"To them, the term Zionism is increasingly associated with violence against Palestinians, and an abandonment of democracy. Zionism, they explain, no longer means what I believe it does. When they hear someone say they are a Zionist, they react. They hear the enemy speaking. They only listen for the missing shin. This dynamic is tearing families and communities apart. Leaders are cheered or vilified based on whether they use or avoid certain terms, as if they are scoring points at a sporting event in a stadium. But cheering and vilification do little to foster understanding, or build toward actual solutions to release the hostages or end the war. We would do better to react less and listen more. When someone says, From the river to the sea, we might ask what they mean not instinctively judge them. Admittedly, some dont know which river or sea the phrase refers to. Rather than mocking their ignorance, we can ask why they use the phrase. Often, they simply see it as meaning that all people should be treated with dignity and given equal rights. I hope that by reacting with curiosity, Ill invite curiosity in return, and they may become more open to hearing why the phrase itself is so deeply unsettling to many of us and how it has been used by antisemites to incite violence. When I stop reacting to the missing shin, I can learn that some anti-Zionists dont reject Jewish self-determination in our historic homeland. Rather, they believe Israels government has forfeited its moral legitimacy through its actions in Gaza, its efforts to erode democracy, and its treatment of Palestinians concerns that many Zionists share. Their objection is not to the Jewish right of self-determination in the land of Israel. They object to the Jewish claim to sovereignty control of government with special rights and privileges."