its not a red herring, the positive argument has yet to be made on your part: on what basis should zionism be a protected class?
i feel like the genocide practiced by and supported by zionists is sufficient justification for an anti-zionist stance. it is certainly sufficient for an anti-nazi stance: can you imagine someone saying “the insertuon of someone saying ‘but genocide’ to justify pro -nazi hate only supports my point.” in that context? thats what you sound like to me. you sound like a nazi supporter dancing around their de facto support of genocide.