After the war, under the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, the Catholic Church resisted American pressure to recognize the State of Israel and, according to American historian Frank J. Coppa in his biographical study The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII: Between History and Controversy, stood “in opposition to American policy in the Middle East from the founding of Israel to his death in 1958.”[14] Gertrud Luckner irritated many of her fellow Catholics when she stated that neither “theological considerations nor biblical teachings would justify a negative position among Christians toward the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine,” with the Vatican itself rejecting this notion.[15]

After the election of Pope John XXIII the Catholic Church moderated its position both theologically and politically in regards to Zionism. At the coronation of Pope John XXIII the Israeli Ambassador Eliahu Sasson was in attendance, and was appointed as ‘Special Delegate of the Government of Israel.’[16] Theologically the Second Vatican Council ended direct hostility to a Jewish homeland in the Holy land.[17] In 1993 the Vatican state recognized the State of Israel. And in 2001, under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, the Pontifical Biblical Commission stated “It should not be forgotten . . . that a specific land was promised by God to Israel and received as a heritage.”[18] However in 2010, in a synod chaired by Pope Benedict XVI a statement denouncing Israel’s control in the West Bank and Golan Heights as an occupation calling for "the necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories", furthermore the synod’s statement condemned religious Zionism, "Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable".[19] In 2015, the Vatican state recognzied Palestine.[20] Furthermore, in 2018, noted Catholic theologian and former pontiff Pope emeritus Benedict XVI stated that “a theologically-understood acquisition of land (in the sense of new political messianism) was unacceptable...a strictly theologically-understood [Jewish] state—a Jewish faith-state that would view itself as the theological and political fulfillment of the promises—is unthinkable within history according to Christian faith and contrary to the Christian understanding of the promises.”[21]

Practicing Catholics such as Nayef Hawatmeh lead anti-Zionist organizations with Hawatmeh’s organization the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine going as far as joining the Hamas-led offensive Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.[22][23] [24][25][26]

References

  1. ^ Shaul Magid, “In Search of a Critical Voice in the Jewish Diaspora: Homelessness and Home in Edward Said and Shalom Noah Barzofsky’s Netivot Shalom,” Jewish Social Studies n.s. 12, no. 3 (Spring/Summer 2006), p.196
  2. ^ [1] Archived February 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Neturei Karta - Orthodox Jews United Against Zionism". Nkusa.org. Archived from the original on 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
  4. ^ In a state over Israel by Simon Rocker (The Guardian) November 25, 2002
  5. ^ Neusner, Jacob (1999). Comparing Religions Through Law: Judaism and Islam. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-19487-3. p. 201
  6. ^ Merkley, Paul Charles (2001). Christian Attitudes Towards the State of Israel. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 0-7735-2188-7. p.122
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  8. ^ Lewis, Bernard (1984). The Jews of Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00807-8 pp.10,20
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  14. ^ Coppa, Frank (2013). The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XII. Washington D. C.: The Catholic University of America Press. p. 197-198. ISBN 978-0-8132-2016-1.
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  21. ^ ""Genuine Brotherhood" without Remorse: A Commentary on Joseph Ratzinger's "Comments on 'De Iudaeis'"". Boston College. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
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  25. ^ "Al-Qassam fighters engage IOF on seven fronts outside Gaza: Statement". Al Mayadeen English. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  26. ^ "خلال بيان لها قبل قليل.. كتائب المقاومة الوطنية (قوات الشهيد عمر القاسم) الجناح العسكري للجبهة الديمقراطية". Alhourriah. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
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