Tag: Anti-zionism

‘I Discovered Anti-Zionism at the University of Michigan. I’m Glad It Lives on There’

By on • ( 2 Comments )

“At the University of Michigan’s recent commencement ceremony, history professor Derek Peterson delivered a five-minute speech in which he celebrated all those who have fought for justice at the university, my alma mater,” wrote Gayle Kirshenbaum in the May 8 issue of Forward, a “Jewish, independent, non-profit,” as it is self-described. “Invoking our legendary sports-focused fight song, he asked the crowd to ‘sing’ for suffragist Sarah Burger, who battled to get women admitted as students; for Moritz Levi, Michigan’s first Jewish professor; for all the students who fought for racial justice at Michigan as part of the Black Action Movement; and for the ‘pro-Palestinian student activists, who have over these past two years opened our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity of Israel’s war in Gaza,’” Kirshenbaum said. This is a thoughful article on why conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism hurts the struggle to eradicate Jew hatred.

Zionism: ‘A Form of Racism’

By on • ( Leave a comment )

This article, first published on November 24, 1975, by Intercontinental Press, reported on the passage of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly on November 10 of that year. Approved with a vote of 72 to 35, the resolution answered yes on the question of whether Zionism is a form of racism. Fifty years have passed since that document’s approval. The controversy it generated at the time, and the arguments for and against it, however, are quite relevant today.

Open Letter to Israeli & U.S. Governments on Issue of Rape

By on • ( 3 Comments )

This open letter was initiated by U.S.-based anti-Zionist Jewish feminists. It has since gained support across the United States and internationally. As its preamble notes, the signatories “believe we have a particular responsibility to speak out in support of Palestinian rights and against the current genocide.”It also states clearly, “We support the investigation initiated by the highly-qualified members of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry into the entire range of war crimes committed during both the October 7 Hamas attack and the Israeli state’s subsequent assault on Gaza.” The letter is a response to efforts to discredit supporters of women’s rights who speak out against rape but also oppose Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.

In Defense of Free Speech

By on • ( 3 Comments )

In the wake of the October 7 Hamas-led attack and Israel’s brutal retaliatory invasion of Gaza, new challenges have been raised to the right to free speech. Across the United States, restrictions on the democratic right to express one’s views on the conflict in the Middle East center today on college campuses. But precedents set there will be extended, with dangerous consequences for free speech, if they are not answered and opposed.