I’m an armchair Zionist
CENTRIST DAD. Remoaner. Gammon. It’s tough keeping up with the nicknames being bandied about to describe one’s affiliations. Add to that “armchair Zionist”, used readily over the last fortnight in response to Diaspora Jews raising their voices. Technically, it does apply to me. Certainly, I’m a Zionist outside of Israel, with no intention of making aliyah. And— because this term is applied specifically to those with the temerity to express an unfavourable opinion — I’m a Zionist with plenty to say about the Jewish state.
What I’m not — and let’s get this out of the way – is an IDF soldier. I did a week volunteering on a base once, but it was mostly spent making burekas. I’ve never served a country, never risked my life for it. And I wasn’t anywhere near the front line in Gaza last week.
But, here’s what I am. Someone with family in Israel, who visits regularly. Who lived there for ten months at 18; who led a tour, taking 40 British teens from north to south to build their passion for an amazing country. A former FZY member, a vocal advocate of Israel’s right to exist and an opponent of boycotts on these pages and beyond, even when it is far easier to avoid the abuse this invariably attracts.
Which is why it bristles to have “armchair Zionist” levelled at me as some kind of slur; chastised for venturing a view that goes beyond whether Netta should have won Eurovision.
Because here’s what it’s like, —