# Why We Stand With Israel: Zionism Explained Without the Noise

> What is Zionism? Zionism explained: its Torah roots, 3,000 years of connection, Herzl, Balfour, 1948, the Law of Return, and calm answers to the slanders.

- URL: https://www.six1trey.org/en/blog/why-we-stand-with-israel-zionism-explained
- Language: en
- Published: 2026-10-20
- Author: Ariel Hanasi · Six1Trey
- Category: Israel
- Tags: Israel, Zionism, Torah, Jewish History, Antisemitism

**Zionism** is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to live as a free nation in their own homeland, the Land of Israel. That's it. Everything else you've heard, the conspiracy talk, the slogans on both sides, is noise.

The word comes from **Zion**, one of the oldest names for Jerusalem. For about two thousand years, Jews scattered across the world prayed to go back there. In the late 1800s a movement decided to stop only praying and start building. In 1948 the State of Israel was born. 🇮🇱

At Six1Trey we are Zionists, plainly and proudly. This page explains why, from the Torah to the headlines, and answers the most common attacks calmly, with sources. You don't have to agree with every Israeli government to understand this. You just have to hear the story straight.

## The Torah roots: a promise and an address

The story starts with one man and one sentence.

When Hashem tells Avram to leave his father's house (our full study is here: [Lech Lecha: leaving without an address](/en/blog/parshat-lech-lecha-leaving-without-an-address)), He doesn't tell him where he's going. Then Avram arrives in Canaan, and the address finally comes:

> לְזַרְעֲךָ אֶתֵּן אֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת
> "I will give this land to your offspring." ([Genesis 12:7](https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.12.7))

A few chapters later Hashem makes it a covenant, sealed in the "covenant between the pieces":

> "To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates." ([Genesis 15:18](https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.15.18))

That covenant is the foundation. The land is not a reward for being better than anybody. It's a promise attached to a mission: to be a people that lives by Torah in a specific place, in front of the whole world. Meet the man it started with on our OGz page: [Avraham](/ogz/avraham).

The Torah also knew the people would lose the land and be scattered, and it promised they'd come back:

> "Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the ETERNAL your G-d will gather you... and will bring you to the land that your ancestors possessed." ([Deuteronomy 30:4–5](https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.30.3-5))

### The prophets of return

When the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple and dragged the people into exile, they sat by the rivers of Babylon and made a vow:

> אִם־אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי
> "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither." ([Psalm 137:5](https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.137.5-6))

The prophets kept promising a return, and not a vague spiritual one. A real one, with cities and vineyards and farms:

> "He will hold up a signal to the nations and assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." ([Isaiah 11:12](https://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.11.12))

> "They shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine... And I will plant them upon their soil, nevermore to be uprooted from the soil I have given them." ([Amos 9:14–15](https://www.sefaria.org/Amos.9.14-15))

> וְשָׁבוּ בָנִים לִגְבוּלָם
> "Your children shall return to their country." ([Jeremiah 31:17](https://www.sefaria.org/Jeremiah.31.16-17))

If you're from the hood, you know what it means when somebody says "I'm coming back to the block." It's not a metaphor. You mean the actual corner. That's how the prophets talked about Zion.

## Three thousand years of connection

This isn't only Scripture. It's history you can visit.

Around **1000 BCE**, King David conquered Jerusalem and made it the capital of the Jewish kingdom. The Babylonians destroyed the city and the First Temple in **586 BCE**. The Romans destroyed the Second Temple in **70 CE** ([Jewish Virtual Library, Timeline of Jerusalem](https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/timeline-for-the-history-of-jerusalem-4500-bce-present); see also [Britannica on King David](https://www.britannica.com/biography/David)). Do the math: Jewish life has been tied to that city for about three thousand years.

Exile didn't break the connection. It moved it into daily life:

- **Prayer has an address.** The Talmud teaches that a Jew praying outside the Land should face toward the Land of Israel, one in the Land toward Jerusalem, one in Jerusalem toward the Temple ([Berakhot 30a](https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.30a.9)). For two thousand years, synagogues from Baghdad to Brooklyn pointed the same way.
- **Every Passover ends with a promise.** The Seder closes with "Next year in Jerusalem rebuilt!" ([Pesach Haggadah](https://www.sefaria.org/Pesach_Haggadah%2C_Nirtzah%2C_L%27Shana_HaBaa)).
- **The Psalms dream out loud.** "When G-d restores the fortunes of Zion, we see it as in a dream" ([Psalm 126:1](https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.126.1)).

