Zionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory

"Zionist occupation government" redirects here. For territories occupied by Israel since 1967, see Israeli-occupied territories.

Part of a series on
Antisemitism
Definitions
Geography
Africa & Asia
Americas
Europe
Oceania
Manifestations
Antisemitic tropes
Persecution
Antisemitic publications
Antisemitism on the Internet
People
Opposition
Related topics
Category

The Zionist occupation government, Zionist occupational government or Zionist-occupied government (ZOG), sometimes also called the Jewish occupational government (JOG),[1][2] is an antisemitic conspiracy theory claiming that Jews secretly control the governments of Western states.[3][4] It is a contemporary variation on the centuries-old belief in an international Jewish conspiracy. According to believers, a secret Zionist organization actively controls international banks, and through them governments, to conspire against white, Christian, or Islamic interests.[5]

The expression is used by white supremacist, white nationalist, far-right, nativist[6] or antisemitic groups in Europe[7] and the United States,[8][9][10][11][12][13] as well as by ultra-nationalists such as Pamyat in Russia.

Some organizations that employ (or have in the past employed) the term are partially or wholly inspired by religious aims or ideals. American far-right groups founded upon racialist, conspiratorial, and apocalypticist interpretations of Christianity, including the Freemen, various Identity Christian churches and sects, and the Ku Klux Klan are examples.[6] Additionally, some contemporary militant, authoritarian, and theocratic Islamist and Islamic extremist organizations, including Salafi-jihadist terrorist cells, have used the term "ZOG" in propaganda campaigns.

The word Zionist in "Zionist occupation government" is used to equate being Jewish with the ideology of Zionism. As such, Zionists are depicted by the theory as conspiring for Jews and Israel to control the world[8] as depicted in the forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion.[14][15]

  1. ^ Swain, Carol (2003). Contemporary voices of white nationalism in America. Cambridge, UK New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 253. ISBN 0521816734.
  2. ^ Mogelson, Luke (January 15, 2021). "Among the Insurrectionists". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  3. ^ Simonsen, Kjetil Braut (2020-10-19). "Antisemitism on the Norwegian Far-Right, 1967–2018". Scandinavian Journal of History. 45 (5): 640–662. doi:10.1080/03468755.2020.1726809. ISSN 0346-8755.
  4. ^ Larsson, Stieg (7 January 2014). The Expo Files: Articles by the Crusading Journalist. Quercus. ISBN 9781623650650. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  5. ^ Issitt, Micah; Main, Carlyn (16 September 2014). Hidden Religion: The Greatest Mysteries and Symbols of the World's Religious Beliefs. ABC-CLIO. pp. 31–32. ISBN 9781610694780.
  6. ^ a b Perimutter, Dawn (2004). Investigating Religious Terror and Ritualistic Crimes. CRC Press. p. 49. ISBN 9781420041040.
  7. ^ Weitz, Eric; Fenner, Angelica, eds. (2004), Fascism and Neofascism: Critical Writings on the Radical Right in Europe, Studies in European Culture and History, Palgrave Macmillan, p. 208, ISBN 978-1-40396659-9, ...the neo-Nazis have proclaimed themselves a white/Aryan resistance movement fighting the Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG) and racial traitors..
  8. ^ a b Daniels 1997, p. 45.
  9. ^ Bronner, Stephen Eric (2000), A Rumor About the Jews: Reflections on Antisemitism and "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion", Palgrave Macmillan, p. 136, The National States Rights Party and the California Noontide Press distributed the Protocols during the 1970s and it is still hailed by representatives of right-wing militias: William Luther Pierce, author of the neofascist bestseller The Turner Diaries, for example, identifies the American state as a "Zionist Occupation Government.
  10. ^ Brasher, Brenda (2001), Encyclopedia of Fundamentalism, Routledge, p. 305, With the racist and anti-Semitic theology of Christian Identity as their justification, they blame the Jewish Antichrist, or the Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG), which rules in Washington, taking its orders from internationalist Jews in Israel, the United Nations, and the Fortune 500. Attracting old-line hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan and inspiring newer ones like the Aryan Nation Alliance..., the militia and Patriot movements have helped to legitimize racist and anti-Semitic hate groups...
  11. ^ Perry, Barbara (2003), Hate and Bias Crime, Routledge, p. 325, ...vivid philosophy of White supremacy, including the belief that the United States is manipulated by foreign Jewish interests collectively known as the Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG). With this conspiracy theory, the strain is "explained" (e.g., the Jews are behind multicultural curricula), and the solution is presented: hate crimes and race war.
  12. ^ Pilch, Richard F; Zilinskas, Raymond A (2005), Encyclopedia of Bioterrorism Defense, Wiley, p. 114, The importance of Christian Identity (CI) in the context of bioterrorism is that it has been openly embraced by certain U.S. right-wing 'militia' and terrorist cells whose members have expressed interest in acquiring or utilizing pathogens and toxic chemical agents... as weapons against their opponents, including representatives of the 'Zionist Occupation Government' (ZOG) that they feel is controlled by 'satanic' Jews.
  13. ^ Sauter, Mark; Carafano, James (2005), Homeland Security, McGraw-Hill, p. 122, The Order, a faction of the Aryan Nations, seized national attention during the 1980s. The tightly organized racist and anti-Semitic group opposed the federal government, calling it the 'ZOG', or Zionist Occupation Government.
  14. ^ Schwarz, Rabbi Sidney (2006), Judaism and Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World, Jewish Lights Publishing, p. 96, ISBN 1-58023-312-0, One of the most widely distributed anti-Semitic tracts in history is The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a book of antisemitic canards authored in the nineteenth century that portrays Jews as conspiring to seek global dominance. Similarly, American-based racist groups in this last century have frequently leveled accusations against Jews for controlling both banks and public officials..
  15. ^ Shay, Scott A. (2022-01-20). "Why conspiracy theorists so often aim their ire at Jews". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2024-06-25. Postwar neo-Nazi conspiracy theories shifted to Israel as well, touting the United States as the "Zionist Occupation Government."