Should anti-Zionism criticize Jews or should it try to create a distinction between Jews and Israelis? An online skirmish presented an opportunity to clarify my position on a cardinal issue
The New Jerusalem is a place of the heart . It’s beyond tribe , Birth , identify , quirk of fate. It is the place of those who choose light . Who choose humanity . Alon is one of its residents . He holds the light to those who are willing to follow . I can’t say enough how much good is in your heart . It runs deep with compassion . Our New Jerusalem is right here right now . Jews , Muslims , Christian . Whosoever wishes to be human in the best sense has found their space here .
I respect and understand your perspective and I also understand the opposite point. I come from a persecuted community, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a community who believe that the symbolic second coming of the Messiah and Imam Mahdi that everyone has been waiting for in different world religions have come via the personhood of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908). We also have a Caliphate that has existed for over 100 years--so much for the stupid ISIS caliphate who like Israel is trying to bring the messiah to come to them. We have basically been deemed kafir by the majority of Muslim sects, our mosques destroyed, our people murdered and jailed, and Ahmadi Apartheid is enshrined in constitution in Pakistan under Ordinance 20 of 1973 etc where even simple acts of saying the Salam (assalamualaikum) can land us in jail. I can't even escape the discrimination in non-Muslim countries..as soon as people know I am Ahmadi, I am immediately ostracized (with some exception of course). The majority of Muslim are silent or could not care less, a minority stands up for our rights to practice and identify as Muslims. So I can relate with your point, but I will also never stop standing up for their rights and I separate Islam from so-called "muslims".
It is a basic tenet of Zionism that Israel is the state of all Jews, everywhere in the world. The prime minister of Israel, by the same Zionist principle, is (and has publicly claimed to be) the prime minister of all Jews, everywhere in the world. So for an anti-Zionist Jew to claim a collective Jewish responsibility for the actions of the self-declared Jewish state seems, on a logical basis, to contradict their anti-Zionism. It is accepting a basic tenet of Zionism.
The same dogma that declares that the Jewish state represents the Jewish people, wherever in the world they live, and is equivalent to the non-disputed fact that, for example, the 'Italian state represents [and is the state of] the Italian people'.
That is the logical argument.
Yet your argument is more personal, more emotive, more psychological.
You talk about a Jewish collective, a Jewish soul. (You also describe what is happening to the Palestinians as a 'collective disaster'.)
You also imply there is a collective Jewish identity and, through your argument, one which is not the identity imposed on the Jewish collective by the Zionist movement.
Both approaches are very valid. Yet your impassioned argument could lead to a new beginning.
Definitions come and go. One Narrative holds them all. It is the Narrative that herds these splits, sects and fractions into the same pen. Whether they like it or not. They must be counted as one.
I agree with you. Similar to the notion of race. Although “race” is not biologically real or true, it is perceived as real or true, and has real and palpable impacts because of this perception.
I just received this - a case against homogenizing all Jews
The Righteous Jews
by Jonathan Kuttab
One thing that gives me hope in these terrible times is thinking about Righteous Jews:
After the Holocaust, Jews recognized the courage and sacrifice of the very few gentiles who risked much to help Jews escape from the Nazi monsters who were rounding them up and shipping them off to concentration camps. These persons came to be known as the “Righteous Gentiles.” I, too, want to recognize Jewish individuals and organizations who are willing, often at great personal risk, to stand against the ongoing genocide, save Palestinian lives, and put an end to the atrocities perpetuated against them. This description includes organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, and Rabbis for Human Rights in the US, and those like Breaking the Silence, the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, Rabbis for Human Rights, and others in the Middle East. Individuals are even more impressive. These include Israelis who refuse to serve in the Israeli Army, who risk arrest and vilifications as they try to bring food into Gaza or defend Palestinian communities in the West Bank from settler violence. The term also refers to US Jews who are leading protests and direct actions, calling for an end to the genocide and an embargo on arms to Israel. Some are religious Jews, like Peter Beinart or Rabbis Brant Rosen and Lynn Gottlieb. Others, like Jeff Halper and Amira Hass, are secular. They often take these positions, not despite being Jewish, but precisely because they are Jewish and are acting on their deepest convictions. They view the ongoing policies of the State of Israel and its barbaric actions as a betrayal and violation of Jewish values and ethics.
