Is it Jews who are being marginalised?
JVL Introduction
Nicholas Lemann, former dean of the Columbia Journalism School, is upset.
In an article in the New York Times he feels aggrieved that “it now seems no longer possible to be at once comfortably Jewish, and also Zionist, and also liberal, and also fully accepted outside the Jewish world.”
Philip Weiss writing on Mondoweiss, explains two simple truths:
- Israel’s hateful actions are fomenting antisemitism against Jews around the world; and
- many Jews today reject a Jewish identity based on affiliation with Israel’s values.
These insights are no longer restricted to the outer fringes of thinking public. They are common knowledge.
The crisis Lehmann is experiencing is real; the Jewish community is in crisis today for a very good reason:
“Liberal Zionism is being orphaned today because it has again and again sought to protect Israel from experiencing any consequences for policies that deprive Palestinians of a future.”
This article was originally published by Mondoweiss on Thu 23 Jul 2026. Read the original here.
Nicholas Lemann’s aggrieved article on Jews and progressives reveals a blindness to the evil of Zionism
In a widely read New York Times article, Nicholas Lemann, claims anti-Zionism in the progressive world marginalizes Jews. Yet his failure to even mention Palestinians reveals his ignorance of Zionism’s role in driving the crisis he seeks to confront.
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The “fact” that Israel has a right to defend itself is false. The racist jews have no right to defend themselves on stolen land, which is Palestine. The majority of people the world over agree. When people say Israel has a right to defend itself, I ask, “Do the Palestinians?” Genocide is abhorrent and illegal according to international law. ANYONE WHO SUPPORTS ISRAEL IS A MONSTER.
Thank you
It’s difficult isn’t it, there are Israeli Jews who hate the genocide that is being done in their name and who are pilloried and ostracised when speaking out against what one man, Netanyahu, is doing in their name. We must support individuals who speak out against what he is doing not only against Palestinians but also against the right of decent Israelis to live in a just society.
As a youngster growing up, the world was awash with Jewish human rights activists, and intellectuals punching high above their representative position in society. Many of these were prominent in their fields – Harold Pinter, Miriam Karlin, Harry Landis, in America Israel Dresner celebrated his status as America’s most arrested Rabbi – he been among the religious leaders supporting the civil rights movement. These are the very section of society our media now excludes – at moment when we’ve never needed them more. Instead we are force-fed the Board of Deputies and their mouthpiece lackies. Scandalous