TEHSUVAH FOR NOT ENGAGING WITH ANTI ZIONISTS

I’m writing this as an act of teshuvah. I don’t think I did a particularly good job at engaging with the Anti-Zionists at a recent festival, and I owe all of them an apology.

I’m appalled by the actions of the Israeli state. This has been my reaction for a while, after all I first protested against the settlements handing out leaflets for Breira at the New York Israeli Independence day parade in 1974 or 1975. Though obviously what is happening in Gaze is far worse and is an immoral organized act of violent rage. I think Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, both inside the green line and outside of it, is both immoral and stupidly counterproductive in the long term. I think Netanyahu is amongst the worst Jewish leaders in history.

But I’m not an anti Zionist. I’m still deep in my bones cognizant of our precarious structural situation as Jews living in the diaspora. There might be a time when it would be a physical necessity to have a state to which we can escape from murderous prosecution. While it has been ironically true that it has been safer in my lifetime to live in the United States as a Jew than to live in Israel, it’s entirely possible that this is just a lucky break in a long history where it has not been safe to be a Jew in diaspora. We have a history of suffering from anti Jewish violence, and it would be arrogant to believe that can’t happen again.

Further, I think living in diaspora is unfortunate, even though that’s the choice I made for my life. In hindsight, my own history of trauma made living in a traumatized society just not tenable for me personally. I’m also incredibly attached to the kind of eco system we have in the North East, Midwest and Mid Atlantic of the United States. It’s where I physically feel at home. But I would have wished that Israel were not such a traumatized country because there is no denying the depth of Jewish life when the secular calendar mirrors the sacred calendar, where Hebrew is the everyday language, where there are knowledgeable Jews engaged in Jewish activities on every street.

There’s a lot of righteous anti Zionist energy amongst the younger elements of the Jewish community. This was brought home to me when I attended a five day festival of about 200 Jews, almost all of of whom were under 50 and a whole lot of whom were anti Zionist.

I carefully avoided most conversations about Israel and for that I need to apologize. I certainly have no desire to hear a one sided condemnation of Israel without recognizing the role Hamas and other organizations have played in the violence. But I was wrong to avoid the topic.

We Jewish elders and olders need to convey the message that Anti Zionism is a legitimate possible Jewish position, even if we don’t agree with it. We need to firmly push back against any kind of attempt to label the anti Zionists amongst us as anti Jewish, supporters of terrorists etc. We need to welcome them in our Rabbinical programs and our communal spaces. If there is room at the Jewish table for people like Ben Gvir or the anti Arab racism of my orthodox relatives or the anti Arab racism of too much of Jewish leadership towards someone like Zoran Mamdani, then there has to be room at the Jewish table for the anti Zionists.

I simply did not do a good enough job at making room at that table to the Anti Zionists at the festival and this is my apology. I was wrong and I need to learn to engage and communicate to them that they are welcome at our table.