Judaism is different from other religions and why this matters for peace

Part Three of our five-part special on Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism explores how Judaism differs fundamentally from other religions, and how this informs the conflict.

This fortnight is Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism fortnight, a collaboration between Moral Clarity and Daniel Clarke-Serret’s Guerre and Shalom Substack (do subscribe).

Today in Part Three, I write about how Jew hatred is inherent to anti-Zionism and how understanding this requires understanding how Judaism is different from other religions.

This follows Daniel’s photo essay in Part 1 about good and evil and his fascinating essay in Part 2 about what antisemitism is. It is a fascinating and compelling read.

This is all a build-up to the MAIN EVENT on Friday is which Daniel will pen a polemic titled “Anti-Zionism IS antisemitism”, to be exclusively published on Moral Clarity this coming Friday.

I have read a draft and can tell you that Daniel pulls no punches, while making a near unassailable argument. It is not to be missed.

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Antisemitism, often called the world’s oldest hatred, is also the most amorphous. It thrives in Christian and Muslim nations, and in atheist authoritarian states. It appears on the Right and the Left, in capitalist and communist economic systems, and it manifests in open and closed political systems. It persists across time and place.

Today, antisemitism’s most common form is anti-Zionism, or the belief that Israel, should not exist, and has no right to exist, due to its alleged displacement of the so-called Palestinians it being Jewish.

This is a neat way to dress antisemitism up as a political cause, even a just one if you have left your brain in a bucket.

Appreciating the relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism requires understanding that Judaism differs from other religions. Judaism is an older belief system than modern religious and political frameworks and terminology do not capture well.

Judaism comprises the Jewish People (Am Yisrael), the Word (The Torah) and the Land of Israel (Eretz Israel), and they are inseparable. It is not just a monotheism with a portable deity, as it is often represented. It is a unique fusion of faith, nationhood, and homeland.

Personally, I think of it as a civilization, though I feel no obligation to explain this to bad-faith actors.

The Torah is the Jewish nation’s constitution. It shapes how Jews live, think, eat, celebrate, and mourn. It embodies the Jewish mission to bring holiness into the world through action, justice, and remembrance. Wrestling with the Torah is the basis of Jews’ outsized academic achievement.

The Land of Israel is a central component of Jewish theology. As part of the covenant, God gives Jews the Torah and the land in which to live it.

If three things are required for Judaism to exist, and Jews are told the have no right to one of those three things, then, in effect, they have no right to be Jewish, and the Jewish identity has no right to exist.