What is Zionism? The different meanings of a contested term

(LOS ANGELES) Haverford, a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, has become the latest U.S. school to settle a lawsuit over how it handled allegations of antisemitism. In a statement on Aug. 7, 2026, its president, Wendy Raymond, wrote that “all students including those who identify as Jewish, and/or Israeli, and those who support Zionism: that is, the right of the Jewish people to self-determination and statehood in the land of Israel, are welcome and enjoy equal access to the College and all of its educational programs and activities.”

This statement is not unusual. After the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, the United States saw a wave of campus protests against Israel. Those protests led to a surge of complaints about campus antisemitism, and numerous lawsuits and federal civil rights investigations.

Most of these allegations concerned the alleged mistreatment of Jewish students and faculty who identify as Zionists, or merely refuse to denounce Zionism. That has led some administrations, such as Haverford’s, to explicitly affirm that it is forbidden to harass or otherwise discriminate against students who support Zionism – since such behavior has become increasingly common on some campuses in recent years…

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