Jewish Anti-Zionist: A History of Jewish Dissent

What happens when a political movement is questioned by the very people it claims to represent?



From rabbis and socialist organisers to writers, intellectuals and activists, Jewish critics of Zionism have challenged its premises for more than a century. Their reasons have differed profoundly: religious conviction, opposition to nationalism, commitment to Jewish life in the diaspora, and solidarity with Palestinians.

Jewish Anti-Zionists: A History of Jewish Dissent explores these voices in their historical context, distinguishing opposition to Zionism from criticism of Israeli governments and alternative visions of Jewish self-determination.

Written for the general reader, this book traces the emergence of modern Zionism and the debates that have accompanied it. In the shadow of the horrific October 7 attacks and the destruction of Gaza, those debates have acquired renewed urgency.

Neither a manifesto nor a claim that Jewish people speak with one voice, this is an invitation to examine a contested history—and to listen to those whose Jewish convictions led them to dissent.

By The Anti Racist Project UK.