jewish identity

A rally against rising antisemitism under the banner of "No Hate, No Fear," Jan, 5, 2020. (Gili Getz)

‘Anti-antisemitism’ was meant to unite American Jews. Why is it backfiring?

For years U.S. Jewish leaders tried to center diaspora identity around Israel. But the battle to redefine antisemitism shows it is no longer working.

By Nathan J. Brown and Daniel Nerenberg June 13, 2023

Young Jews participating in the Taglit Birthright program at an event held at the International Conference Center in Jerusalem. (Marc Israel Sellem/Flash90)

Conflating Zionism and Judaism leaves Jewish students exposed

‘Israelism’ has replaced traditional Jewish identity, making it difficult for Jewish students to distinguish between divergent political views and attacks on their identities. By Yakov M. Rabkin It is no secret that young Jews often find it difficult to separate Zionism from the Jewish identity as it has been taught to them. Their identity is…

By +972 Magazine December 8, 2017

Illustrative photo of pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters on campus. (Matanya Tausig/Flash90)

Jewish students feel unsafe on campus? A new study says otherwise

A new study published by Stanford University reveals that Jewish students feel safer on university campuses when they refuse to conflate their Jewish identities with unequivocal support for the State of Israel. By Oren Kroll-Zeldin In recent years numerous studies have created the impression that university campuses across the United States are a hotbed of anti-Semitism and…

By +972 Magazine October 6, 2017

Latest

Students at a bilingual school in Jerusalem, December 22, 2005.
(Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

Goodbye to the Jewish-Arab school that taught me the meaning of hope

For years, Jerusalem’s bilingual school gave an entire community reason to believe in hope and partnership. In Israel of today, it is nothing short of a miracle. Today is the first day of September, the first day of school in Israel. Putting aside the years we lived abroad, this is the first time in 13 years that we…

By Orly Noy September 1, 2017

Palestinians walk along the separation wall in the West Bank. (Activestills.org)

The long road to Bethlehem

After taking a job at a Palestinian university in the West Bank, Jewish journalist Mya Guarnieri feels that the center of her life is increasingly on the 'other side' of the Green Line. Israeli soldiers give her a hard time for being a Jew in 'enemy territory' and it becomes more and more difficult to live in Israeli society.

By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat March 28, 2015

Palestinian citizens of Israel demonstrate against the Prawer-Begin Plan, BeerSheva, May 12, 2013 (Photo by Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

+972’s Editor’s Picks of 2014

As 2014 comes to a close, +972 Magazine’s editors and bloggers took time to look back at the year that was, and share the articles that most resonated with them – in no particular order. Israel’s watershed moment that wasn’t The Gaza war was perceived very differently in Israel and abroad, even among some of…

By +972 Magazine December 29, 2014

Illustrative photo of a man wearing an Israeli flag at the Western Wall. (By Shutterstock.com / Robert Hoetink)

Does Israel have a place in Jewish identity?

The proposed ‘Nation-State Law’ and a wave of violence point to the urgency of questioning Israel’s place in Jewish identity. Shlomo Sand’s latest book, ‘How I Stopped Being a Jew,’ offers a starting point for such a discussion. When I left Palestine this summer, I was relieved to leave the Israeli flag behind. No more…

By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat December 1, 2014

Yemenite Jews walking to a ‘reception camp’ near Aden, 1949. (Photo by Kluger Zoltan/Israel National Archive)

The struggle for Mizrahi recognition isn’t limited to Israel

If Israeli Jewish society is going to move forward dealing with its own racial tensions, it needs British and world Jewry to do the same. Generations of Mizrahi Jews in the UK no longer understand their own history: they have been taught to weep for Krakow but never for Sanaa. By Leeor Ohayon Deep in the…

By +972 Magazine October 23, 2014

Jewish settlers dance during a ceremony inaugurating a new Jewish settlement in Ras al-Amud in May, 2011. (Photo: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

‘Religion and politics’ in Israel: The mythology of Jewish nationalism

The State of Israel has never attempted to build a national identity that would be ‘liberated ’from Jewish ‘religion.’ Instead, it has focused on the construction of a national identity distinct in one critical respect: it is reserved for Jews only. By Yaacov Yadgar One of the more controversial legislative bills being currently pushed forward…

By Haokets August 27, 2013

A Jew and a Palestinian face off (file photo, by Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Is a binational identity possible in Israel?

Two academics get into a public intellectual debate over secular national identity and the characteristics of binationalism in the future of Israel or binational state. Despite their bitter assaults against one another’s ideas, they are far closer than they realize. By Jeremiah Haber It’s open season on Prof. Shlomo Sand of Tel Aviv University in…

By +972 Magazine June 11, 2013

A view of the new section in Saharonim prison destined for imprisonment without trial of asylum seekers and refugees, August 31, 2012. (photo: Activestills)

Occupation, imprisonment of refugees defile Israeli identity

Israeli-Jewish identity should be one that pursues justice for the collective and perseveres in the fight against oppression. Plans to destroy hundreds of homes or imprison thousands of refugees defile and contradict all that is good in that very identity. By Moriel Rothman Scenario One. Imagine: You wake up in a place that is not familiar. You…

By +972 Magazine October 10, 2012

Forgotten deportees: Israeli-born children of migrant workers

While Israel’s current campaign to deport some 700-1500 South Sudanese asylum seekers made headlines around the world, the mainstream media has neglected another ongoing expulsion. Originally published in The Daily Beast’s Open Zion. Since March of 2011, the state has been arresting and deporting the Israeli-born children of migrant laborers along with their parents. In the past…

By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat July 3, 2012

For European author, Hebrew culture existed outside Zionism

Where is the center of Jewish identity? Israel or the Diaspora? Can we have a thriving Hebrew language and culture without a Jewish majority country? World Jewry seems to be standing at a critical junction in history. While more than half of us still remain in the Diaspora, intermarriage will probably tip the balance towards…

By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat April 29, 2012