How To Debate An Anti-Zionist In 5 Easy Steps

I have tried engaging in rational dialogue on social media with detractors of Israel on many occasions, only to be met with personal or national death threats. So I mostly just block and delete Jew haters these days. But when I do engage, here’s what it sounds like.

Them: Palestinians were there first.

Me: Actually, Jews were there first. Jews have had a continuous presence in Israel for over 3000 years. Arabs, indigenous to the Arabian peninsula didn’t reach the Levant until the 7th century during a major period of Muslim colonization.

Them: Well, Canaanites were there before Jews.

Me: You’ve got a point. But produce a single Canaanite to argue for his land. Wait, you can’t. They haven’t existed for thousands of years.

Them: Jews are from Europe.

Me: Actually, 90% of Jews have Israel in their DNA.

Them: That’s not true, that’s why Israel bans DNA tests.

Me: Israel doesn’t ban DNA tests. I just Googled a DNA testing center in Tel Aviv. Shall I make you an appointment?

Them: Do you want Native Americans coming back and taking your home? It’s not about who was there first.

Me: So it’s about who’s there now? Well, Jews are the oldest surviving people who were there first and also the people who are there now. So…

(Bonus round!)

Me: One more thing: the Arabic the word for Jew is Yahud. That’s because Jews are the people of Yahuda (Judea), presently called Israel. So even the Arabic language remembers where Jews come from.

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Chasya Bernstein says on December 31, 2023
Good try. But have you noticed that the people you would be debating are not open to having their minds changed by facts, truth, history, etc. They have their point of view, they indulge their ‘feelings’, and demand that you ‘don’t confuse me with the facts’. The whole Leftist movement has rejected Western ideas about facts and logical debate. They want something to be true, and therefore it is! You can marshall all the facts you want, they will not hear you.
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Allison Josephs

Allison Josephs is the founder and executive director of Jew in the City has been involved in the field of Jewish Outreach for over twenty years and is the Partner in Torah mentor to actress Mayim Bialik. She was named one of NJOP’s Top Ten Jewish Influencers and one of the Jewish Week’s 36 under 36. Allison has been quoted or written about in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, People Magazine, NYPost, Daily News, TMZ, The Daily Beast, and Hollywood Reporter. She has appeared on numerous television and radio networks including CBS, ABC, Fox5, TLC, Associate Press TV, and NPR; her articles have appeared in publications including The Washington Post, JTA, Jewish Week, Jerusalem Post, The Forward, and Kveller. Pearson Education, the largest textbook company in the world, produced a video segment on Allison’s life for the Judaism chapter of their textbook. She is a sought-after international lecturer whose corporate clients include Con-Edison and NYU Langone and hosts a weekly podcast on the Nachum Segal Network. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in Philosophy and lives with her husband and four children minutes from the George Washington Bridge.