Judaism as an Occupied Territory
JVL Introduction
Here is Contending Modernity’s introduction on their website:
“In this post, Moshe Behar examines what he calls the occupation of Judaism by Zionism. He explores how non-Zionist Jewish forms of life have increasingly been crowded out by Zionist ones, including those he calls “armchair Zionists” who live far away from Palestine/Israel yet exercise more rights than Palestinians in the territory. His post ends with a suggestion that there are many Jewish groups both inside and outside Palestine/Israel that are challenging the seeming Zionist consensus and giving voice to a post Zionist conception of Jewish peoplehood.”
RK
This article was originally published by Contending Modernities on Tue 10 Feb 2026. Read the original here.
Judaism as an Occupied Territory
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Good to see that I’m not the only person who thinks it is high time for Jewish organisations to free themselves from subservience to the Israeli state. At age 68, I am probably of Moshe’s generation, but I don’t think we should be too hard on ourselves: we were brought up by adults who had been hugely traumatised by the war and Shoah (holocaust), and who saw the state of Israel as the refuge they or their families had so desperately needed. The Zionist myths that were constantly fed to us — making the desert bloom, only democracy in the middle east, a land without people for a people without a land — take a long time to fade. If a few of us have seen through them and are now advocating for equality and justice, let’s celebrate that and support the efforts of the people and groups you cite at the end. I’m fairly confident that in ten years’ time there will be many more non-Zionist congregations, minyanim, kehillot or whatever they’re called.
BR: “I’m fairly confident that in ten years’ time there will be many more non-Zionist congregations, minyanim, kehillot or whatever they’re called. “
Well, that would be nice but how many Palestinians will there be still living in Palestine or even how many will still be living in ten years’ time and where? They are not likely to feel much hope based on what the next 10 years may bring. The world is rotten.
Spot on, absolutely brilliant! Things I’ve long thought brought together beautifully here. Will share widely.
BTW I had a letter published last week touching on some of these themes, p18 of Camden New Journal:
https://edition.pagesuite.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&pubid=17f44973-4555-45fd-8eaa-50c862e86de6
‘Contending Modernities’, despite its daunting title, seems to be an excellent online journal for exploring issues more deeply.