The list includes many Jews, most of whom are unknown, who have overcome much indoctrination and popular opinion within their communities to arrive at the conclusion that the State of Israel, the Zionist movement, and the organized Jewish community leadership do not speak for them or in their name. They have individually determined that they must stand up, distinguish themselves, and do all they can to put an end to the ongoing genocide. They see Palestinians as equal human beings, finding their own liberation as being tied with the liberation of the Palestinian people.
In this country, such Righteous Jews are usually at the very forefront of demonstrations, sit-ins, and nonviolent protests calling for a ceasefire and an arms embargo on Israel. They reject the demonization of Palestinians, especially all in Gaza, insisting on universal standards to be applied to all. They include Jewish students at Harvard, who bravely confronted their own administration, risking decertification or even losing their diplomas and graduation. They insist, NOT IN OUR NAME, giving lie to the Zionist claim that Zionism and the State of Israel speaks for all Jews or that the Jewish Community is somehow endangered by calls for a ceasefire or for Palestinian rights.
Their position is made harder because there exists real anti-Jewish bigotry in this country, as well as a powerful campaign to paint all anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist actions as being antisemitic. They are often labelled “self-hating Jews” and accused of being traitors or at best naive fools.
These Jewish individuals often face serious risks and even ostracism from their friends and families who see them as traitors endangering the collective security of Jews. They remember how Justice Goldstone, the South African judge who authored the Goldstone report about Israeli atrocities in Gaza in 2009, was ostracized by his family and denied the ability to see his grandchildren until he recanted and withdrew his signature from his UN report on Gaza. Among my own Jewish acquaintances, every single one who has taken a moral position on Palestine has reported tensions and even an outright break in relationships with family members. Israelis who refuse to serve in Gaza are actually imprisoned for their refusal. I stand in awe of their courage and proudly claim them as allies and friends.
To be considered a “Righteous Jew,” it is not enough to call for a ceasefire or to decry Netanyahu’s policies. Many of the Israeli protesters, for example, are only concerned with the Israeli hostages, and they openly say that they call for a ceasefire deal only to continue the genocide once they get their hostages back. Others have no problem demonizing Hamas or calling for its destruction, but only want to limit Israeli casualties or to replace Netanyahu with a more subtle and tolerable Israeli leader. Most US Jews I know feel uncomfortable with Israeli policies but refuse to call this policy genocidal, or to call for an arms embargo, but instead they withdraw into silence rather than actively opposing such policies. As such, the established leadership of the Jewish community is left in firm control, supporting Israel and claiming to speak for all Jews.
Righteous Jews not only reaffirm my faith in humanity, but also my hope for a better future for both Palestinians and Israelis. While many despair of such a future, insisting that after both October 7 and the Gaza Genocide Jews and Arabs cannot live together as neighbors and fellow-citizens, I still believe otherwise. Even in the midst of this horrible genocide, I maintain hope for a better future and for genuine coexistence in dignity and equality between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews in a new pluralistic, peaceful, and free Palestine.
Donate: support FOSNA's vision for authentic dignity and equality
Disappointing that Dan couched his criticism as a personal attack - not cool. However, I have to say that there are parts of his argument I agree with.
I go along with the Historian Shlomo Sand who has convincingly argued in his books and articles as to how there is no such thing as the ‘Jewish People’. Judaism is a religion that has been practiced by many different ethnic groups over the centuries. The idea that Jews were a distinct ‘race’ or ‘nation’ came from the early zionists in Europe who ironically borrowed this idea from anti-semites. Before the advent of zionist colonization of historic Palestine there was very little in common between Yiddish speaking Jews in Eastern Europe, Arabic speaking Jews in West Asia and North Africa, Farsi speaking Jews in Central Asia and so on. Sand makes the distinction between Jews and Israelis. The latter being the Hebrew speaking people now occupying historic Palestine.
