The upcoming Palestine Writes Literary Festival to be held at Penn has drawn the predictable charges of anti-semitism, where any criticism of Zionism or the state of Israel is conflated with being against the Jewish people or Judaism. If this is an issue that interests or troubles you — or if you care about academic freedom — I suggest you take time to read the attached … [Read more...] about Palestine Writes Literary Festival
Zionism
Faramarz Farbod Interviews Miko Peled on Palestine & Israel
[Partial transcript of an interview on Berks Community Television, April 11, 2023.] Faramarz Farbod: Can you explain what you mean by Zionism? Miko Peled: To put it as simply and succinctly as possible, Zionism is an ideology that says the Jewish people all over the world have a right to Palestine at the expense of Palestinians. It created a theory that because all Jewish … [Read more...] about Faramarz Farbod Interviews Miko Peled on Palestine & Israel
Becoming a Jew Without Borders
Joel Beinin I grew up in an intensely Jewish but secularist and Zionist family for whom Jewish identity and survival were central concerns. In the foreground of my earliest memories of thinking about my identity is a profound feeling of not belonging in America because of my Jewish commitments. Perhaps my sense of difference began because until I was four my parents and I … [Read more...] about Becoming a Jew Without Borders
Notes on Anti-Semitism, Zionism and Palestine
TARIQ ALI In his classic work, The Jewish Question, A Marxist Interpretation, that was published posthumously in France in 1946, the Belgian Marxist, Abram Leon, (active in the resistance during the Second World War, he was captured and executed by the Gestapo in 1944) invented the category of a ‘people-class’ for the role of the Jews who managed to preserve their … [Read more...] about Notes on Anti-Semitism, Zionism and Palestine
Palestine Can’t Breathe
FARAMARZ FARBOD Another cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians has been announced ending another round of violent assault on the latter. The settler colonial Jewish supremacist regime in Israel killed 275 Palestinians, 248 of them in the Gaza Strip, 26 in the West Bank and Jerusalem, one inside Israel, including 66 children in Gaza, and at least 6,200 others injured. … [Read more...] about Palestine Can’t Breathe
Notes from the Editor-Left Turn #9
As the current issue of Left Turn goes to press, we are witness to another round of Israeli violence against the Palestinians followed by another cease fire. There is a definite need to raise critical awareness of the Question of Palestine, Zionism and the US-backing for the apartheid state of Israel. Clearly, the most recent spectacular Israeli assault on the Palestinians … [Read more...] about Notes from the Editor-Left Turn #9
Making Sense of the Recent Election in Israel
Jeff Halper Editor’s Note: We have combined two Facebook postings by Jeff Halper that dealt with the September 17, 2019 election in Israel. The first appeared on September 14, three days prior to the election, and the second, on September 18, the day after. The titles for each section are ours. In a surprising twist since the election, President Reuven Rivlin chose Mr. … [Read more...] about Making Sense of the Recent Election in Israel