Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 41 No. 21. August 28 1978
Zionism and Judaism
Zionism and Judaism
Carson was first to the micophone. He said that it was his intention to present the historical case for the Palestinian people, but before doing so he defined some terms. "A Palestinian", he said "is a future concept. It refers to someone who will live in a free Palestinian slate". He went on to define a Zionist. "A Zionist should not be confused with a Jew. A Jew is a follower of a religious faith. A Zionist however is a Jew who believes that Israel is the Promised Land. To fulfill his comitment to his faith, a Zionist must actually live in Israel."
To further draw the distinction between Zionism and Judaism, Carson claimed that Zionists actually welcomed waves of anti-Semitism when they occured, as they enabled fresh fuel to be added to the fight for Israel. He quoted from a paper (the authenticity of which was disputed by Hirshfeld) which related how a prominent Zionist had viewed with favour the increased anti-Semitism leading up to the Second World War.
Carson then moved into the debate proper. He explained that the Palestinians claims to their homeland in considerable detail, but for sake of brevity I will include only what I think to be the main points. He spoke first of historical Palestine. "When the Zionists took over Palestine in 1917 they didn't walk into an empty desert there were people living there. Palestine was originally settled around 640AD, and by 1918 about half the population was settled on the land, no longer nomadic." He conceded that Palestine had not existed as a nation during this period, "There have been a constant sucession of foreign powers who have controlled the region, including the Turks, the British and currently Washington.