The problem I have with stating that the current genocide in Gaza is the responsibility of all Jews no matter where they live is that it opens the doors to real anti-semites to enter into the struggle for Palestinian rights. I have had to block some of these slimy trolls who claim it’s inherent and negative characteristics of all Jews which is responsible for the Gaza genocide rather than the actions of a particular racist and violent apartheid state. As Max Blumenthal has so succinctly put it - fanatical zionists and anti-semites both make the same false claim that Israel represents all Jews.
Yes, Jewish institutions in North America and Europe have provided cover for the genocide and should be held accountable for their actions. However it seems these organizations are becoming detached from their base. A recent survey of American Jews found 30% believed Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. This rose to 40% for those under 40 years of age. These are minorities but large minorities nonetheless, and I would willing to bet this will increase over time. Also there still viable Jewish communities in Asia like Türkiye, Iran and India who seem integrated into their societies with no interest in zionism. Finally there are 30 million Evangelical Christians in the US whose commitment to Israel is just as strong as zionist Jews. I have to agree the issue is Zionism and not Judaism.
Anyway appreciate the work you are doing and your insights.
The constant shifting between Judaism as a religion and Jews as an “ethnic” group makes criticism even more difficult.
If this is some sort of religious war, the majority of Jews are in a state of profound sin and heresy, deserving God’s greatest wrath. Each and every one of Moses’ commandments has been shat upon; especially the one about taking the Lord’s name in vain. However, we have all been pretty well trained to never ever criticize Jews on religious grounds ds (strangely, it’s perfectly A-Ok to hate Islam on religious grounds, even as we all tend to share the same religious roots and ancient texts.)
If this is about an ethnic group, it’s even trickier, because that ethnicity is… well, largely white European just like me, but we good liberals have been taught that the moment someone claims a victimized identity, criticism is off limits.
I admit, it makes me very uncomfortable to blame “The Jews,” considering the history of pograms and holocausts, and considering how many Jewish people I know and love.
“The Jewish collective is responsible for Zionism, the Nakba, a thousand massacres and the genocide of Gaza. Zionism has always been a terrible idea, and Jews have been allowed for too long to obfuscate their ties to it and its egregious criminality.” This is why I have deep respect for Neturei Karta for their steadfastness and opposition to Zionism at great sacrifice to their group. Thank you, Alon. Another good one.
I appreciate your deep insights very much and share them. I live in DC and I know, admire and respect Dan Cohen. I appreciate you being respectful. I think I can transform your conflict - see at the end.
Fyi, I attended the first meeting of the Pantarim Ha’Shechorim (Black Panthers) ate Hebrew U in 1970 during my junior year so I am aware of Jewish racism in Israel.
Btw, I sadly embrace my responsibility as a Jew as. The biggest challenge of my life. I do all I can, every day, including going to congress with Doctors Against Genocide (DAG), I speak up as a Jew to say that this is making Jews everywhere less safe and that reactions of horror are different from antisemitism. I have hand delivered DAG Bread Not Bomb letters, with bread, to embassies in DC. I have gone to congress with J Street and Code pink as well. And I write a Substack and work on strategies for waking up Jews and organize to disidentify with what Israel, the IDF and the US are doing.
I began protesting the occupation around 1990 with Women in Black in Jerusalem. I have been to Gaza, 1997 & 1999 to present at the Gaza Community Mental Health Program and to a Ramallah 1999 conference on caring victims of torture. I am also in the field of conflict transformation.
To resolve your conflicts, I want to add significant factors and points left out of your 2 dimensional argument.
1. A few weeks ago you suggested there were no American Jews opposing the genocide. Do you know about Jewish Voice for Peace who filled Grand Central Station in 2023 and surrounded the White House with the Red Line on June 8, 2024 and just held a conference with over 2000 people? And J Street who supports congressional campaigns of those AIPAC tries to destroy. J St takes congressional staff to Israel and the West Bank to meet Breaking the Silence. B’Tzelem, etc and brings people to congress to ask for ceasefire, humanitarian aid, etc. And If Not Now, the New Israel Fund, Rabbis for Human Rights and Rabbis Against Ceasefire? and Jews in Israel who protect Palestinians from IDF. And Jewish students active in all the university encampments last year. And several shuls in DC and Phila active in opposing genocide and say mourner’s kaddish for Palestinians and go todemonstrations?
