https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to zionism en https://religiondispatches.org/2022/04/22/chicago-synagogue-excoriated-shift-non-anti-zionism-maybe-problem-isnt-anti-zionism Progressive synagogue Tzedek Chicago, founded in 2015 and led by Rabbi Brant Rosen, recently made an announcement that elicited strong reactions in much of the Jewish press and beyond. Opting to change their identity from “non-Zionist” to “anti-Zionist,” they released… Fri, 22 Apr 2022 12:05:20 EDT Shaul Magid 5e8d2af4-129d-457d-a106-4686a8cde13d https://religiondispatches.org/2021/12/07/zionism-no-longer-able-offer-solutions-present-reality “Zionists just want to be happy.” - Hermann Cohen I do not think it’s provocative to state that liberal Zionism is in crisis . By that I mean that the present iteration of liberal Zionism as a humanistic project of… Tue, 07 Dec 2021 01:56:29 EST Shaul Magid f8633306-4c51-41c4-a486-09820b3dba25 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/10/07/last-licks-liberal-zionism-america Over roughly the past decade, the coming intellectual exhaustion of “anti-Occupation, pro two-states” liberal Zionism in America has been repeatedly prophesied. Out of step with the material realities defended by the pro-Israel right and decried by the anti-Zionist left, ideologically… Thu, 07 Oct 2021 08:09:51 EDT Ilan Benattar 4ab0dce4-aa45-4431-ac35-c8cb67b3c38f https://religiondispatches.org/2019/03/19/conflation-antisemitism-and-israel-criticism-isnt-unique-it-problem Our focus should be on the capture of the debate over U.S.-Israeli relations by a dominant narrative in which a single set of authorities (both political and religious) claims exclusive access to a rich and fluid set of political and religious traditions. Tue, 19 Mar 2019 04:06:02 EDT Elizabeth Shively 51843b95-69fa-4e77-b6ff-9ef4845837aa https://religiondispatches.org/2016/06/02/tribal-trouble-changing-nature-american-jews-relationship-israel-and-question-jewish If the adage is correct that “nationalism is an extension of egoism” then national “unity” may be nationalism’s superego. Of late there has emerged a cottage industry regarding Jewish unity. The reason is obvious; Jewish unity is in a state… Thu, 02 Jun 2016 09:00:22 EDT Shaul Magid 9b76661e-8b95-443f-89a9-cbfff6f2b6dc https://religiondispatches.org/2015/01/06/dont-write-obit-liberal-zionism-just-yet-conversation-israeli-mk-merav-michaeli Merav Michaeli, the Israeli journalist-turned-politician now serving in the Knesset as a member of the opposition Labor Party, is an antidote to the lament of the death of liberal Zionism. At a time when the moribund state of the Israeli… Tue, 06 Jan 2015 03:05:45 EST Sarah Posner e3af9e24-edd0-4c5c-8ecd-745014658068 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/08/29/liberal-zionism-dead That’s a question that has been discussed quite a bit lately, as liberal Zionists raise red flags about right-ward, anti-democratic trends in Israel, as well as Operation Protective Edge. In a bloggingheads episode during which we also discussed my piece… Fri, 29 Aug 2014 08:56:10 EDT Sarah Posner 0457acfc-db6a-4ddc-9ec7-fe931c254f83 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/06/24/why-did-egyptian-judge-call-muslim-brotherhood-followers-talmud Egyptian judge Saeed Youssef made news in May when he issued a pair of mass death sentences against supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. After trials that lasted only a few hours and during which defense teams were not allowed to… Tue, 24 Jun 2014 10:33:26 EDT Mohamad Elmasry 874a9b75-bda5-46b0-8898-137dd4d4f5c2 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/12/12/and-what-non-jewish-jews The Pew poll revealed a significant number of Americans who, despite having no apparent reason to do so, identify as Jews. Thu, 12 Dec 2013 05:42:14 EST Shaul Magid e7dd4581-dc28-4303-b74a-622933cbaaf4 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/12/11/because-god-tells-me-so-do-jews-have-historic-right-israel As Jewish institutional support of pro-Israel positions is showing signs of breaking down, it’s an opportunity to take a critical look at a widely-made claim that Jews have a “historical right” to the land of Israel. Tue, 11 Dec 2012 02:15:51 EST Shaul Magid fa726d69-9135-4d1e-bd8e-800b438f69b5 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/11/05/electionpocalypse-part-ii-mythical-jewish-vote There is no “Jewish vote.” Jews vote. A small number of them vote for Republicans. Most of them vote for Democrats. Every cycle the Republicans try to improve on their last performance, but Jews are overwhelmingly liberal. So Republicans try to draw them in by talking about Israel, an issue very few of them vote on, but an issue that has the added benefit of helping Republicans shore up their evangelical base. Mon, 05 Nov 2012 06:43:22 EST Sarah Posner 8c6c66d9-c44a-475e-80a0-2b7b101d57e9 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/10/09/how-separate-jewishness-zionism Parting Ways is Butler’s attempt to construct a Jewish narrative that coheres with her philosophical and political sensibilities as well as her allegiance to her Jewish heritage and lineage. As a Jew for whom religious practice and the Jewish textual tradition do not constitute her Jewish core, hers is a secular narrative of Jewishness outside the orbit of Zionism. Butler’s concern for Israel is that she believes its present construction is “Jewishly” indefensible (in the terms she develops in her book) and the muscularity with which Zionism is proffered squashes any alternative narrative of diasporic Jewish identity. Tue, 09 Oct 2012 06:35:50 EDT Shaul Magid 06b08a9d-68d3-40a0-aae6-785d240805e7 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/08/15/redemptive-power-jewish-self-hatred “Jewish self-hatred” is an epithet that Jews