The point about Israelis and jews is perfectly valid. I probably know more about the country of Israel than plenty of jews in the UK (and I don't even know that much).
With zionism, it's a little different: a person is a zionist by virtue of simply holding an opinion, and it's an opinion I have to imagine most jews hold.
I don't know...I grew up in the southern US. There were plenty of people I knew who were evangelical but very pro-israel. Primarily so the end times would be brought on.
At least around me, Christian Zionists are by far the majority.
That's an excellent point that hadn't crossed my mind. When I hear people discussing 'zionism' it never occurs to me they might be thinking of evangelical zionists. In my neck of the woods, where evangelicals have no presence at all, they probably aren't. In the South, they may well be.
Edit: this kills me to say, because the way people discuss 'zionism' still creeps me out, but my argument was wrong. Since there is a substantial number of evangelical zionists, you were right to say jewish and zionist shouldn't be conflated.
I get it and I also feel quite weird about it. I always have to be careful when reading somebody's comment that mentions Zionism to see if they're just spouting conspiracy theories, if it's actually grounded in reality, or do they just hate Jewish people...
Christian Zionists are ideologically the majority, yes. But when you look at actions, by far, Jewish zionists are much more pro-Israel than Evangelicals. The fired deans and the blacklisting of American students was done by Ackman, Miriam Adelson and Karp. Ken Griffin made public remarks, but took no action to actually censor Americans. Their views and donations to Israel are also public. My point is Zionism is certainly an ideology, but the ones funding it are rarely Evangelicals. Carter is Evangelical and is labeled in Israel as an anti-Semite for merely visiting Palestine during his Israeli tour. It is very interesting to me that the Adelsons and Ackmans made their fortune in the US, yet funnel that money into Israel and blacklist Americans on behalf of a foreign (and dare I say, hostile) nation that is very much alien to American interests and American values. To me, it appears they identify first and foremost as Israeli by virtue of their Jewishness, and if that is their wish, I think mislabeling it does more harm than good. An Evangelical will visit Israel and utter a few prayers. An American Zionist will harm America to ensure Israel prospers. The two are very much different. The first is freedom of speech and religion. The other is treason. You should perhaps focus more on protecting those administrative officials who were fired for standing up for free speech, or that kid who got denied due process for protesting freely, instead of defending Zionism. It is easy to defend those who hold power. It is much more difficult and brave to stand up for those who lack a voice and political influence
With zionism, it's a little different: a person is a zionist by virtue of simply holding an opinion, and it's an opinion I have to imagine most jews hold.