I did some very basic Google searches to see how wide-spread this notion of anarcho-Zionism is. My searches turned up very little besides links to various Indymedia sites and the article posted above. I also searched for “Nation Building as the means of Social Liberation” which is referenced near the end of the article and cannot find anything about this document on the Internet.

So is anarcho-Zionism an idea that one or two people are promoting or an ideology that actually has some broader support? I do not of any self-described anarchists who view Zionism outside of the standard radical leftist narrative i.e. Zionism = colonialism and racism. A quick perusal of anarchist sites like Anarkismo, Infoshop.org, A-Infos, etc. will show this is the case.

Is the situation different in Israel? I know about Anarchists Against the Wall who are anti-Zionists and anarchist involvement in the International Solidarity Movement (again, anti-Zionists) but are there anarcho-Zionist groups involved in activist projects in Israel? If so, I’d really like to hear about it.

I do not see any evidence that the notion of Anarcho-Zionism is gaining “wide-spread currency” among left-leaning supporters of Israel. I think supporters of Israel are incredibly rare in the radical left milieu. As Peter points out, the contemporary anarcho-left shares the knee-jerk anti-Zionism of the authoritarian left.

Whilst some saw Anarchism as an alternative to Zionism, there was a considerable sympathy and cross-over between the two ideologies. Anarchism influenced many of the early settlers too. One of the most intriguing of figures related to the Anarchist movement was the Scottish polymath Patrick Geddes, and he drew up the first plans for the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Anarchism was a broader and more complex movement that belies the simplicities of a Chomsky inspired demonology or the use of anti-statism as a device to deny the legitimacy of a Jewish state.

“It is interesting to note that anti-Zionism, like all classic bigotries, knows no class or caste, and occurs across the entire spectrum of political action. The Nazis were anti-Semitic, the Stalinists were and are still anti-Semitic, and the Arab Nationalists have always been anti-Semitic. That anti-Semitism reaches its fullest modern expression in anti-Zionism.
That anti-Zionism is a destructive poison which the sympathizers and collaborators of Arab Nationalist Movement on both the left and right, in America, in Europe, and in the third world, have infected the political discourse.”