2. There are more Christian Zionists than Jews, I believe, including the US Cabinet. They and Israel are using each other for fundamentalist ends.
3. You leave out the significant role of the US. Col Larry Wilkerson calls Israel America’s attack dog in the ME. Others call it our US unsinkable aircraft carrier or military base. There is a debate over who is using whom.
4.You wrote - The Italian state represents the Italian people.
The Chinese state represents the Chinese people.
I don’t think W Bush & US represented me in invading Iraq which I tried to prevent. Nor did Biden or Trump.
It’s not black and white, all-or-nothing, dualistic.
To resolve your conflict -
1. Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “Few are guilty, all are responsible.”
We are not exactly “responsible” but if we do not eradicate the transgressions of our people, we are “NITFAS” -Jews are " implicated in, participating in, complicit in, are perceived as being responsible for and are subject to consequences provoked by the actions the people in our family, city, entire world.
Please, Alon, pass this on to Dan Cohen. It really is time for all those wonderful, principled, anti-Zionist American Jews, to sue the ADL for defamation, slander, libel, and unauthorized appropriation! Make the ADL have to admit publicly, with every statement, that they do not speak for all Jews.
Of course it would require great effort, energy and money. Perhaps organizations would join, or a class action law suit.
Those are powerful and well connected organizations, not taken on lightly. I am sure there are those who would volunteer their services, and surely we could get crowd-funding to assist with the legal fees. I am sure there are those who would volunteer their services, and surely we could get crowd-funding to assist with the legal fees.
Does this sound like something worth doing? How can we help make this happen?
Thank you for this post, it hits on a lot of things I have wrestled with. My perspective is shaped (or some would say biased) from growing up in a zionist / reform Jewish household and accepting Islam when I was 19. There has been a lot of unlearning since then.
The conflation of Judaism and Zionism has been extremely effective. As you said (and which Muhammed Al-Kurd recently emphasized on the Bad Hasbara podcast), Palestinians are being constantly bombed by those who claim they are doing it for Judaism. They see the Star of David / Israeli flag, carved into their walls, their lands, and even their bodies :-(. A very large portion of the Jewish world unequivocally supports Israel. Western governments echo that this is not about Israel, it is about antisemitism / Arab Jewish hatred and about Islam.
I remember when 9/11 happened, Muslims everywhere we all pressured to condemn Al-Qaidah and to "prove" that this was not Islam. The difference is that Al-Qaidah was never the spokesperson for Muslims world-wide, not the case for Israel. It is almost universally recognized as "The Jewish State". For this reason (and as one who was raised Jewish), it is an obligation to both distance from the state of Israel, break the conflation both inside and outside the Jewish community, and STOP the genocide.
Excellent commentary. I’d add one thing: the same idea is applied to Muslims, that any Muslim who is against Islamism or “radical Islamic terrorism” as the branding goes, has to openly and loudly declaim that they’re against it, or else they are automatically assumed to support it. Even when they don’t accept Salafism or Wahabism, or believe in Sharia law for all.
Jews have allowed their religion to be co-opted by a radical ethno-supremacist ideology, and they have to accept that this is so, and confront it directly, as Alon has so bravely stated here.
Going along with it has brought us all here, to a place where any Jew who stands up and refuses Zionism, but wants to argue for the legitimacy of Israel is already late to the party, and is attacked as an apostate or traitor (accusations of antisemitism wielded at other Jews are really this).
There are years of truth and reconciliation ahead after this reckoning; it will be much better for Jews in the world if they can start this process themselves. Contrition means more when it comes from within.
Just like the video you made about the attack on Iran…Iran must not die! Our live depends on the survival of Iran, Russia and China…
The New Jerusalem is a place of the heart . It’s beyond tribe , Birth , identify , quirk of fate. It is the place of those who choose light . Who choose humanity . Alon is one of its residents . He holds the light to those who are willing to follow . I can’t say enough how much good is in your heart . It runs deep with compassion . Our New Jerusalem is right here right now . Jews , Muslims , Christian . Whosoever wishes to be human in the best sense has found their space here .