So when someone says Jews "showed up" in the Middle East in the 20th century, the honest answer is: they never left it in their hearts, and many never left it physically either. In Iraq, for example, Jewish communities existed from the 6th century BCE, the era of the Babylonian exile Psalm 137 mourns ([USHMM](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-farhud)).

## Herzl: from prayer to plan

For centuries, the return was something you prayed for. Then a secular journalist from Vienna saw something that changed his mind.

In 1894 a Jewish officer in the French army, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, was falsely accused of treason in an atmosphere thick with antisemitism. Theodor Herzl watched crowds in Paris turn on the Jews. He concluded that assimilation would never solve the problem. In 1896 he published *Der Judenstaat* (*The Jewish State*), arguing that the Jewish problem was national and needed a national answer ([Jewish Virtual Library, Theodor Herzl](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/theodor-binyamin-ze-rsquo-ev-herzl)).

On **August 29–31, 1897**, Herzl gathered the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. The delegates adopted the Basel Program, which opens: **"Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Eretz-Israel secured under public law"** ([Jewish Virtual Library, First Zionist Congress](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/first-zionist-congress-and-basel-program-1897)).

Herzl also coined the movement's motto, usually translated **"If you will, it is no fairytale."** He died in 1904 at 44, more than forty years before the state was born. In his will he asked to be buried in the Jewish state. In 1949 his remains were brought to Jerusalem and reburied on the mountain that now carries his name ([JVL, Herzl](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/theodor-binyamin-ze-rsquo-ev-herzl)).

Herzl wasn't religious. But he was doing, in his way, what the prophets had promised. That's a pattern in Jewish history: Hashem uses unexpected people.

## Balfour, 1917: the world says yes

During World War I, Britain was fighting for control of the Middle East. On **November 2, 1917**, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour sent a short letter to Lord Rothschild. Here is the core of it, word for word:

> "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." ([Balfour Declaration, Avalon Project, Yale Law School](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/balfour.asp))

Notice that the same sentence that backs a Jewish national home also protects the rights of the non-Jewish communities living there. From the start, the mainstream Zionist vision was not "us or them." It was a Jewish home that could live alongside its neighbors.

## 1947–1948: a state is born

After the Holocaust, the world could no longer pretend the Jews were safe without a home. On **November 29, 1947**, the United Nations General Assembly voted 33 in favor, 13 against, with 10 abstentions, to recommend partitioning the territory into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, with a special international regime for Jerusalem. The Jewish Agency accepted the resolution despite its objections; the plan was not accepted by the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab states ([UN legal study of Resolution 181](https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-196128/); [UN, The Question of Palestine](https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-208097/)).

On Friday, **May 14, 1948**, the day the British Mandate ended, David Ben-Gurion read Israel's Declaration of Independence at the Tel Aviv Museum. Its first words:

> "ERETZ-ISRAEL (the Land of Israel) was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books."

And in the same document, in the middle of a war:

> "WE APPEAL ... to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions. WE EXTEND our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness." ([Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, Jewish Virtual Library](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-declaration-of-the-establishment-of-the-state-of-israel))

Within hours, Egyptian planes were bombing Tel Aviv. The new state was invaded by its neighbors and survived.

## The Law of Return: a door that never closes

Two years later, on **July 5, 1950**, the Knesset passed the Law of Return. Its first line is one of the most important sentences in modern Jewish history:

> **"Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh."** ([Law of Return 5710-1950, text via My Jewish Learning](https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/law-of-return-57101950/))

An *oleh* is someone who "goes up" to live in Israel. Think about what that line means after the 1930s, when Jews fleeing Hitler found door after door shut in their faces. Never again would a Jew in danger have nowhere to go.

