The quandary for progressive Jews

Like many American Jews, we feel alienated from our historical left-wing political home, especially since Hamas’ vicious terrorist attack on Oct. 7. If more progressives were on the streets rallying for a two-state solution, denouncing terrorism, and advocating for an end to the siege of Gaza by both Egypt and Israel, we would gladly endorse them.

We deeply desire the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel and view it as an essential step in obtaining long term peace in the region. But movements that seem dedicated to Palestinian safety and self-determination to the exclusion of equally valid Jewish needs have no place for us.

Progressive leaders and followers alike have wielded hateful tropes and lines of advocacy against Israel since Oct. 7 — many doing so even before Israel had begun its intensive military response. We hope to explain why some of them are so hurtful as the basis for continued dialogue and, ultimately, rapprochement.

Redefining Zionism on behalf of Jews. Zionism is the belief that Jews have the right to self-determination in our historic homeland (Israel), to which we are an indigenous people. Many attempt to sever Zionism from Judaism in a way that denies how inextricably interconnected it is with Jewish history, traditions, peoplehood, ritual, etc.

There is a concerted effort by some progressives to redefine Zionism and antisemitism on behalf of Jews, often while tokenizing fringe Jewish voices to do so. Much of this rhetoric asserts that Zionism is inherently racist, predicated on “Jewish supremacy” and the oppression of Palestinians.

This notion demonizes the existence of a Jewish majority state at the exclusion of equally condemning other nation states, such as the roughly 50 Muslim and 15 Christian majority countries. An inconsistency of this nature cannot be interpreted as anything other than specifically opposing Jewish self-determination.

Casting progressivism and Zionism in opposition. We fear that the words and deeds of many progressive leaders are making us — American Jews — feel forced to choose between our progressive values and our dedication to Jewish self-determination, which should not be mutually exclusive.

Progressivism strives to uphold the rights of all people, minorities in particular, and supporting Jewish self-determination (Zionism) does exactly that. Progressives should, therefore, be equally dedicated to protecting both Jewish and Palestinian people.

Claiming Israeli Jews are “white European settler-colonialists”. This characterization ignores that the majority of Israeli Jews would be identified in the American racial caste system as people of color. It also denies the reality that Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel, not Europe.

Denying the link between Anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Opposing the Israeli government and its policies is not inherently antisemitic, but opposing Israel’s existence is. One can critique specific leaders and governmental policies without wishing away an entire country. Advocating for the destruction of the country where almost half of world Jewry resides threatens the Jewish community with another genocide.

Accusing Israel of genocide. The assertion that Israel, in an effort to protect itself against terrorism (as outlined in Hamas’ 1988 charter) is committing genocide — the purposeful mass killing of innocent civilians with the intent of destroying that ethnic group as a whole — is misleading, Holocaust inversion, and modern blood libel.

Perpetuating factually incorrect, inflammatory information about Israel (where almost half of the Jews on Earth reside), feels to many Jews like the repackaging of age-old antisemitic tropes, such as blaming Jews for instigating world conflicts and asserting that Jews are liars who fabricate atrocities against them to gain power. These notions serve as pretense for anti-Jewish hate and violence.

While we support Palestinians’ right to safety and self-determination, we cannot support people who call Zionism racism, who claim that Jews in Israel are white settler-colonialists, who believe that this war against Hamas is akin to the genocide that Jews experienced during the Holocaust, and who advocate for the elimination of the only Jewish state, which helps to ensure our ongoing survival.

Intentional or not, many Jews feel that these statements are antisemitic and a threat to the safety of Jews everywhere. Until more progressive leaders can forego harmful tropes about Jews and Israel, we — and many progressive Jews like us — cannot support them.

We do not intend to walk away from progressive causes, but rather to elevate leaders who are simultaneously pro-Palestine and pro-Israel, who lead with nuance, and who understand that the pursuit of peace and justice cannot be devoid of historical context or create pretense to attack one historically vulnerable group in the name of supporting another.