I respect and understand your perspective and I also understand the opposite point. I come from a persecuted community, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a community who believe that the symbolic second coming of the Messiah and Imam Mahdi that everyone has been waiting for in different world religions have come via the personhood of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908). We also have a Caliphate that has existed for over 100 years--so much for the stupid ISIS caliphate who like Israel is trying to bring the messiah to come to them. We have basically been deemed kafir by the majority of Muslim sects, our mosques destroyed, our people murdered and jailed, and Ahmadi Apartheid is enshrined in constitution in Pakistan under Ordinance 20 of 1973 etc where even simple acts of saying the Salam (assalamualaikum) can land us in jail. I can't even escape the discrimination in non-Muslim countries..as soon as people know I am Ahmadi, I am immediately ostracized (with some exception of course). The majority of Muslim are silent or could not care less, a minority stands up for our rights to practice and identify as Muslims. So I can relate with your point, but I will also never stop standing up for their rights and I separate Islam from so-called "muslims".
Superb, Alon.
Hi Alon,
Some thoughts on your post.
It is a basic tenet of Zionism that Israel is the state of all Jews, everywhere in the world. The prime minister of Israel, by the same Zionist principle, is (and has publicly claimed to be) the prime minister of all Jews, everywhere in the world. So for an anti-Zionist Jew to claim a collective Jewish responsibility for the actions of the self-declared Jewish state seems, on a logical basis, to contradict their anti-Zionism. It is accepting a basic tenet of Zionism.
The same dogma that declares that the Jewish state represents the Jewish people, wherever in the world they live, and is equivalent to the non-disputed fact that, for example, the 'Italian state represents [and is the state of] the Italian people'.
That is the logical argument.
Yet your argument is more personal, more emotive, more psychological.
You talk about a Jewish collective, a Jewish soul. (You also describe what is happening to the Palestinians as a 'collective disaster'.)
You also imply there is a collective Jewish identity and, through your argument, one which is not the identity imposed on the Jewish collective by the Zionist movement.
Both approaches are very valid. Yet your impassioned argument could lead to a new beginning.
Definitions come and go. One Narrative holds them all. It is the Narrative that herds these splits, sects and fractions into the same pen. Whether they like it or not. They must be counted as one.
I agree with you. Similar to the notion of race. Although “race” is not biologically real or true, it is perceived as real or true, and has real and palpable impacts because of this perception.
I just received this - a case against homogenizing all Jews
The Righteous Jews
by Jonathan Kuttab
One thing that gives me hope in these terrible times is thinking about Righteous Jews:
After the Holocaust, Jews recognized the courage and sacrifice of the very few gentiles who risked much to help Jews escape from the Nazi monsters who were rounding them up and shipping them off to concentration camps. These persons came to be known as the “Righteous Gentiles.” I, too, want to recognize Jewish individuals and organizations who are willing, often at great personal risk, to stand against the ongoing genocide, save Palestinian lives, and put an end to the atrocities perpetuated against them. This description includes organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, and Rabbis for Human Rights in the US, and those like Breaking the Silence, the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, Rabbis for Human Rights, and others in the Middle East. Individuals are even more impressive. These include Israelis who refuse to serve in the Israeli Army, who risk arrest and vilifications as they try to bring food into Gaza or defend Palestinian communities in the West Bank from settler violence. The term also refers to US Jews who are leading protests and direct actions, calling for an end to the genocide and an embargo on arms to Israel. Some are religious Jews, like Peter Beinart or Rabbis Brant Rosen and Lynn Gottlieb. Others, like Jeff Halper and Amira Hass, are secular. They often take these positions, not despite being Jewish, but precisely because they are Jewish and are acting on their deepest convictions. They view the ongoing policies of the State of Israel and its barbaric actions as a betrayal and violation of Jewish values and ethics.
