Opinion
I am a Zionist
Yair Lapid
Published: 30.01.09, 18:09
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1. Mr. Lapid, you are no Zionist
M   (01.30.09)
Since today's words have no meaning, black is white and love is war, maybe you can call yourself a zionist.
2. Yair Lapid
Steve ,   New York, NY   (01.30.09)
Where is Mr. Lapid and his family from? What Mr. Lapid fails to mention is that he and his family have invaded Palestine and this is why he is being shot out.
3. Outstanding!!!
Ariel ,   US   (01.30.09)
4. I'm zionist !!
Shaalan J ALDhafair ,   Saudi Arabia   (01.30.09)
Good for you ,,, your article about the citizenship and no body disagree with you but there is someone at the other side called Palastenian ,, by the way he is old citizen than you ,, when your grandfather came did'n't ask him to share the citizenship with him no the decide to kick him out and to be the new citizin. this land not belong to any one wether jews or muslim or cheristian, there were living toghether until YOU the Zionist came to decide to be the only citizin and other should be just guest !!!! you have amazing explaination to you citizinship. whatever you say about your past or present , your excuses always fragile. Very old man jews said "we lived here with muslims long time ago till new arrivals come and start to buy lands and there were no objections untill they get the British PM promise and the new Zionist start the destruction war and the Muslims hate us" so you should be very proud to be Zionist LOOOOOOOL ,,, I wish my comment not disturbe the magazine and be Published
5. I am Jealous
Ben   (01.30.09)
I live in US and wish I was in Israel.
6. Kol Hakavod....Perfect timing...WE needed that
BJL ,   usa   (01.30.09)
7. I am a Zionist too! So was Jesus, that "west bank" settler..
Jae ,   Lynn USA   (01.30.09)
too bad the koran is not zionist as Jerusalem is not even mentioned once in there; the arab tie to jerusalem is political not scriptual.
8. Amazing Article
England   (01.30.09)
This is an amazing article, it echoes my feelings exactly!
9. Nicely written Yair.
DkS ,   J'lem   (01.30.09)
10. Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me
Pat ,   Ireland   (01.30.09)
MY story, MY History, MY land, MY rights, MY security. Most of us don't have to deal with your self-obcession and blindness to the humanity of others. Palistinians are not so fortunate. (and by the way, don't you dare attempt to confuse or conflate Zionism with Judaism or even 'Israeliness'. These are very different things.)
11. Yair Lapid sale everything for his own care
he is lapidyonist ,   he loves only himsle   (01.30.09)
for tel aviv people being zionist is so hard - they need to get out of their bubble before.!
12. Unfortunately, the palestinians whom paid this bill
Rami Abu Ghalyion ,   Tulkarem-palestine   (01.30.09)
I Am one of those whom respect the zionism And the Jews who have adopted this ideology not couz i like Zionism but couz this respect comes from my Principle in life which it says(Everything has a solution) jewis in thier Nature we hated in europe also were hated by many Muslims for some reasons and thier reasons very logical in my opinion I respect Israel because it has displacemented 3 thousands of Palestinian refugees my respect it comes from a way of Zionist-founder thinking How wonderful to makes Germany a strategic ally After holding her Responsiblety of killing jewis ,How Wonderful to makes france Good Ally by accusing it of anti-Semitism policy I agree with the writer 100% about that level of his life and israelis life better than any other citizenes in the countries mentioned by However,these impressions will stay impressions not more Unfortunately,the writer did forget an important point which it the price it was blood of the palestinians Israel is a very smart country,i hope that arabs will learn the lesson Heloooo !! Does Anyone hear me! For sorry arabs still in a deep-coma
13. You can call me Anti Zionist
jeff Lozier ,   Canada   (01.30.09)
“I believe in our right for this land” everybody s free to believe what he wants but this doesn’t mean he believes in the truth. “The people who were persecuted for no reason throughout history” I will add from different nations on this earth and since the Faraon time .Have you wander why? Is that a stupid coincidence!! “Israel is not only a place, it is also an idea” I will say the opposite is true .lot of new comer to Israel are disappointed and happy to return back. “had the sense to invest in our minds” I agree, Israeli are intelligent people .but not all the time in the good direction. I live better than a billion….from the unlimited American aids My Zionism is natural ?!!! don’t know there is the artificial Zionism.(maybe a Russian Zionist) Budapest where my father stood and attempted, in vain, to understand why the entire world is trying to kill him. Sorry but had he better understood we wouldn’t have Warsawa Ghetto. Believe me your father has more right to have Bavaria than Palestine. You can call me Anti Zionist