And Israel lived up to it. Between 1948 and 1972, roughly 820,000 Jews left or were driven out of Arab countries; about 586,000 of them were resettled in Israel ([Jewish Virtual Library, Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-refugees-from-arab-countries)). Holocaust survivors and Iraqi, Moroccan and Yemeni families: the Law of Return built a nation of refugees who stopped being refugees.

## What Zionism is, and what it isn't

**Zionism is:**

- The belief that the Jewish people are a **people**, not only a religion, with the same right to self-determination as the French, the Colombians or the Japanese.
- The conviction that the Jewish homeland is the **Land of Israel**, because that's where the Jewish story was written.
- A commitment to a state where Jews are **safe, free and responsible for themselves**.

**Zionism is not:**

- **A claim that Jews are better than anyone.** The Torah's view is that every human being is created in the image of G-d ([Genesis 9:6](https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.9.6)).
- **Agreement with every Israeli government.** Israelis argue about their own policies constantly. You can be a Zionist and criticize a prime minister.
- **Hatred of Arabs or Palestinians.** Israel's own founding document promised its Arab citizens "full and equal citizenship."
- **A secret plan to control the world.** That's the *Protocols*, a forgery the Times of London exposed in 1921 ([USHMM](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion)). Zionism was the opposite: a public program announced in Basel.

## Answering the slanders, calmly

You'll hear these. Here is how to answer without yelling.

### "Zionism is colonialism."

Colonizers come from a home country to a place they have no history with, on behalf of an empire. Jews came back to the land where their kings ruled, their prophets spoke and their Temple stood, to a city they faced in prayer for two thousand years. And a huge share of Israel's Jews did not come from Europe at all: they came from Iraq, Morocco, Yemen, Syria, Iran and beyond, many of them pushed out with nothing. You can argue about borders and policies. You can't honestly call a people's return to its own ancient homeland "colonialism."

### "Zionism is racism."

The UN General Assembly actually passed a resolution saying that in 1975, Resolution 3379. On December 16, 1991, the same General Assembly revoked it with Resolution 46/86, which simply "decides to revoke the determination" of 1975 ([text via Jewish Virtual Library](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/UN/unga46_86.html)). Jewish identity isn't a race. Jews in Israel come in every color, from every continent, and anyone of any background can join the Jewish people through conversion. That's the opposite of racism.

### "Israel is an apartheid state."

Arab citizens of Israel vote and are elected to the Knesset. In the November 2022 election, Arab parties won 10 Knesset seats ([INSS, Arab Society and the 25th Knesset Elections](https://www.inss.org.il/publication/elections-2022-arab-society/)). Israel has real problems, like every country, and the conflict over the West Bank and Gaza is painful and complicated. But a country where minorities elect their own lawmakers to the national parliament is not what apartheid meant in South Africa.

### "Supporting Israel means you don't care about Palestinians."

No. We care about every innocent life. The people of Gaza did not choose Hamas's war, and their suffering is real. **Hamas is not the Palestinian people.** Hamas is a terrorist organization that murdered about 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, 2023 ([NPR](https://www.npr.org/2023/11/11/1212458974/israel-revises-down-its-death-toll-hamas-attacks-oct-7)) and took hundreds of hostages. Standing with Israel's right to defend its citizens and praying for Palestinian civilians are not opposites. The Torah teaches us to "seek peace and pursue it" ([Psalm 34:15](https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.34.15)), and the founders of Israel extended their hand in peace on the day the state was born.

### "Anti-Zionism isn't antisemitism."

Criticizing Israel is not antisemitic. The IHRA working definition says so directly: "criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic." But the same definition lists "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination" as an example of antisemitism ([AJC on the IHRA definition](https://www.ajc.org/the-working-definition-of-antisemitism)). When only one people on earth is told it doesn't deserve a country, that's not a policy debate. We go deeper on this in [What Is Antisemitism? The Oldest Hatred, Explained](/en/blog/what-is-antisemitism-the-oldest-hatred-explained).

## Why a convert from the streets stands with Israel

Six1Trey is run by Ariel Hanasi. He grew up between Jamaica, Queens and Bogotá, came up in the street life, and today he's on the path to conversion, *giur*. People sometimes ask: why would someone who wasn't born Jewish be this loud about Israel?