The list includes many Jews, most of whom are unknown, who have overcome much indoctrination and popular opinion within their communities to arrive at the conclusion that the State of Israel, the Zionist movement, and the organized Jewish community leadership do not speak for them or in their name. They have individually determined that they must stand up, distinguish themselves, and do all they can to put an end to the ongoing genocide. They see Palestinians as equal human beings, finding their own liberation as being tied with the liberation of the Palestinian people.
In this country, such Righteous Jews are usually at the very forefront of demonstrations, sit-ins, and nonviolent protests calling for a ceasefire and an arms embargo on Israel. They reject the demonization of Palestinians, especially all in Gaza, insisting on universal standards to be applied to all. They include Jewish students at Harvard, who bravely confronted their own administration, risking decertification or even losing their diplomas and graduation. They insist, NOT IN OUR NAME, giving lie to the Zionist claim that Zionism and the State of Israel speaks for all Jews or that the Jewish Community is somehow endangered by calls for a ceasefire or for Palestinian rights.
Their position is made harder because there exists real anti-Jewish bigotry in this country, as well as a powerful campaign to paint all anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist actions as being antisemitic. They are often labelled “self-hating Jews” and accused of being traitors or at best naive fools.
These Jewish individuals often face serious risks and even ostracism from their friends and families who see them as traitors endangering the collective security of Jews. They remember how Justice Goldstone, the South African judge who authored the Goldstone report about Israeli atrocities in Gaza in 2009, was ostracized by his family and denied the ability to see his grandchildren until he recanted and withdrew his signature from his UN report on Gaza. Among my own Jewish acquaintances, every single one who has taken a moral position on Palestine has reported tensions and even an outright break in relationships with family members. Israelis who refuse to serve in Gaza are actually imprisoned for their refusal. I stand in awe of their courage and proudly claim them as allies and friends.
To be considered a “Righteous Jew,” it is not enough to call for a ceasefire or to decry Netanyahu’s policies. Many of the Israeli protesters, for example, are only concerned with the Israeli hostages, and they openly say that they call for a ceasefire deal only to continue the genocide once they get their hostages back. Others have no problem demonizing Hamas or calling for its destruction, but only want to limit Israeli casualties or to replace Netanyahu with a more subtle and tolerable Israeli leader. Most US Jews I know feel uncomfortable with Israeli policies but refuse to call this policy genocidal, or to call for an arms embargo, but instead they withdraw into silence rather than actively opposing such policies. As such, the established leadership of the Jewish community is left in firm control, supporting Israel and claiming to speak for all Jews.
Righteous Jews not only reaffirm my faith in humanity, but also my hope for a better future for both Palestinians and Israelis. While many despair of such a future, insisting that after both October 7 and the Gaza Genocide Jews and Arabs cannot live together as neighbors and fellow-citizens, I still believe otherwise. Even in the midst of this horrible genocide, I maintain hope for a better future and for genuine coexistence in dignity and equality between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews in a new pluralistic, peaceful, and free Palestine.
Donate: support FOSNA's vision for authentic dignity and equality
Disappointing that Dan couched his criticism as a personal attack - not cool. However, I have to say that there are parts of his argument I agree with.
I go along with the Historian Shlomo Sand who has convincingly argued in his books and articles as to how there is no such thing as the ‘Jewish People’. Judaism is a religion that has been practiced by many different ethnic groups over the centuries. The idea that Jews were a distinct ‘race’ or ‘nation’ came from the early zionists in Europe who ironically borrowed this idea from anti-semites. Before the advent of zionist colonization of historic Palestine there was very little in common between Yiddish speaking Jews in Eastern Europe, Arabic speaking Jews in West Asia and North Africa, Farsi speaking Jews in Central Asia and so on. Sand makes the distinction between Jews and Israelis. The latter being the Hebrew speaking people now occupying historic Palestine.
The problem I have with stating that the current genocide in Gaza is the responsibility of all Jews no matter where they live is that it opens the doors to real anti-semites to enter into the struggle for Palestinian rights. I have had to block some of these slimy trolls who claim it’s inherent and negative characteristics of all Jews which is responsible for the Gaza genocide rather than the actions of a particular racist and violent apartheid state. As Max Blumenthal has so succinctly put it - fanatical zionists and anti-semites both make the same false claim that Israel represents all Jews.
