liberal zionism

Outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz seen with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a ceremony held in honour of incoming IDF chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot (not seen) at a ceremony held in Eizenkot's honour at the PM's office in Jerusalem, on February 16, 2015. Photo by Miriam Alster/FLASH90 *** Local Caption *** ??? ?????? ?????? ??????

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In Israel, ‘politics as usual’ means escalating Palestinian oppression

Three trends from Israel’s do-over election demonstrate that the more Israeli politics stay the same, the more dangerous its policies become. There are many moments in Israeli-Palestinian history where landmark developments seem to change nothing and everything at the same time. Israel’s September election is one of them. While featuring many familiar and predictable patterns, the latest…

By Amjad Iraqi October 4, 2019

Thousands of Jewish wave the Israeli flags as they celebrate Jerusalem Day in Damascus Gate on their way to the Western Wall. Jerusalem Day celebrations, May 13, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The biggest loser in this election: Liberal Zionism

Israelis consistently vote against the idea of a Jewish and democratic Israel alongside a Palestinian state. It is now impossible to see how that could ever be realized. On Sunday Ayman Odeh, the chairman of the Joint List, met with President Reuven Rivlin to announce his party’s noteworthy decision to endorse Benny Gantz, chairman of…

By Mairav Zonszein September 26, 2019

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrates his election victory, April 9, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

PODCAST: What just happened? A post-election debrief

Post-election Israel looks a lot like pre-election Israel, but a lot of progressives now have some painful questions to ask themselves. Lisa Goldman joins the podcast to talk about what comes next. Listen here: iTunes/Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify Subscribe here: iTunes/Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify A week after Netanyahu easily won another election, things don’t look all that different in…

By +972 Magazine April 18, 2019

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A Jewish settler attaches an Israeli flag to a tree in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, January 29, 2010 (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Beyond Liberal Zionism: How I became a non-Zionist

Changes in Israeli society are rendering Liberal Zionism’s political program impracticable and irrelevant. Non-Zionism provides an alternative. By Daniel J. Solomon The past decade has not been kind to Liberal Zionists. Israel’s far-right government has undermined democratic norms at every turn, entrenched occupation via continued settlement building, and sought to snuff out the national aspirations…

By +972 Magazine December 2, 2018

A giant portrait of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a protest against the Jewish Nation-State Law, Tel Aviv, July 30, 2018. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Welcome to Netanyahu’s fortress state

The detention and interrogation of high-profile figures such as Peter Beinart and Reza Aslan at Israeli entry points is forcing liberal American Jews to reckon with what Israel is becoming. Over the last month, the Israeli and international media reported several incidents involving Shin Bet agents at ports of entry to Israel detaining prominent Jewish Americans for lengthy, aggressive…

By Lisa Goldman August 14, 2018

Palestinians try to climb over the separation wall at the Qalandyia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem on their way to attend the last Friday prayers in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque during Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Friday, July 1, 2016. (Photo by Flash90)

British Jews are speaking out on Israel. Will the progressive community have our back?

We expected attacks on anti-occupation voices by Britain’s Jewish communal leaders. Now our progressive Jewish institutions are turning their backs on us when we need them most. By Emily Hilton In May of this year, a group of U.K.-based Jewish anti-occupation activists held a demonstration in London’s Parliament Square, where we recited the kaddish, the Jewish mourner’s…

By +972 Magazine July 6, 2018

‘For many young American Jews, the Trump-Bibi axis is the enemy’

Bradley Burston insists that his views about Israel haven't changed since he moved here in the 1970s. It's Israel which has changed. 'I would like to have two states. But hundreds of thousands of Israelis said ‘you can’t have it,’ and they run the country,' he says in a wide-ranging interview about Israel, the Nakba, and the changing face of American Jewry.

By Edo Konrad July 2, 2018

The West Bank separation wall. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Rattling the Gilded Cage: An Interview with Larry Derfner

The author of 'No Country for Jewish Liberals' discusses how a Liberal Zionist can support BDS, why some Israeli peaceniks might be better off voting for Bibi, and why the Left in Israel is living in a gilded cage.

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man July 19, 2017

BDS graffiti on Israeli separation wall, Bethlehem, West Bank, June 17, 2014. (Photo by Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Zionists for BDS? Why not?

While counterintuitive, liberal Zionists may be best able to achieve their goal of a just peace by joining forces with the BDS movement. Both groups stand to benefit enormously. By Ahmed Rizk The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) is arguably one of the most significant developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the Oslo Accords…

By +972 Magazine April 6, 2017

J Street U students take part in an anti-BDS summit at the United Nations, March 29, 2017. (Gili Getz)

Can J Street coherently fight both boycott and occupation?

After J Street U students were attacked at an anti-BDS conference this week, the lobby might want to reconsider the effectiveness of seeking common ground with extremists. Things got ugly at an anti-BDS conference at the United Nations this week when participants turned on a group of liberal university students in attendance. The conference, organized by…

By Noa Yachot April 1, 2017

Palestinian women protest against the occupation on International Women’s Day at the Qalandiya military checkpoint separating Jerusalem and Ramallah, March 7, 2015. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

The question isn’t whether feminism has room for Zionism

The question is whether Zionism can make room for a truly inclusive equality. In a recent New York Times op-ed “Does Feminism have Room for Zionists?” Emily Shire, who identifies as a feminist and a Zionist, argues that her belief in “Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state” should not be at odds with her feminism. According…

By Mairav Zonszein March 21, 2017

An El Al plane is seen through a barbed wire fence at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Israel’s travel ban strikes Liberal Zionism at its core

Israel’s new anti-BDS law is antagonizing some of the state’s most loyal supporters, rewriting a decades-old relationship. Israel ramped up its fight against the global boycott movement last week, when the Knesset passed its own travel ban: a new law barring entry to any non-citizen or non–permanent resident who has publicly called for or pledged to support a…

By Mairav Zonszein March 14, 2017

Head of the Joint List, MK Ayman Odeh, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 8, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Could a Palestinian politician best represent American Jewish values?

Progressive American Jews may be willing to stand alongside American Muslims, but are they ready to demonstrate the same solidarity for Arab citizens of Israel? Ayman Odeh, the head of the Joint List, is a test case for where ‘pro-peace’ Jews draw the line. Progressive American Jews have had a hard time in recent years finding…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man February 28, 2017