jewish nationalism

David Ben Gurion seen in the Knesset, February 11, 1961. (Fritz Cohen/GPO)

When Zionism imagined Jewish nationalism without supremacy

In his recent book, Dr. Dmitry Shumsky shows that, contrary to popular belief, the forefathers of Zionism did not envision a state based on Jewish supremacy. And yet Zionism, he says, inevitably involves the oppression of Palestinians. By Meron Rapoport No one was surprised when the authors of the Jewish Nation-State Law decided to write, in its opening clauses, that “The…

By +972 Magazine July 21, 2019

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

Palestinian citizens take part in a general strike in solidarity with Palestinians in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza, in the northern town of Sakhnin, on October 13, 2015. (photo: Omar Sameer)

Israel’s ‘Jewish values’ will forever leave Palestinians on the sidelines

Labor leader Avi Gabbay called the Left too ‘liberal’ and not Jewish enough, reminding us that he has much more in common with Netanyahu than he lets on. By Iddo Naiss From the earliest days of Jewish nationalism, there were fundamental disagreements between its different stripes over the role their ideology would have once submerged into…

By +972 Magazine November 14, 2017

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Asylum seekers walk in the Negev during the 'march for freedom'. (Photo: Activestills.org)

Days of rage and marches for freedom: Refusing to hand over Jewish history

The events of the past weeks are a reminder that while civil rights violations in Israel alienate us from the rest of the world, the actions taken against them bring us back into the fold. We are not handing over our history yet. Following the end of the Cold War, the American academic Francis Fukuyama wrote…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland December 21, 2013

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

When Israeli nationalism gets into your food

Everyone knows that Israel has become a much more racist and nationalist society over the past decade, and particularly since Bibi Netanyahu came to power and formed the most right wing coalition to ever rule the land. So, I can’t say – taking into consideration the persons involved – that the boycott law or loyalty…

By Ami Kaufman September 13, 2011

Israeli preschool activity: Who wants to kill us?

It’s nice to think Israel’s hard-won self-determination ensured Jewish children can grow up without fear and xenophobia. Yeah, right. Here is a photo taken this week at a preschool in the Tel-Aviv satellite city of Holon: Translation, from the top: “Who wants to kill us? Pharaoh | Greeks | Haman | Nazis | Arabs ↓ …

By Dimi Reider May 5, 2011

New Israeli ID card numbers to begin at 6 million

Israel is about to begin issuing its citizens with “smart” ID cards – plastic cards with a chip containing various biometric information, as opposed to the laminated paper cards we carried until now. The debate over the biometric database on which these cards will draw is long and ferocious, but it turns out this is…

By Dimi Reider May 3, 2011

Facing up to Jewish nationalism and racist violence

This piece originally appeared on Electronic Intifada and was co-authored with Max Blumenthal [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgkit0gLgAU[/youtube] When we released the now famous and censored video Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem, we were widely attacked and dismissed for daring to publicize footage of college-age Jewish kids behaving like racist fanatics while intoxicated. We argued that our footage revealed a deep sickness within…

By Joseph Dana March 3, 2011