Yes, Jewish institutions in North America and Europe have provided cover for the genocide and should be held accountable for their actions. However it seems these organizations are becoming detached from their base. A recent survey of American Jews found 30% believed Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. This rose to 40% for those under 40 years of age. These are minorities but large minorities nonetheless, and I would willing to bet this will increase over time. Also there still viable Jewish communities in Asia like Türkiye, Iran and India who seem integrated into their societies with no interest in zionism. Finally there are 30 million Evangelical Christians in the US whose commitment to Israel is just as strong as zionist Jews. I have to agree the issue is Zionism and not Judaism.
Anyway appreciate the work you are doing and your insights.
The constant shifting between Judaism as a religion and Jews as an “ethnic” group makes criticism even more difficult.
If this is some sort of religious war, the majority of Jews are in a state of profound sin and heresy, deserving God’s greatest wrath. Each and every one of Moses’ commandments has been shat upon; especially the one about taking the Lord’s name in vain. However, we have all been pretty well trained to never ever criticize Jews on religious grounds ds (strangely, it’s perfectly A-Ok to hate Islam on religious grounds, even as we all tend to share the same religious roots and ancient texts.)
If this is about an ethnic group, it’s even trickier, because that ethnicity is… well, largely white European just like me, but we good liberals have been taught that the moment someone claims a victimized identity, criticism is off limits.
I admit, it makes me very uncomfortable to blame “The Jews,” considering the history of pograms and holocausts, and considering how many Jewish people I know and love.
“The Jewish collective is responsible for Zionism, the Nakba, a thousand massacres and the genocide of Gaza. Zionism has always been a terrible idea, and Jews have been allowed for too long to obfuscate their ties to it and its egregious criminality.” This is why I have deep respect for Neturei Karta for their steadfastness and opposition to Zionism at great sacrifice to their group. Thank you, Alon. Another good one.
Hi Alon,
I appreciate your deep insights very much and share them. I live in DC and I know, admire and respect Dan Cohen. I appreciate you being respectful. I think I can transform your conflict - see at the end.
Fyi, I attended the first meeting of the Pantarim Ha’Shechorim (Black Panthers) ate Hebrew U in 1970 during my junior year so I am aware of Jewish racism in Israel.
Btw, I sadly embrace my responsibility as a Jew as. The biggest challenge of my life. I do all I can, every day, including going to congress with Doctors Against Genocide (DAG), I speak up as a Jew to say that this is making Jews everywhere less safe and that reactions of horror are different from antisemitism. I have hand delivered DAG Bread Not Bomb letters, with bread, to embassies in DC. I have gone to congress with J Street and Code pink as well. And I write a Substack and work on strategies for waking up Jews and organize to disidentify with what Israel, the IDF and the US are doing.
I began protesting the occupation around 1990 with Women in Black in Jerusalem. I have been to Gaza, 1997 & 1999 to present at the Gaza Community Mental Health Program and to a Ramallah 1999 conference on caring victims of torture. I am also in the field of conflict transformation.
This January I organized a panel on Gaza at the International Conference for World Balance which was attended by their president of Cuba. See https://coronawise.substack.com/p/humiliation-everywhere-all-at-once
To resolve your conflicts, I want to add significant factors and points left out of your 2 dimensional argument.
1. A few weeks ago you suggested there were no American Jews opposing the genocide. Do you know about Jewish Voice for Peace who filled Grand Central Station in 2023 and surrounded the White House with the Red Line on June 8, 2024 and just held a conference with over 2000 people? And J Street who supports congressional campaigns of those AIPAC tries to destroy. J St takes congressional staff to Israel and the West Bank to meet Breaking the Silence. B’Tzelem, etc and brings people to congress to ask for ceasefire, humanitarian aid, etc. And If Not Now, the New Israel Fund, Rabbis for Human Rights and Rabbis Against Ceasefire? and Jews in Israel who protect Palestinians from IDF. And Jewish students active in all the university encampments last year. And several shuls in DC and Phila active in opposing genocide and say mourner’s kaddish for Palestinians and go todemonstrations?
