A sweeping and revelatory history of the hidden tradition of Jewish thinkers who opposed Zionism, from Pulitzer Prize winner Benjamin Moser.In Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History, Benjamin Moser uncovers a suppressed tradition that has shaped Jewish thought for generations. Through a cast of artists, rabbis, poets, lawyers, activists, journalists, and politicians—from Europe and Africa and Asia and Latin America—Moser traces a lineage of Jewish dissenters who confronted Zionism’s moral and political stakes—often at devastating personal cost, including censorship, exile, and death.Their lives form a sweeping, global narrative that dismantles a powerful myth: that anti-Zionism is synonymous with antisemitism. Spanning continents and centuries, these voices—people from the right and the left, Reform and Orthodox, Ashkenazic and Sephardic, men and women, gay and straight—differ sharply in belief and background, yet converge on a shared warning about the consequences of a nationalist project built on exclusion. What emerges is not only a rediscovered tradition of Jewish moral thought, but a startling reappraisal of Zionism itself.Moser’s work restores the full scale and depth of Jewish ethical imagination, affirming that Judaism is older and larger than any single political project. Lucid, unsparing, and deeply humane, Anti-Zionism cements Moser’s place as one of our foremost Jewish writers and presents a framework through which this history—and its meanings—will be understood for years to come.
‘A hidden tradition’: Benjamin Moser wants you to know Jewish anti-Zionism is not new
The writer rarely questioned the tenets of liberal Zionism growing up. Now he embraces anti-Zionism with the fervor of a new convert
Israel: What Went Wrong?
A leading Israeli American scholar of the Holocaust explores and explains his native country's intensifying turn toward violence and exclusion.The distinguished historian Omer Bartov was born on a kibbutz, grew up in Tel Aviv, and served in the Israel Defense Forces during the Yom Kippur War. He went on to become a leading scholar of the German army and the Holocaust, before turning his attention to his native country.In Israel: What Went Wrong?, Bartov sketches the tragic transformation of Zionism, a movement that sought to emancipate European Jewry from oppression, into a state ideology of ethno-nationalism. How is it possible, he asks, that a state founded in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, an event that gave legitimacy to a national home for the Jews, stands credibly accused of perpetrating large-scale war crimes? How do we come to terms with the fact that Israel’s war of destruction is being conducted with the support, laced with denial and indifference, of so many of its Jewish citizens?Tracing the roots of the violent events currently unfolding in Israel and the occupied territories, Bartov tracks his country's moral tribulations and considers the origins of Zionism, the intertwining of Israel’s independence with Palestinian displacement, the politics of the Holocaust, controversies over the term "genocide," and the uncertain future. The result is a searing and urgent critique that addresses today’s debates over Zionism and the future of Israel with rigor and depth.
'Zionism Led to Genocide. It Must Disappear': Omer Bartov's New Book …
archived 25 Apr 2026 07:22:14 UTC
Newsletter
Breaking news, analysis, art, and culture from a progressive Jewish perspective. Sign up for our newsletter!