Because the most famous convert in Jewish history answered that question long ago. Ruth was a Moabite woman, an outsider, who chose to follow her mother-in-law Naomi back to the Land of Israel. Her words became the creed of every convert:

> "Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your G-d my G-d." ([Ruth 1:16](https://www.sefaria.org/Ruth.1.16))

Notice the order. *Your people* comes before *your G-d*. Ruth didn't join a philosophy. She joined a family, and she walked with that family to its land. Her great-grandson was King David ([Ruth 4:17](https://www.sefaria.org/Ruth.4.17)), the one who made Jerusalem the capital.

And there's another reason, one anybody from the block understands. When you come up hard, you learn that loyalty isn't something you announce when it's easy. It's who you stand next to when everybody's against them. Right now a lot of the world is against the Jewish people and their one small country. That's exactly when you find out who's real.

Hashem promised Avraham: "I will bless those who bless you" ([Genesis 12:3](https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.12.3)). We want to be on the blessing side of that verse.

## What you can do

- **Learn the story** from the sources, not from slogans. Start with Avraham and the parasha of [Lech Lecha](/en/blog/parshat-lech-lecha-leaving-without-an-address).
- **Speak up** when you hear lies about Israel, calmly, with links.
- **Pray for the peace of Jerusalem**, as the Psalm says: "Pray for the well-being of Jerusalem; may those who love you be at peace" ([Psalm 122:6](https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.122.6)).
- **Visit** if you ever get the chance. Stand at the Western Wall and you'll understand more than any article can explain. 🇮🇱
- **Stand with Jews where you live.** Supporting Israel abroad means nothing if you look away when a synagogue down the street gets vandalized.

## FAQ

### What is Zionism in simple words?

Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland, the Land of Israel. It began as a modern political movement with Theodor Herzl and the First Zionist Congress in 1897, but it rests on a connection to Zion, Jerusalem, that runs through the Torah, the prophets and daily Jewish prayer.

### Where does the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel come from?

It starts in the Torah, where G-d promises the land to Avraham's descendants in Genesis 12:7 and seals it in a covenant in Genesis 15:18. Historically, King David made Jerusalem his capital around 1000 BCE, and through two thousand years of exile Jews prayed facing Jerusalem and ended every Passover Seder with "Next year in Jerusalem."

### What was the Balfour Declaration?

The Balfour Declaration was a letter dated November 2, 1917, from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild. It stated that the British government viewed with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, while protecting the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities.

### What is Israel's Law of Return?

The Law of Return, passed by the Knesset on July 5, 1950, opens with the words "Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh." It guarantees that any Jew can immigrate to Israel and become a citizen, so that after the Holocaust no Jew in danger would ever again have nowhere to go.

### Is being anti-Zionist the same as being antisemitic?

Criticizing Israeli policies is not antisemitic, and the IHRA definition says so. But denying the Jewish people, alone among nations, any right to a state of their own is listed by the IHRA as an example of antisemitism. The line is crossed when Jews are singled out or blamed collectively.

### Can you be a Zionist and care about Palestinians?

Yes. Zionism is about the Jewish right to a homeland, not hatred of anyone. Israel's 1948 Declaration of Independence promised full and equal citizenship to Arab inhabitants and offered peace to its neighbors. Hamas is a terrorist organization, not the Palestinian people, and caring for innocent civilians fits Torah values.

## From the book

In *G2G: From Gangster to Ger*, Ariel Hanasi tells how a kid from Jamaica, Queens and the streets of Bogotá ended up saying Ruth's words for himself: your people shall be my people. [Read G2G free](/en/book/g2g).

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*Sources: Torah, Prophets, Psalms, Ruth, Talmud and Haggadah texts from [Sefaria](https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.12.7) (JPS translations, lightly adapted). Balfour Declaration from the Avalon Project, Yale Law School. Declaration of Independence, Herzl, Basel Program, Jerusalem timeline, Jewish refugees and UN Resolution 46/86 from the Jewish Virtual Library. Law of Return text via My Jewish Learning. UN Resolution 181 from the UN Question of Palestine pages. INSS, NPR, AJC and USHMM as linked.*

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