UK Green Party, wey their leader Zack Polanski na Jewish, recently tok say Zionism na an "ethnonationalist political project", and dis tok don start strong debate about as Israel founding ideology be.

Zionism first show for late 19th century, and European Jewish thinkers like Moses Hess, Theodor Herzl and Nathan Birnbaum help shape am, partly as answer to Western antisemitism.

But e get di paradox say e don also carry idea of Jewish supremacy for the land wey na Palestine, deny Palestinians their right to self-determination and their national aspirations.

The things wey Israel don do for Gaza and the occupied West Bank since October 7 — wey some big international bodies and political scientists don call genocide — make many analysts talk say Zionism don dey take turn wey dey racist pass.

Na heavy accusation be dat, especially for country wey historical legitimacy dey connect well with the Holocaust, wen Nazi Germany kill millions of European Jews for World War II.

“In the aftermath of the Gaza genocide in response to the October 7 Hamas attack, the racist character of Israel has again surfaced,” Richard Falk, prominent Jewish‑American professor of international law, talk so, saying dis don seriously discredit Zionism.

Growing international criticism of Zionism don get strength from racist and genocidal statements wey some senior Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, don make since October 7.

For the other side, pro‑Israel groups don dey try make criticism of Zionism look like antisemitism — and critics see am as move to protect Israel from international accountability.

From the British Green Party talk to the findings of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese on the occupied Palestinian territories and the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry chaired by Navi Pillay, these developments “have deepened the perception of Zionism as an aggressive ideology,” Falk tell TRT World.

Zionism wey don dey more aggressive don become "abhorrent to many countries in the world", Falk add, and this show for how many delegations comot when na Netanyahu dem go hear for recent UN General Assembly.

Di UK Green Party matter don still bring back memory of UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, wey dem adopt on November 10, 1975, wey decide say Zionism na form of racism. The resolution pass by 72 votes to 32, with 35 states wey abstain.

The resolution get strong support from many countries for Global South, even though Latin American countries show division and Western countries mostly oppose am.

“The resolution was withdrawn in response to Israel/US lobbying leverage in 1991, but without any language explaining the withdrawal, or exonerating Israel from the earlier charges,” Falk tell TRT World.

For 2017 report wey UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) commission, Falk and Virginia Tilley, American political scientist wey sabi ethnic and racial conflict, conclude say Israel don set up system of racial discrimination against Palestinians.

“Despite Israel's strenuous objections to being labeled an apartheid state, it virtually acknowledged the allegation in the Knesset of a 2018 Basic Law which proclaimed Jewish preeminence in Israel, and vesting the right of self‑determination exclusively in the Jewish people with Hebrew designated as the only official language,” Falk say.

Plenty people see the 2018 Basic Law, wey the Netanyahu government pass, as the codification of Zionist principles inside Israel’s constitutional framework.

Has Zionism always been racist?

Beyond wetin happen since October 7, some Israeli historians talk say Zionism don be racist ideology from the time Israel start for 1948, and dem reject the idea say different versions of Zionism dey.

While newer story talk say Israel racist and discriminatory policies show up more under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and him far‑right partners, Israeli historian and political scientist Ilan Pappe argue say racism don always dey central to the Jewish state's identity, and he call “liberal Zionism” an “illusion”.

For recent interview, Pappe reject that difference, saying “the problem is Zionism in its all varieties”, wey e say dey behind the ethnic cleansing of 1948 and the military rule on Palestinians as Israel’s state ideology.

According to Pappe, the intimidation of Palestinians inside Israel since 1948, and the tactics dem use against Palestinians and the support for illegal settlers for territory wey dem occupy since 1967, na results and implementation of Zionist ideology.

British‑Israeli historian Avi Shlaim, wey identify as an Arab Jew, talk say even if “liberal Zionism” fit don dey before, e don die now under Netanyahu, especially after dem adopt far‑right policies since October 7.

“This promise was never fulfilled. It was just one of many examples of the huge gap between the liberal Zionist rhetoric on universal values and the discriminatory, racist reality, a gap that was filled by Israel’s leaders with hypocrisy and humbug,” Shlaim write last month.