14. Beatutifully written, honest and true.
Bunnie Meyer ,   Los Angeles, CA USA   (01.30.09)
The "palestinians" do have a home and it is not in the land G-d gave to the Jews, it is in all the other 22 countries where arabs beat their wives and bow to a fraudulent notion of their "g-d". The third temple will be built, Jews will occupy all of the original land given to them by G-d, not by the UN, and the arabs will live peacefully in their own land, outside of Israel. May it happen in our lifetime, may it happen this week.
15. why this article was writen is the problem not addressed
Asaf Golan ,   Sugar Land   (01.30.09)
Yair Lapid, thank you for tearing eyes when the Israeli national anthem is played. The reason you were called not a Zionist is because you supported and continue to support the disengagement even though it was a complete failure. Thank you for leding us your son to protect us. But you should also lend us your vote that should support every Jew's right to live in the land of Israel, especially WHEN he lives on the land of Israel! You cannot be a Zionist on one hand and support the ethnic cleansing of our people from this land. And that you have not addressed. The Arabs are foreigners. They invaded Israel in 700 CE. They are persecuted us and murdered us. In 1933 their violence forced Jews out of Gush Katif. In 2005 we, Jews forced Jews from their home using Arb violence as an excuse. The problem then as now as will be is Arab violence, not Jewish presence.
16. Absolutely beautiful Mr. Lapid; now let's take a closer look
Daniel ,   Formerly Israel   (01.30.09)
Lapid has laid out quite beutifully what it means to be a zionist; his rubric is, in my opinion a little incomplete, but it is adequate and can be improved with just a few expansions; so lets see how he measures up to his own standards Section 1; Even Hamas believes that a Jewish entity exists in the Land of Israel that doesn't make them Zionists; to be a zionist you must see that entity as a state that ought to be accepted by the international community He implies in section four that he does, so he gets the point for it. Section 2: He uses Hebrew as his language and so is connected to modern Israeli culture so he gets this point. He claims a connection to ancient Judea in that he accepts the the parts of Biblical Geography relating to Tel-Aviv and West Jerusalem. But he does not accept those dealing with Shchem, Hevron, etc. so he doesn't get this pont. (One doesn't need a hundred percent to be a zionist; I'm just grading Lapid here). Section 3; he respects the Israeli Defense forces and their efforts in defending Israel; so he gets this point (the part about independence day and the TV is touching but not empirically relevant). Section 4: He has already gotten his point for recognizing our claim to the land. He talks about telling the anti-semites to get lost but has often joined wit hthem in lambasting the settlers, and religious Israelis because he disagreed with them ideologically, so he gets neither the point for defending the whole of zionist society nor the one for at least not actively attacking it. Section 5: He has lived in Israel in bad times and has stayed there for all of his life, so two out of two points here. Section 6: He extolls the duties of citizens but has virulently attacked Liberman and anyone else who advocated holding non-Jewish citizens to the same standards as Jews, so he doesn't get this point. He glorifies the extra commandments but has never shown the least concern for the massacres of pro-israeli Palestinians and Lebanese anafter our withdrawals; I'm not including this in the rubric; just pointing out his hypocracy. Section 7: He has a measure fo unconditional love for Israel; so he gets that point Secton 8: He calims a connection the our biblical forefathers but has argued in favor of stringent secularism, so no point here Section 9 deals with economics, not ideology, and so is irrelevant Section 10: is irrelevant as the issue of attacking other zionists for their zionism has already been adressed Section 11: He gets a point for beign a compationate human being. He does not get the point for making the moral distinction between the intentional murder of Jews and the accidental murder of of Palestinians (many of them human shields). He also fails to get the point for supporting Israel's right to take grater action in self-defense than head-hanging or minor retaliation. He has already received his point for respecting the enterprise of our founding fathers in establishing A Jewish state: so lets tally up his points: By my count he gets 7/14 or 50% according to this modified version of his own rubric: Sorry Mr. Lapid; you get an F in zionism 101
17. I am an Israeli Zionist
Gee ,   Zikron Yaakov   (01.30.09)
I served my country, and bled a little for it. I raised my children to defend our country. I refuse to hand it over to terrorists bent on our genocide. No compromise, no appeasement. Either we have the right to live or those that oppress won't either.