fling at other Jews—for not being religious enough, or for daring to criticize Israel. As Paul Reitter puts it in his book, On the Origins of Jewish Self-Hatred, the term is an “an instrument of censure,” a “smear.” Reitter’s title is slightly misleading—the book doesn’t explain why some Jews hate themselves. Instead he explains the origin of the term. Reitter argues that many historians have wrongly assumed that the term has always been censorious, but careful study reveals that Jewish self-hatred was first put forward for a salutary, even messianic purpose. Wed, 15 Aug 2012 11:29:44 EDT Gordon Haber d81bf1e3-fe7f-49ec-ae9a-e117eebf5009 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/08/08/gingrich-israel-and-assassinate-obama-comments What’s to come when a right wing billionaire funnels money to Newt and a columnist jokes about killing the president? Wed, 08 Aug 2012 07:41:37 EDT Shalom Goldman 7ca9f464-92c6-4475-ae46-0de8f90ae8d3 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/05/02/netanyahu-patriarch-dies-102-leaves-hawkish-legacy Recently, Mitt Romney has been referring to the Israeli Prime Minister as ‘my friend,’ and invoking memories of the short period when the two ambitious young businessmen were working for the same Boston consulting firm in the 1970s. The elder Netanyahu’s death has given Romney yet another opportunity to position himself as ‘pro-Israel’—or in his words, a champion of “all who care about Israel.” Wed, 02 May 2012 01:28:33 EDT Shalom Goldman a53e4925-d66e-434d-8767-cc00cd7589a6 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/04/27/sad-saga-compromised-rabbi Are the Jews in trouble? From the outside, things look quite good. Anti-Semitism is at an all-time low in the United States. The U.S. administration seems to allow Israel to do what it wants, even as many of us disagree with what it is choosing to do. Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:10:02 EDT Shaul Magid 5ea1a228-5f05-4d1b-9775-6b85524621df https://religiondispatches.org/2011/12/05/liberals-agree-israel-greatest-thing-sliced-challah Jeffrey Goldberg’s review of a new book by fellow “liberal” Gershom Gorenberg perpetuates the mythology that if Israel seems impure there must be an explanation. Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:50:50 EST Shalom Goldman a137ab23-2bef-4c5d-9276-0d58f1116063 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/07/10/muslim-mickey-mouse-tweet-egyptian-wedge-issue So the FJP says to the FEP: hey, you’ve insulted Islam. Sun, 10 Jul 2011 10:38:35 EDT Joseph Hammond 574f500a-2a08-4421-ae03-503ef9613b0b https://religiondispatches.org/2011/04/12/holocaust-over-avraham-burgs-israel-and-jews-victims A recent book by an eminent Israeli has caused a sensation in Israel as it calls on Jews to move past the Holocaust, which has rendered them oblivious to the suffering of others. Though Burg is firmly rooted in the tradition of Israeli apostates, his thesis overlooks several critical phenomena. Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:07:45 EDT David Biale 6ca1e2df-2f1a-4916-8616-6eefa4e76b56 https://religiondispatches.org/2010/12/16/palin-talks-israel-anticipation-2012 What’s the importance of the status of Jerusalem for the Alaskan contender? Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:14:19 EST Shalom Goldman 91c864ea-4894-4bfa-8ea3-8cb813d8205b https://religiondispatches.org/2010/06/08/clueless-gaza The Daily Alert newsletter sent by the Conference of Presidents of American Jewish Organizations is quite predictable: the news sources it quotes are either the official statements of Israeli officials or media articles supportive of… Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:31:11 EDT Shalom Goldman 7cc3a7ae-fdc9-4b69-840b-e30d0d3c9b71 https://religiondispatches.org/2010/01/12/oral-roberts-pioneering-christian-zionist Famous for his use of TV to spread the message, Oral Roberts—friend of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion—helped to popularize the notion that the newly founded State of Israel was an indication that God still acts in history and that events prophesied in the bible were at hand. Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:36:47 EST Shalom Goldman 8340b5a7-b1c9-4230-ac2b-02ab92581bd6 https://religiondispatches.org/2009/12/21/changing-jewish-state-and-state-jews-j-street-and-future-israel The Israeli ambassador to the US recently joined the American right charging that pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian J Street put the very “survival of the Jewish state” into question. Indeed, recognizing the full humanity of Palestinians would require a radical transformation of Israeli, Zionist, and even Jewish-American identity. Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:40:03 EST Mark LeVine d9a1e0f0-8470-43ca-a579-d26822366193 https://religiondispatches.org/2009/12/16/jewish-pastisraeli-future-review-invention-jewish-people The reactions to the English-language publication of a book deemed “a scandal” reveal as much about the politics of contemporary Israel (and of its relation to the American Jewish community) as they do about the history the book describes. It’s not that Shlomo Sand believes that the Jews are not the chosen people—he argues that they might not be a people at all. Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:45:42 EST Shalom Goldman 9536f225-f7a6-4ccc-bc60-1ab6e2215dbc https://religiondispatches.org/2009/08/01/zionism-and-anti-zionism-ultra-orthodox-and-settler-movement-israel Israel’s Ultra Orthodox, or Haredim, do not share the theological assumptions of the settlers—but in recent years a purely pragmatic alliance has formed. What does this mean for Israel as a society? Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:19:50 EDT Shaul Magid fdc3b18c-2296-4ba5-b1cd-03f9171accd2