“This is just the beginning”: the revival of anti-Zionist Judaism in Europe

By Yoav Shemer-Kunz, member of the editorial board.

The revival of anti-Zionist Judaism in Europe is one of the major effects of October 7, 2023 and has since been an integral part of the mobilization in support of the Palestinian cause in Europe. Who are the anti-Zionist Jews? What is the meaning of their commitment to Palestine? What are their historical and religious references? Deciphering a Jewish movement that is advancing rapidly and the creation of the new European Jewish network — “European Jews for Palestine”.

“The time of isolation is over,” announces Eléonore Merza-Bronstein, a keffiyeh around her neck and a watermelon kippah on her head, from the 7th floor of the Paul-Henri Spaak building of the European Parliament in Brussels. Her flamboyant speech, which has gone viral on social media, is part of the fight of the Anti-Zionist Jewish Alliance of Belgium (AJAB). Indeed, wearing a watermelon kippah today no longer only symbolizes unity between Judaism and Palestine, but also anti-Zionist Judaism.

The setting is formal. Far from the usual activist spaces, such as street demonstrations or student camps on their campuses, here there is no megaphone, no banner. Eléonore Merza-Bronstein is in front of a European flag, live from a conference room of the EU Parliament in Brussels, the very heart of democracy on a European scale.

This speech is part of an exceptional event: the launch of the new European Jewish network in support of the Palestinian cause, “European Jews for Palestine” (EJP), on October 3, 2024. This date is not insignificant: a few days before the anniversary of October 7, it corresponds to the 1st of Tishrei 5785, the new year in the Jewish calendar, the holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

To understand the creation of the EJP network, we must first follow the history of TSEDEK! – Jewish decolonial collective. This activist collective appeared publicly for the first time in June 2023 by participating in the popular mobilization against police violence in France following the murder of Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old teenager, shot dead by police officer Florien M. during a traffic stop in Nanterre, in the Paris region.

Just a few months later, following October 7, this small group of Jewish activists quickly gained visibility. In December 2023, the Mayor of Paris canceled the collective's conference with the famous American philosopher, feminist and Jewish, Judith Butler. Other film debates organized by this Parisian collective were canceled in the process. Faced with censorship, TSEDEK! decided to retaliate by co-organizing, with the French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP), an "International Jewish Meeting" and to invite other European anti-Zionist Jewish groups. The meeting poster features an iconic image of the Bund, an anti-Zionist workers’ movement from the early 20th century.

Saturday, March 30, 2024 marks the beginning of a new European Jewish network. Representatives from all over Europe arrive in the large hall of the Independent Workers’ Party (POI) in the 10th arrondissement of Paris: from the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, etc. The room is full. A group of Jewish activists from the Zionist collective “nous vivrons” is blocked outside by the POI security service. After a day of round tables, entitled “Colonial War in Palestine · Anti-Semitism · Repressions”, the next day is devoted to a time of exchange between the different collectives present, who decide to continue working together: a Europe-wide mailing list is thus created to stay in touch. A week later, a joint declaration against genocide and Zionism was signed by thirteen Jewish groups from ten countries.

It is interesting to note that some Jewish groups, although present at the meeting in Paris, did not sign this joint declaration, considering it too anti-Zionist. The Na’amod group - British Jews Against the Occupation, created in 2019 in the United Kingdom, is against the occupation and apartheid but does not share the anti-Zionist positions, while the Union of Progressive Jews of Belgium (UPJB) defines itself rather as ‘non-Zionist’. Indeed, in its press release of October 7, 2024, ‘A year of carnage. Honoring the victims by acting for peace and justice’, there is no criticism of Zionism. In addition, the term ‘genocide’ is not used in the press release of the Belgian group.

Inspired by this new international dynamic, new collectives are being created, both to participate and to follow the movement, such as AJAB in Belgium or the Marad collective - a Jewish decolonial collective in French-speaking Switzerland - "marad" being the common root in Semitic languages to say "revolt".

The informal network resulting from the Paris meeting continues with online meetings, email exchanges and drafting sessions for a common manifesto, which establishes the identity and objectives of the EJP, "Who we are and what we are committed to". While the joint declaration of April 2024 following the international meeting in Paris was drafted quickly and focused mainly on the urgency of stopping the genocide in Gaza, the EJP manifesto is more developed, in particular on the meaning of commitment to Palestine as Jews, on the claim of a Jewish identity in opposition to Zionism, and on the fight against anti-Semitism and its instrumentalization.

Who are the anti-Zionist Jews?

The EJP is now made up of 23 groups from 16 different countries. Most are informal, without legal entities or bank accounts, and the majority were created following October 7, 2023, and in a movement of mobilization against the genocide in Gaza. These collectives are created organically: activists meet on the ground, during mobilizations against the war, demonstrations, and decide to perpetuate this solidarity by carrying their anti-Zionist conviction with one voice. The protocol is often simple: find a name, create a logo, open an account on Instagram.

