By the Israeli standard on which I was brought up, Sheldon Adelson was a good Jew, dedicating his life and fortune to supporting Israel, Avigail Abarbanel writes. But I am much worse than a bad Jew. I am in fact an outright enemy of Israel because I insist that we should uphold justice, equality and human rights indiscriminately, and that all humans deserve an equal opportunity not just to survive, but to develop, grow and fulfill their potential.
Rabbi Michael Davis: “If you support the call for equality under the law in Israel-Palestine granting equal rights to Jews and Palestinians, as I do, there is no place for you in the rabbinic community.”
The deals with the UAE and Bahrain show Israel’s economic power and favor in Washington–and expose its persecution of Palestinians in the name of “the one and only Jewish state,” as Netanyahu describes his country.
Bruce Robbins on why he made a documentary about Shlomo Sand: “If everyone knew what Sand has discovered about the construction of the Jewish story of exile and return, beautiful but false, they would be a little shaken… I hope that American Jews who tend to be liberal will transfer their democratic values to Israel. Let’s be democratic across the board.”
Executive Director of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association Rabbi Elyse Wechtermanm tells Mondoweiss, “Our members have been working hard against child detention and family separation on the border here in the United States. When the issue of child incarceration, torture and detention by the Israeli military was brought to our attention, we felt we could not ignore it – this is part of what it means to fight for justice locally and globally.”
Zionism is Judaism, and anti-Zionism is anti-Semitic, New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss argues in her new book on anti-Semitism. “Whereas Jews once had to convert to Christianity, now they have to convert to anti-Zionism.”
Steve France says Carolyn L. Karcher’s new book ‘Reclaiming Judaism From Zionism: Stories of Personal Transformation’ opened his eyes to Jewish opposition to Zionism, and says his fellow Christian should take note: “our continued silence is based on the false assumption that Jewish Americans remain virtually unanimous in supporting Israel – or at least not openly criticizing Israel – we non-Jews are actually helping keep Jews silent.”
Isaac Herzog’s belief that intermarriage is a “plague” reflects Zionism’s inability to imagine a Judaism apart from Orthodoxy. Palestinians have already paid the price for Zionism. Israeli women are likely to be next. If Israelis want a way out of this labyrinth, they would have to dismantle the Zionist state.