There are too few young Americans like Jacob Smith. Able to analyse and think for himself. And have the same conclusion as me. “He agrees with me! He must be right!”.
The conclusions being: that Israel has the right to exist; that it has the right to continue to exist; that it has the right to defend itself from genocidal attacks. That it has the right to stop a regional theocratic-tyranny from invading, occupying, bullying and converting “infidel” states throughout the world.
Jacob labels himself a “Christian Zionist”. I’m not, because I’m not Christian. I’m atheist. But still Zionist. So I identify as an “Atheist Zionist”.
Using “Zionist” in an updated sense of the term. Not that Israel simply has a right to exist. Because that’s done. But that Israel has the right to continue to exist. Against the surrounding Arab-Muslim states that seek its destruction. Which, were it to happen, would be the only state to be liquidated since the founding of the United Nations.
From Smith’s Show Notes:
I'm a Christian American. I'm not Jewish. I have no personal stake in the Israel-Palestine conflict. And yet I've spent years debating anti-Zionists online, sitting across people whose mission is to delegitimize Israel and dehumanize the Jewish people — while receiving death threats daily across every platform I'm on. This video is my answer to the most common question I get: why do you even care?
My journey started on October 7th, 2023. I was in class when a Reuters notification came through about the Hamas attack. Within minutes I was watching people online cheer for it, spreading ahistorical narratives and anti-Zionist propaganda. I started responding. I haven't stopped.
The core of my argument is this: anti-Zionism is not a principled political position. It is a double standard applied exclusively to one people. If you scrutinize Israel's founding but not how the United United States was created, how Arab states were drawn up, or how any other nation in history was created, you don’t have a standard. You have a bias. And Israel’s independence is actually one of the most legally and morally defensible positions in modern history.
