Portside

I am the Jewish teenager who wore the Star of David to make sure everyone knew she was a Jew. I am my mother, who taught her children that no one is free unless everyone is free... For all those Jews, for Israeli Jews, for Palestinians, and for the world, I am the anti-Zionist Jew.

The Zionist conquest of Palestine, which began haphazardly in the early 1880s and intensified after the turn of the century, reaching its apogee with British invasion and occupation of the country before the conclusion of World War I, was the inaugural moment of what became known as the Nakba.

This review of the book “Ten Myths About Israel’ by Ilan Pappe will appear in the Winter 2018 ISSUES, the quarterly journal of the American Council for Judaism. The book is published by Verso.

When the Jewish 'hard' left leads the battle for one state, pushing the only political horizon that isn't apartheid, U.S. Jews attack us - for fighting for the same democratic values they prize so highly back home. The Netanyahu government has already deliberately, systematically and effectively eliminated the two-state solution.

Enclosure: Palestinian Landscapes in a Historical Mirror

In this moment of nuclear proliferation, police brutality, resurgent Nazism, and stunning inequality, the real enemy: is a children’s book. The offending title, P is for Palestine, was recently published by Golbarg Bashi and Golrokh Nafisi after a long crowdfunding campaign. Supporters of Israeli settlements and Zionist organizations have reacted as if it’s the Hamas charter.

All people around the world and across time crave similar things. They want the chance to raise their families within a peaceful and fair environment. Also, one that affords a decent quality of life without fear of one’s fellow man. This was the main take away from our voyage into another world: Middle Eastern, Muslim, working class, rural and “occupied.” (If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?" ~ Hillel)

Truly free countries tolerate peaceful dissent. The 50-year occupation of the Palestinian territories seized during the Six-Day War has gone on for too long and must eventually be brought to an end. For Israeli authorities to demonize — or exclude — those who publicly oppose it is a terrible mistake. - Los Angeles Times Editorial.

The Chicago Dyke March, the annual gay rights march without corporate sponsorship has anti-racist core values. In the march's Jewish contingent were Jews who were Zionists, and anti-Zionists, but who supported gay and Palestinian rights. There was an incident involving a few who did not support Palestinian rights, and a massive debate and controversy has evolved. Here are statements from Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, supporting the position of CDMC.

Campaigns to silence criticism of Israel don’t protect Jews — they endanger them. A national conversation on what antisemitism is — and what it isn’t — is long overdue. Recent reshuffling among the Trump administration may have Steve Bannon on the outs, but we are only weeks removed from a white supremacist as “the shadow president.”