18. For #4 Saudi Arabia
Raoul ,   Israel   (01.30.09)
I suggest you take a look at the map of the Middle East, and see how little land we Jews live on, together with Israeli Arabs - and they ALL have the vote. Do you allow Jews to even VISIT there, let alone live. Shame on you talking from, of all places, Saudi Arabia.
19. Yair....
meg ,   Israel   (01.30.09)
Would have been better to say "I am a Patriot" no?
20. Rami
C   (01.30.09)
i agree with you. i am a zionist and believe every people needs a homeland, i want palestinians to have a country too and then we can learn and develop together
21. PAT's confusion
Gene ,   USA   (01.30.09)
Pat you are a confused individual. It is the Irish that are consumed with selfishness. Israel contributed a large amount of aid to the Tsunami victims, built the Shifra Hospital in Gaza, took in 50,OOO Vietnam refugees, and is currently taking in Dafur refugees. They have also taught sub-Saharan Africans drip farming via its aid projects.The list is almost endless.. What has Ireland done. How many refugees have the Irish absorbed. There are Dafur refugees waiting.
22. Bravo Lapid, so well said
Roberto ,   Montevideo   (01.30.09)
I will print this article, so I can read it again and again. And I will give it to my sons Bravo Lapid long life to you and your family
23. yair lapid: "I love me" - the only 3 words you know
(01.30.09)
24. All you haters will never be satisfied...
Yaron ,   USA   (01.30.09)
but at the very least, you should learn your history. The Arabs generally speaking were hostile to the indiginous Jewish population and were not interested in a state of their own. Rather than taking the offer at the time to have their own state, the Arabs decided that destroying the Jewish state was more important. There was never any displacement, it was a war that was initiated by the Arab armies and they lost. Now, the Arabs that were in the W Bank and Gaza were not Palestinians but Egyptians and Jordanians. They became Palestinians when it became a convenient tool with which the Arab world can subjugate the so-called refugees with to keep the conflict festering. Remember 1967? The posts here bashing the author and Israelis in general are both ignorant and hateful considering they come from countries with far worse histories then Israel.
25. Yaron ur like the ostrich, which put its head in the sand
Rami Abu Ghalyion ,   Tulkarem-Palestine   (01.30.09)
26. Bravo!!! Thank you!!! I am also a proud Zionist!!!
Hanokh ,   Haifa, Israel   (01.30.09)
27. #13, You have more right to be in France than in Canada
Alex ,   Haifa, Israel   (01.30.09)
Call me anti French-Canadian.
28. Superbly written, irrefutable, those tbackers who...
Flavio ,   Sao Paulo, Brazil   (01.30.09)
...criticized the article are either jealous or ignorant (I'm not taking rabid anti-semites into consideration, of course). Zionism is about prosperity, and development; is about overcoming 2,000 years of landlessness, about rightfully restoring the self-pride and the place in the world every Jew deserve. Most of all, is about peace: about agreeing to the 1947 partition, about defeating scores of enemies who intended (and still intend) to wipe Israel off the map, about having a place in the world to call his own and demanding this right to be acknowledged, no more, no less. Mr Lapid, your grandpa left Europe to Israel, mine took another road and came to Brazil. You were born in Isral, I was born here. I've ageing parents, a Jewish wife, small children, family business, health problems, professional issues, many daily life and personal motives that so far have kept me from making aliyah - but from all my heart, I wish I'd already had the guts to leave everything behind and do it, just it and fulfill the needs of my neshama iehudit, for I feel deep inside that perhaps one day I'm gonna regret not having done it!!!
29. I'm Zionist
silene ,   rio de janeiro   (01.31.09)
I'm Zionist too! To them that don't believe I ask: where are jewish money,documents,stores and home from those who were expeled from Lebanon,Morocco,turkie,egypt, Iraq,and other places? The time to claim is NOW!
30. You are also a bit ethnocentric
jf ,   NY, USA   (01.30.09)
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