What is Zionism? The different meanings of a contested term

Haverford College settled a lawsuit over its handling of antisemitism complaints, with its president issuing a statement on Aug. 7, 2026 defining Zionism as 'the right of the Jewish people to self-determination and statehood in the land of Israel' and affirming that students who hold that view are welcome. A scholar of Israel studies argues this single-sentence definition, echoed across many campus statements since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks and subsequent Gaza war triggered a wave of lawsuits and federal investigations, flattens a movement that has never agreed on what it means.

The piece traces disputes stretching back to the 1890s: political Zionists sought Jewish statehood while cultural Zionists sought a homeland without necessarily a state; some early Zionists, including founder Theodor Herzl, briefly considered East Africa over Palestine; and it wasn't until 1942 that the movement formally committed to statehood. A March 2025 survey found nearly 9 in 10 American Jews back Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, yet only about a third identify as Zionists, suggesting many associate the label with additional positions, on the West Bank or unconditional support for Israeli policy, that they don't personally hold.

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