The Handbook’s attempt to define Jewish identity is dangerous and misleading. At its core, it falsely claims that all Jews are inherently Indigenous to Israel, using this as a justification for Zionism and as a tool to silence anti-Zionist voices, regardless of whether or not they are Jewish.
This redefinition not only misrepresents indigeneity, by conflating biblical ties to the region with the current nation state of Israel, but also conflates Jewish identity with Zionism, labeling any opposition to Zionism (including by Jews themselves) as antisemitic.
By stating that most Jews “affirm Zionism as central to their Jewish identity,” it erases the diversity of Jewish beliefs and traditions around the world. It reduces Jews to essentially a single, monolithic group. In reality, Canadian Jewish opinions on Israel and Zionism are varied and shifting every day a fact that the Handbook ignores outright.
A recent survey showed that only half of Canadian Jews identify as Zionist, with 27% saying they do not. This undermines the Handbook’s reliance on the confusing metric of “belief in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state”, a statement which can be interpreted in many different ways.