Video, transcript, and key quotes from the talk by Jennifer Kelly at the ICSZ “Battling the ‘IHRA Definition'” conference in October 2023.
Abstract: This paper is divided into three parts. Dr Kelly first details some of the narrative logics of U.S. Christian Zionism. She then explores the role Christian Zionist travel plays in entrenching Israeli state violence, focusing specifically on the King David Theme Park in Jerusalem and the planned and in-progress displacement of 130 Palestinian families (1,500 people) in Silwan for its construction. Finally, she connects this Christian Zionist travel and displacement to Christian Zionist support for the IHRA Definition, revealing the entrenchment of Christian Zionism in global right discourse. Christians United for Israel’s—which most progressives would denounce as a far right organization—entire platform is predicated on stamping out any/all criticism of Israel, quashing international pressure on Israel to comply with international law, and opposing the BDS movement as “economic antisemitism.” Central to this is their support of the IHRA Definition: CUFI boasts that they have worked to see the IHRA definition adopted at the federal level and targets each state capitol to see it adopted across the country. In this way, through a focus on Christian Zionist organizing in the U.S., its use of tourism to both galvanize its followers and simultaneously displace Palestinians, and its support of the IHRA definition, Dr Kelly argues that Christian Zionism is a central player in the displacement of Palestinians in Palestine and the suppression of academic freedom in the U.S. In the words of our conference co-organizer Sheryl Nestel, from Independent Jewish Voices, we ignore Christians United for Israel at our peril.
The study of Zionism in the context of power is more imperative than ever, as a spectrum of actors including right wing racists, craven administrators, liberal Zionists, and many who very publicly position themselves pro-Palestine–yet balk at the suggestion that Israel as a racial settler, colonial state and Zionism needs to be studied transnationally–have made every effort to silence the study of Zionism in the context of power.
In this way, tourism is never a thing apart from colonial state violence. As countless scholars and colonial studies have shown, tourism often follows the path of colonial state violence or precipitates it, paving the way for the justificatory logic of colonialism. The archaeological site is not only a tourist attraction for Christian Zionist tourists; it is also an extension of Sheldon Adelson’s other investments in Christian Zionism. Indeed, Adelson, who funneled money into Elad and who famously said and famously said he’s a one issue person and that person is Israel, donated $4.6 million to Christians United for Israel between 2012 in his death and 2021.