There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart
By Cindy Milstein Published by AK Press, 2021 392 pages, paperback The contemporary renewal of Jewish anarchism draws on a history of enslavement, displacement, white supremacy, and genocide as well as ancestral resistance, strength, imagination, and humor—wisdom that is sorely needed today. Through stories at once poetic and poignant, There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart offers a powerful elixir for all who rebel against systemic violence and injustice. The contemporary renewal of Jewish anarchism draws on a history of suffering, ranging from enslavement and displacement to white nationalism and genocide. Yet it also pulls from ancestral resistance, strength, imagination, and humor—all qualities, and wisdom, sorely needed today. These essays, many written from feminist and queer perspectives, journey into past and contemporary trauma in ways that are humanizing and healing. They build bridges from bittersweet grief to rebellion and joy. And via concrete illustrations of how Jewish anarchists lovingly transform their own ritual, cultural, and political practices, they clearly illuminate the path toward mending ourselves and the world. Praise for There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart... "There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart is a breathtaking kaddish to everyone living the revolutionary vision that Jewish radicals dreamed was possible. It drives to the heart of a tradition that we must rediscover, a story that is simultaneously particular and universal: we can survive if we do it together." —Shane Burley, author of Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse "In this moment of resurgent fascism and authoritarianism, the foundational relationship between antisemitism and anti-Blackness is more stark and apparent than ever. The vibrancy of this collection articulates not only a foundation for solidarity in shared struggles against white supremacy but also the vast imaginaries and world-making potential in the diversity of Jewish cultural expression and radical—specifically anarchist—thought. As a Black anarchist, I could not be more grateful for the generosity, vulnerabilities, and fierce, unwavering love for humanity shared within these pages." —Zoé Samudzi, coauthor of As Black as Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation “The texts collected here are striking in their literary richness and emotional openness, awakening both pain and solace, insights and further questions . . . A highly rewarding reading experience that will appeal well beyond the Jewishanarchist intersection.” —Uri Gordon, co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics "There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart offers an ardent new archive of Jewish anarchism. These voices expand a defiant tradition: they speak of the disruptiveness of care, the labor of grief, and the pleasures of survival. As fascism and antisemitism rise, these poets, rabbis, and organizers urgently reach for another world through this one." —AE Torres, author of Horizons Blossom, Borders Vanish: Anarchism and Yiddish Literature "This book asks how modern generations of Jewish anarchists are wrestling with rising fascism, white supremacy, and antisemitism, and lifts up the specific cultural tools we bring to the work of mending (or maybe reimagining) the ever-shattering world. Today the book is a mirror; tomorrow, a new window into the archive of Jewish anarchists throughout history." —Ezra Berkley Nepon, author of Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue: A History of New Jewish Agenda "As leftist Jewish thought and organizing today witnesses a resurgence, this collection provides an important document of its anarchist current." —Treyf Podcast “A poem and a love note, a prayer song and a protest, an attempt to mend a burning world with the best of Jewish, anarchist, and Jewish anarchist traditions.” —Dan Berger, author of Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era "There is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart is a powerful celebration of ritual—both Jewish and anarchist."—Gabriel Moshenska for Jewish Socialist
Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism - Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism
ICSZ supports the development of Critical Zionism Studies with resources for academics and activists. The Institute’s work includes fellowships,
The Sanitizing of Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism’s origins lie in a donor plan to neutralize and refine the radical Jewish immigrant masses.
With Freedom in Our Ears
Contributors bring to light the presence and persistence of Jewish anarchism throughout histories of radical labor, women's studies, political theory, multilingual literature, and ethnic studies.
Jewish Materialism
A paradigm-shifting account of the modern Jewish experience, from one of the most creative young historians of his generationTo understand the organizing fra...
Epstein and the Capitalist Conspiracy
Naomi Klein discusses what to do with a narrative that mirrors the worst anti-Jewish theories and the importance of holding our depraved elites…
US Labor & Imperialism Pt. 2: Zionism w/ Jeff Schuhrke (Palestine Pt. 16)
Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic | Oneworld
In 1896, a Jewish state was a pipe dream. Today the overwhelming majority of Jews identify as Zionists. How did this happen? Ilan Pappe unveils how over a century of aggressive lobbying changed the map of the Middle East. Pro-Israel lobbies convinced British and American policymakers to condone Israel’s flagrant breaches of international law, […]
Sociologie de l’antisémitisme français
Un rabbin agressé par un jeune homme à Orléans, une caricature LFI de Cyril Hanouna qui choque, Jordan Bardella qui se rend en Israël… Que nous dit la sociologie sur l’évolution de l’antisémitisme contemporain ?
Habermas as an ethnic thinker Par Excellence: on critique, Palestine and the role of intellectuals
Taking Habermas’ 2023 statement on Palestinians-Israel as the point of entry, this article examines his concept of critique. Against the dominant view of him as a philosopher of ‘universalism’ and ...
'It's Hard to Know if We'll Endure': Israel's Leading Philosopher on …
archived 8 Aug 2026 00:21:44 UTC