Most Zionist concepts are positive ideas that express Jewish optimism of renewal and rejuvenation. Returning to Eretz Yisrael, building and settling the land, and aliyah (in Hebrew, to “move up”) are positive ideas that focus on the progress of the Jewish people after years of persecution and exile. Zionists are known as dreamers looking to improve the fate and future of the Jewish people, and to help repair the world of its ills.
Zionism’s opponents try to paint it in a negative light, accusing it of being a regressive movement. They focus on Israel’s wars, its treatment of Palestinians and pride in its military to characterize Israel as an oppressive and violent state fueled by a brutal movement.
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