Zionism—the ideology Itamar Ben-Gvir and Benjamin Netanyahu embody, one of Jewish supremacy in the Jewish land– is at last becoming problematic for American Jews. They are up to their chins in that discriminatory ideology, and so we begin a war over Zionism that will bring down the Israel lobby in the next ten years. Because Zionism destroys everything in its path.
Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League is calling for a battle inside Jewish religious denominations against anti-Zionist Jews. Greenblatt spoke to the World Zionist Organization conference in August in Basel, Switzerland, and said that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, but even some Jews “traffic” in it and that “threat” must be taken on by religious groups and the Democratic Party too.
Yom Kippur begins tonight and I reflect that the most prominent moral voice in the extended American Jewish community is today Rashida Tlaib. Young Jews look to her for the appropriate response to apartheid. She inspires us. At a time when virtually every establishment Jewish organization has abandoned any pretense to universal moral values, Tlaib has led the way.
Polling shows Democrats support BDS by three to one, but Rep. Jerry Nadler said last night that he has stopped BDS from getting a “foothold” among progressives in Congress, and that only a Jew with his seniority can do that. Nadler bragged of supporting Israel since he was 8 years old.
Liz Rose wrestles with the Zionism she found so enthralling as a girl. “I didn’t care about my Russia Ukraine history. From a very early age–and with enormous help from the Zionist lobby’s efforts to create a brilliant branding campaign–I fantasized about and idealized Israel far more than I ever wondered about the true place my family was from. Instead of learning about Russia Ukraine, I dreamt of working in a field picking tomatoes on a kibbutz in Israel, singing songs while tilling the land, and putting down new roots with other young Jews who, like me, had cut the branches from their families in the U.S. (and Europe) and left their old lives behind.”
For a while we’ve pointed out how much energy the Anti-Defamation League spends attacking anti-Zionists, including younger Jews, as supposed antisemites. Now the American Jewish Committee has thrown in. I watched a few hours of the AJC’s conference this month in New York, and my jaw dropped as speaker after speaker directed criticism at young Jews for not standing up for Israel.
After the Mapping Project published a study of links between establishment institutions responsible for the colonization of Palestine, and the economy of imperialism and war, and policing and gentrification, critics landed on it as a supposed antisemitic hitlist. We honor the Mapping Project’s work in a tradition of activist journalism; and recognize a familiar pattern: Whenever Israel lobby organizations in the Jewish community are held to account for their power over the discourse and U.S. policy, those same organizations seek to stifle the criticism by alleging antisemitism.
We are U.S. Jews who are deeply troubled by a recent speech given by the Anti-Defamation League’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, in which he defames grassroots and civil rights organizations committed to Palestinian justice and falsely conflates anti-Zionism with far right and violent extremism. Jewish communities must embrace anti-Zionist and non-Zionist voices, along with all other voices for justice.
The State of Israel is responsible for upholding the status quo in Jerusalem, and guaranteeing the sanctity of the Haram al-Sharif and the dignity of its Muslim worshippers. Violently disrupting Ramadan prayers, beating unarmed worshippers and intimidating Muslims in Jerusalem is absolutely not the way of peace. We call on the State of Israel to immediately commit to abstaining from any further violations of the Waqf’s authority on the Haram al-Sharif. — A letter to Illinois Muslims from 13 rabbis of T’ruah.