2. There are more Christian Zionists than Jews, I believe, including the US Cabinet. They and Israel are using each other for fundamentalist ends.
3. You leave out the significant role of the US. Col Larry Wilkerson calls Israel America’s attack dog in the ME. Others call it our US unsinkable aircraft carrier or military base. There is a debate over who is using whom.
4.You wrote - The Italian state represents the Italian people.
The Chinese state represents the Chinese people.
I don’t think W Bush & US represented me in invading Iraq which I tried to prevent. Nor did Biden or Trump.
It’s not black and white, all-or-nothing, dualistic.
To resolve your conflict -
1. Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “Few are guilty, all are responsible.”
2. I deal with it here https://coronawise.substack.com/p/a-talmudic-prescription-for-collective
We are not exactly “responsible” but if we do not eradicate the transgressions of our people, we are “NITFAS” -Jews are " implicated in, participating in, complicit in, are perceived as being responsible for and are subject to consequences provoked by the actions the people in our family, city, entire world.
Please, Alon, pass this on to Dan Cohen. It really is time for all those wonderful, principled, anti-Zionist American Jews, to sue the ADL for defamation, slander, libel, and unauthorized appropriation! Make the ADL have to admit publicly, with every statement, that they do not speak for all Jews.
Of course it would require great effort, energy and money. Perhaps organizations would join, or a class action law suit.
Those are powerful and well connected organizations, not taken on lightly. I am sure there are those who would volunteer their services, and surely we could get crowd-funding to assist with the legal fees. I am sure there are those who would volunteer their services, and surely we could get crowd-funding to assist with the legal fees.
Does this sound like something worth doing? How can we help make this happen?
And same for UK and Australia, Canada, etc.
Norman Finkelstein clarifies Jewish Supremacism here:
https://youtu.be/e9xC-_wfEl0
Thank you for this post, it hits on a lot of things I have wrestled with. My perspective is shaped (or some would say biased) from growing up in a zionist / reform Jewish household and accepting Islam when I was 19. There has been a lot of unlearning since then.
The conflation of Judaism and Zionism has been extremely effective. As you said (and which Muhammed Al-Kurd recently emphasized on the Bad Hasbara podcast), Palestinians are being constantly bombed by those who claim they are doing it for Judaism. They see the Star of David / Israeli flag, carved into their walls, their lands, and even their bodies :-(. A very large portion of the Jewish world unequivocally supports Israel. Western governments echo that this is not about Israel, it is about antisemitism / Arab Jewish hatred and about Islam.
I remember when 9/11 happened, Muslims everywhere we all pressured to condemn Al-Qaidah and to "prove" that this was not Islam. The difference is that Al-Qaidah was never the spokesperson for Muslims world-wide, not the case for Israel. It is almost universally recognized as "The Jewish State". For this reason (and as one who was raised Jewish), it is an obligation to both distance from the state of Israel, break the conflation both inside and outside the Jewish community, and STOP the genocide.
And yet, ironically, there is some evidence that 9/11 may have been a Mossad operation all along.
Thank you for addressing this thorny question.
And thanks to Afif Aqrabawi for his beautifully clear statement on the subject.
Of all my Jewish and Israeli sources you, Alon, are the only one who speaks straight from the belly of the beast.
Excellent commentary. I’d add one thing: the same idea is applied to Muslims, that any Muslim who is against Islamism or “radical Islamic terrorism” as the branding goes, has to openly and loudly declaim that they’re against it, or else they are automatically assumed to support it. Even when they don’t accept Salafism or Wahabism, or believe in Sharia law for all.
Jews have allowed their religion to be co-opted by a radical ethno-supremacist ideology, and they have to accept that this is so, and confront it directly, as Alon has so bravely stated here.
Going along with it has brought us all here, to a place where any Jew who stands up and refuses Zionism, but wants to argue for the legitimacy of Israel is already late to the party, and is attacked as an apostate or traitor (accusations of antisemitism wielded at other Jews are really this).
There are years of truth and reconciliation ahead after this reckoning; it will be much better for Jews in the world if they can start this process themselves. Contrition means more when it comes from within.