“One of the very few things that can be said in favour of the present, far‑right Israeli Government is that it has dispensed with the liberal rhetoric and exposed the ugly reality of contemporary Israeli society for all to see,” he add.

However, Alon Liel, former director‑general of Israel's foreign ministry, get different view, saying his country “had a different kind of Zionism” about thirty years ago.

“The comeback of equating Zionism as racism is definitely an outcome of the last war, especially because of the number of casualties and the destruction in Gaza,” Liel tell TRT World.

Over the years, Zionism, wey people first see as secular ideology, don turn more nationalistic and messianic, Liel say.

He point to the growing influence of far‑right groups for Israel, a change wey some analysts link to how revisionist and messianic Zionism don join forces.

Zionism: settler‑colonialism

Western imperial powers rule many parts of the world — from the Americas and Africa to Southeast Asia and the Middle East — and dem draw plenty of the international borders we get today.

But colonial rule mostly reduce after World War II, as former colonies begin to gain independence.

Even with this wave of decolonisation, Israel still come up as settler‑colonial state for Palestine — land wey na natives don live for centuries — after armed campaigns by Zionist militant groups like Haganah and Irgun.

Against this historical background, experts talk say Zionism be settler‑colonial project.

“Zionism is a self‑avowed settler‑colonial movement, and its principal political progeny – the State of Israel – is a settler‑colonial state. The logic of settler‑colonialism is the elimination of the natives in order to take over the land and its resources. Ethnic cleansing is the means by which this goal is achieved,” Shlaim observe.

Zionist leaders also use European Orientalist ideas and the continent’s colonial history to get support for their project, presenting themselves as reps of Western civilisation for the mostly Muslim Middle East.

“While Zionism was originally a movement among Jews countering the racism embedded in European antisemitism, it also had its own racist outlook that can be associated with an Orientalist version of Western cultural superiority and a disregard for the rights of inferior non‑Europeans, especially as embedded in Islamic majority countries of the MENA,” Falk say.

“In the aftermath of WW II, Orientalist attitudes combined with liberal guilt associated with allowing Hitler to get away with extreme forms of antisemitism eventuated in a Zionist settler colonial project to establish a state of their own within Palestine, pretending to accept partition as a solution but never giving up their vision of unified Israeli sovereignty over the whole of Palestine.”

Future of Zionism

If Zionism continue for this aggressive path, wetin fit happen to Israel?

The Netanyahu government, wey don launch military campaigns for Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, dey confident for their approach, and dem dey claim say dem dey change “the face of the Middle East.”

But some historians talk say Israel embrace of more aggressive Zionism — driven by ambitions wey dem dey pursue faster than earlier Zionist generations — fit mean say the ideology don reach its final phase.

“Historically, I’m willing to say with some caution that this is the last phase of Zionism. Such developments in ideological movements, whether they are colonial or empires, it’s usually the final chapter [that is] the ruthless one, the most ambitious one. And then it’s too much and then they fall and collapse,” Pappe tell for interview last year.

Like Pappe, Gregory Simmons, independent researcher and academic, see dark future for Zionism outside Israel and among its Western supporters.

Simmons argue say Israel actions for Gaza and military moves across the Middle East don reduce public support and sympathy, even for some Western countries, and don push away Jewish communities abroad, turning Zionism into “a globally toxic ideology”.

Liel, however, dey more cautious. The former Israeli diplomat talk say him wan wait for results of the October 27 election before e fit judge Zionism future.

He still believe say the ideology "very solid" for inside Israel, even as e admit say e don dey more rejected internationally.

Nathan Birnbaum, the Austrian‑Jewish writer and journalist wey people credit for first use the term Zionism, give example of how view towards the ideology fit change. Even though e help organise the First Zionist Congress for Basel in 1897 and serve as secretary‑general of the Zionist Organisation, Birnbaum later become strong opponent of Zionism and of creating a Jewish state for Palestine.