These collectives are thus very active and present on social networks, but also in demonstrations for Palestine and on university camps. All say they are very solicited by other organizations of solidarity with Palestine, as well as by journalists. With very little means and a small number of activists, this revival of anti-Zionist Judaism in Europe has quickly gained visibility, in the activist community for Palestine, but also beyond.

For anthropologist Eléonore Merza-Bronstein, this is only the beginning. She states that "the time when we were considered marginal and unrepresentative voices is over. We are determined to weigh in on the public debate, to come and shake you up, we are determined to make it heard that we refuse Israel the centrality of our existence. (...) We recognize, finally, that the creation of a Jewish nation state in historic Palestine has led to an injustice against the Palestinian people, an injustice that continues today, and of which Gaza is probably one of the most violent historical episodes. (...) We believe, on the contrary, that we can form a community everywhere, beyond national borders, inherited from colonial empires. (…) it is precisely because we are Jewish, because we are Jewish, proud of our history, that we stand unequivocally on the side of the Palestinian people.”

The anti-Zionist political line, which calls for the liberation of all of historical Palestine from Zionism, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, is assumed and claimed, even if the label “anti-Zionist” is not always used by the members of the network who often choose not to put it forward. The term “decolonial” is often preferred, or a position “for a just peace” or “for Palestine”. In addition to their commitment to Palestine, these groups have an approach of reconnecting with Jewish culture, around Jewish holidays and their traditions, in line with a progressive, open and secular trend. The age of the activists is mostly between 25 and 35 years old: it is the new generation of Jewish anti-Zionist activism, inspired by the feminist and queer movements, and by practices imported from the American Jewish anti-Zionist movement.

Jewish activism between the “here” and Palestine

For Eléonore Merza-Bronstein, Jewish solidarity is not only with Palestine, it is a universal commitment: “Our Judaism invites us to be in solidarity with oppressed peoples everywhere in the world, but also here — where we live, where we campaign […]”

In a similar vein, Fenya Fischler, on behalf of the Belgian Flemish Jewish group, Een Andere Joodse Stem (EAJS), Another Jewish Voice, speaks of the concept of “Doykait,” or “here-ness.” This concept, based on the Yiddish word “do,” meaning “here,” was developed and promoted by the doctrine of the Bund, a secular, utopian, and staunchly anti-Zionist Jewish socialist workers’ movement that continues to inspire contemporary anti-Zionist Judaism. The Bund—the general union of Jewish workers—was founded in 1897 in Vilnius and was very popular among the Jewish proletariat, but also among the elite, throughout the Yiddishland of the Russian Empire, which today corresponds to Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Belarus. Created in 2024 in Zurich, a very young Swiss German-speaking anti-Zionist Jewish collective chose the name Kollektiv Doykait, in homage to this historical concept reinvested by a new generation of anti-Zionist Jews. At the same time, in Berlin, an anti-Zionist collective, also part of the EJP, was created in 2021 called Jüdischer antifaschisticher Bund, or simply Jewish Bund, a direct homage to this revolutionary movement.

These political and identity references to Jewish history in Europe are important, because these activists are first and foremost engaged as Jews.

The spiritual meaning of Jewish political engagement

On behalf of the Danish group, Jøder For Retfærdif Fred 5784, Jews for Just Peace 5784, created in October 2023, Joy Kummer explains that her activism for Palestine is based on Jewish morality. She takes up concepts from the Jewish religious tradition such as “Tikkun Olam” in Hebrew, which means “repair of the world”, which encourages Jews to work for justice, compassion and the repair of the injustices of this world. She also speaks of “Pikuah Nefesh”, “saving a life”, a principle according to which the preservation of human life takes precedence over all else, emphasizing its sacred character. In the name of TSEDEK!, Avi Melka refers to the fruits traditionally eaten during Rosh Hashanah, such as pomegranates and dates, and her speech ends with a short prayer in Hebrew.

From an event to a new European solidarity

During the launch of EJP, MEPs also take the floor to show their support for the new network. The participation of the vice-president of the foreign affairs committee of the parliament (AFET), Hana Jalloul (Socialists and Democrats, Spain), the president of the human rights subcommittee (DROI), Mounir Satouri (the Greens/European Free Alliance, France), as well as Marc Botenga (The Left, Belgium) and Hanna Gedin (The Left, Sweden) replay the solidarity of Jewish collectives at the institutional level.

The revival of anti-Zionist Judaism in Europe is one of the major effects of October 7, 2023 and has been fully part of the pro-Palestinian mobilization in Europe since then. This means, perhaps, a certain change in the positioning of European Jews towards the State of Israel and Zionist ideology, like Jews in the United States and the success of the organizations "Jewish Voice for Peace" or "If Not Now" among American Jewish youth. In any case, these new Jewish voices are now being heard in Europe and it is interesting to listen to what they have to say today and for tomorrow.

The author of the article, Yoav Shemer-Kunz, a member of the editorial board of YAANI, is also a member of the TSEDEK! collective and of the coordination team of the European Jewish Network for Palestine, EJP.