This is not a contradiction of terms. Zionism, or the belief that Jews should be allowed to return to their ancestral homeland, transcends race, gender, and culture transcends many of the labels that separate us on earth.
Why am I here? I'm here to discuss present day Zionism, the state of Israel, and those who seek to destroy her without timidity, without passivity. Advocates of Israel and Zionism should be aggressive. G-d knows our opposition is. Appeasement only makes the aggressor more aggressive. I will not appease.
They are coming for us with knives in Jerusalem now. They blame us for provocation on the Temple Mount, they blame us for settlements. They use this blame as rationalization of the terrorism being directed at Israeli citizens. "You pushed us to this and it is justified" they will say. This is of course, a lie. One needs to only look back 10 years to the disengagement from Gaza. In 2005 all Israeli settlers were removed (in some cases forcibly) from their homes and businesses in the Gaza Strip. I supported the move by Sharon at the time. Many of my Orthodox friends were furious, and watching the footage of IDF soldiers removing Israelis from Gaza I could understand their anger. However, whether it was intentional or not, Ariel Sharon's disengagement was brilliant in the long term. Israelis left behind several businesses, which were handed over to Gazans, most notably a flower business. Instead of building off of what the Israelis had left, the Gazans burned the greenhouses down. Nothing has replaced them. Sharon gave the world evidence that the settlements are not the issue at work. With or without settlements, it doesn't matter, they will attack Israel. The cycles of rocket fire from Gaza to this day still underscore this fact. And it continues in Jerusalem now. The Muslim clerics in Al Aqsa are unabashedly calling on their followers to stab Jews, and they are. Again they are trotting out that old lie: "The Jews are defiling Al Aqsa! How dare they!" No. Even if that were the case, it is merely a pretense for killing Jews. Something the Arabs in the area have been doing since even before Zionism began.
Why do they hate us? I can't say, you would have to ask them. But I can tell you that settlements, or defiling of the Temple Mount are not those reasons.
