Racism by any other name

Benjamin Neuberger, a professor of political science at the Open University, seems confused by academic opposition to Israel and Zionism:

When I was on sabbatical at Oxford University in 2003-2005, I was astonished to see how many professors and students at the renowned university viewed Israel and Zionism. At Oxford there is a strong intellectual stream that identifies Zionism with racism, imperialism and colonialism. The control of the territories, the settlements and the view of Israel as a refuser of peace have contributed to this, but we would be mistaken if we were to think that the problem will be solved with the withdrawal from the territories and the establishment of two states for two peoples.… 

Like so many so-called progressives, Neuberger expresses an inherent contradiction:

As an Israeli who is opposed to the occupation and the settlements and supports a solution of two states for two peoples, but also sees himself as a Zionist who wants the existence of a Jewish and democratic state that will also be a state of all its citizens, I felt frustrated that in these circles there is no readiness to see the complexity of the Jewish-Arab conflict.

A Zionist state cannot be democratic by definition. Any state that discriminates against another people, such as Israel, should be opposed on principle.

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