on the nose

In the Spring of 2008, as I prepared to go to rabbinical school, I enrolled in The Anne Braden Program – a then newly emerging antiracist training program for white activists. The program was transformational, allowing me to see the connections between the occupation in Israel/Palestine and racism in the U.S. And even more so, empowering me to shift my relationship to white power. 

Of the many books we read, one stands out – Mab Segrest’s, Memoir of a Race Traitor.  I was newly identifying as antizionist, grieving, afraid, and seeking courage. This book gave me a way forward because in many ways, I felt like becoming an antizionist Jew made me a race traitor. Which was confusing because I also felt a moral clarity that was deeply Jewish. 

Some 20 years later, I am still wrestling with the word antizionist, both in my own heart and now in public. At a dinner following the Conference on the Jewish Left in Boston, I sat at a table and talked about the power and limits of the words zionism and antizionism. And this week, Arielle Angel, invited Fadi Quran, Dove Kent and I to continue that conversation on the Jewish Currents podcast, On the Nose. As vulnerable as it feels, I invite you to listen, perhaps while you prepare for shabbat. 

On the podcast we discuss at length that no one knows what zionism and antizionism really mean, but don’t ourselves define the terms. I want to highlight an important point that Fadi makes in our conversation. To paraphrase, the ongoing debate and confusion about what zionism and antizionism mean should be secondary to the “facts on the ground,” meaning what is actually happening behaviorally in Israel/Palestine. Our need to process our feelings about those words can distract us from the work of disrupting violent oppression and genocide. 

That said, I rarely have the opportunity to speak with nuance about what the word means to me (and what it doesn’t mean), so before you listen, and with some trepidation, I shall try. 

For me being an antizionist is both a spiritual orientation and a political identity. What feels truest is that I am opposed to political zionism. This is because I am opposed to the idea of a state that privileges any particular religious or ethnic group, and that includes a specifically Jewish state. I do not think it is possible to have a democracy that privileges any one group of people. I believe equality under the law is the way everyone is safest. 

For me antizionist does not mean that I think all Israelis should perish or leave the land of Israel. I am deeply invested in the safety, survival and thriving of everyone who lives between the river and the sea. So when the Jewish federation requires that I and KT affirm the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish and democratic state I feel it is a trick question because I don’t believe that is possible. I believe that citizens have the right to exist and states have a right to serve its citizens. But I don't think nation states have rights. 

But what's most important, (which I am so glad they didn’t cut from the end of the podcast), is that you do not need to agree with me about any of this. Prior to my tenure at Kol Tzedek, I have only ever been a member of a synagogue where I disagreed with the rabbi about Israel/Palestine. So please know, that is your sacred right. I welcome your questions, your dissent, your fears and your vulnerability.

As we prepare for Purim, may delirium return us to a world where we can’t tell the difference between blessings and curses, good and evil, winter and spring, lion and sheep, zionist and antizionist. 

May joy soften our senses, heal our wounds, transform our fear and vengeance into dignity and liberation for all. ​