"The mere fact that I was a Zionist put me beyond the Pale as far as they were concerned"

"I recall the moment I realised something was happening. About 10 years ago I was invited to address the socialist members of the European Parliament. I was asked as a colleague, a member of the Israeli Labour Party, a socialist and so on... However, the more I talked to them as a Labour Zionist, the more I realised that the mere fact that I was a Zionist put me beyond the Pale as far as they were concerned".

"Can you define 'Zionism', then?" I ask. "Yes ... It is the self-determination and liberation of the Jewish people in their homeland".

So, I say, to be "anti-Zionist" means to be "anti" the existence of the state of Israel? "Yes". "But do people realise that?" Einat considers. "Some of them do. There is an intellectual trend on the Left gaining ground that looks at Israel as a country born in sin. There are a lot of people who question why the Jewish State should be given - by the rest of the world - the continued right to exist".

More: The Independent