Yesh Breira/There is an Alternative: Towards the Development of Anti-Zionist Jewish Community
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2023
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Haverford College. Department of Anthropology
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
We are in the midst of a generational shift in Jewish attitudes towards Israel, with one of the largest waves of young Jews since prior to the 1967 war either distancing themselves from Israel or rejecting it entirely. Despite this shift, the overwhelming majority of American Jewish institutions are still explicitly Zionist, often in ways that are openly hostile to non-Zionist beliefs. My research enters into this generational gap, seeking to understand the ways in which Jewish non-Zionist young adults navigate their desire for Jewish community and political commitments to Palestinian liberation. As current college students and recent graduates, many of these individuals have newfound opportunities to take control over their Jewish identities and particularly the communities and modes of practice they choose to engage with. Taking inspiration from prior scholarship by anti-Zionist Jews, particularly Atalia Omer’s Days of Awe, as well as work in critical theory, I explore the delinking of Judaism and Zionism that my interlocutors embody, and the forms of Jewish practice that can emerge. Centrally, I argue that while they separate Judaism from inherent support for Zionism and the Israeli state, most of them feel called to fight for Palestinian liberation not in spite of their Judaism but because of it. Through a mixture of intentional communities, ritual practice, and political activism (while blurring the boundaries between all three) young non-Zionist Jews are powerfully articulating a different way to be Jewish that is grounded in solidarity and justice.