Zionists have managed to unforgivably drag their religion's name through the mud for more than 60 years

Seth Freedman

Though my detractors often claim otherwise, I see myself as anything but a "self-hating Jew", and the more vocal I am in my criticism of the Israeli government's crimes, the more credence I give that claim. I passionately love my religion, and just as fervently defend its teachings to the hilt when it comes to how to treat our fellow man. That Zionism has come along, hijacked Jewish doctrines, and twisted them to form part of an all-out supremacist movement is not something I can swallow if I want to stay loyal to the true values of Judaism.

Unfortunately, by demanding that the world sees Zionism as a philosophy essentially based on Jewish principles, Zionists have managed to unforgivably drag the religion's name through the mud for over 60 years. However, I drew some comfort from an unlikely source after talking to a boy my age in the Deheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem.

I was there as part of a marathon tour that took in Hebron, the village of al-Nueman, the Machpelah mosque, the Church of the Nativity and various other stops along the way - including the pitiful, crumbling buildings of Deheisha. Half-way through the trip, my eyes began to glaze over, as I sought to put a barrier between myself and the relentless barrage of proof we were shown of how cruelly the authorities deal with the Palestinians.

Sneering soldiers manning checkpoints, freshly-demolished family homes, welded-shut shop fronts, blood-thirsty settler graffiti crudely daubed on Palestinian houses ... the list was endless, and the evidence was overwhelming. While it was clearly an invaluable experience for those on the tour who'd never seen the awful truth of the occupation up close and personal, I'd seen it all before - not that it gets any easier to take, however many times I am exposed to the reality.

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