How did the Zionist become anti-Zionist? It happened by means of a change of definitions, intended to consolidate a nationalist reality with the use of ostensibly legitimate tools. To enable creation of a warped world, it was necessary to also twist the words used to categorize that world. The reversal that occurred in the term “Zionist” is only one link in a chain of defense mechanisms that allow for a persistent, morally perverted existence while deriving pleasure from the perversion. Here are the mechanisms and the way they are used:
Idealization: Manifested in the glorification of the object, enabling feelings of vulnerability, shame and anxiety to be repressed. At its extreme, this hyper-glorification is diagnosed as narcissism (see under: Chosen People, Jewish brain, villa in the jungle, etc.).
Denial: A mechanism that allows threatening content to rise to the level of consciousness, whereupon one will immediately assert that the content is incorrect. Example: We recognize the fact that three million people are living under occupation, without basic civil rights, and that they want a state. But we have come to the conclusion that they just don’t deserve one (for the reasons, see the “rationalization” entry).
Rationalization: To allow the continued existence of a conceptual misrepresentation of facts, people resort to logical explanations (“Look what happened when we left Gaza”; “There is no such thing as a Palestinian nation”; “There is no partner for talks”).
Intellectualization: This subsection of “rationalization” centers on transforming a concrete problem with an unresolved emotional basis (i.e., prolonged injustice vis-a-vis millions of people) into an intellectual question (“Maybe Arabs only understand force?”).
Projection: Statements that begin with the assertion “Arabs are” inevitably contain fragments of projection. The ability to experience inner feelings − violence, aggression, distrust − as though they belong to an “other” is a key psychological tool for the continued maintenance of injustice.
Retreat: Escape from reality. The ability to disengage from an inconvenient situation and replace external tension with internal fantasy. “Big Brother,” “The Voice,” “Master Chef,” “Guy Pines,” and also: veganism as a trend, inordinate devotion to children, Jeeps, veneration of food, news consumption without real news content (“Today we’ll look at the size of the iPhone 5 screen!”).
Ego bifurcation: Dividing the world into “good” and “bad” is a way to reduce anxiety and uncertainty. Ultimately, an exaggerated division of others into “perfect good” (us) and “perfect bad” (leftists; Arabs) characterizes psychotic individuals, or at least those with a borderline personality.
Omnipotent control: An infant does not distinguish between himself and his surroundings, and so ascribes to himself the occurence of certain real events (i.e., the baby is cold and cries, the mother turns on the heat, the baby is certain he is responsible for the heat). Ultimately, the adult is supposed to recognize that he is limited, even though he still possesses remnants of the “omnipotence” fantasy. In extreme cases, mainly in psychotics, sociopaths or Chosen People with a villa in the jungle, the “omnipotence” fantasy tries to foist itself on its surroundings.
Repression: The energy summoned up to repress a harsh reality is liable to constitute the basis for the emergence of mental illnesses (megalomania, schizophrenia) and to affect the personality (Miri Regev, Michael Ben Ari). A major element in the act of repression is to bring about the forgetting of events and people (the law against marking the Nakba; Yigal Amir).
Displacement: Transferring emotions aimed at a particular object (Bibi as oppressor of the weak, Deri as proponent of racism) to a different object (leftists). The displacement occurs because the substitute object does not arouse fear (the leftist, the guy with the glasses, is “weak”), unlike the original object (the “strong” leader, without the glasses).
Annulment: The ability to reject thought symbolically (cleaning the house obsessively in order to annul a sexual fantasy; or, alternatively, writing obsessive hate comments on the Internet to annul guilt feelings).
Reversal: A mechanism that conceals urges by means of opposite behavior: The moralist conceals violent impulses; the super-altruist conceals egoistic urges; the racist-nationalist conceals anti-Zionist impulses. Upon the completion of the process, the Zionist can be labeled an “anti-Zionist.”
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