PBA: The difference is that Rabbi Lau is not the only Zionist Rabbi in the world (Mah She’ein Kein the Besht and Chassidus at the time) and that Zionists have been accepted as being Bar Hachis of having an opinion in the past.
I guess it depends on how you define hatred. I think that refusing to acknowledge someone or attend an event just because they will be speaking (even though the event does have another, much more important purpose) qualifies as hatred.