Wrestling with Zionism: Jewish Voices of Dissent Paperback – 27 April 2020
by Daphna Levit (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (18)
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A CHRONOLOGY OF VOICES, FROM THE BIRTH OF ZIONISM UNTIL TODAY
THEODOR HERZL,
AHAD HA'AM,
MARTIN BUBER,
ALBERT EINSTEIN,
HANNAH ARENDT,
YESHAYAHU LEIBOWITZ,
NOAM CHOMSKY,
TANYA REINHART,
ZEEV STERNHELL,
URI AVNERY,
TIKVA-HONIG PARNASS,
SHLOMO SAND,
TOM SEGEV,
SIMHA FLAPAN,
BARUCH KIMMERLING,
BENNY MORRIS,
AVI SHLAIM,
ILAN PAPPE,
GIDEON LEVY, AMIRA HASS, AND
MICHEL SFARD
Portrayals of Israel in mainstream Western media as the "homeland of the Jews" and "the only democracy in the Middle East" are commonplace.
Since the realities behind them are rarely shown, these truisms have become habitual assumptions underlying news coverage, public policy, and ordinary conversation. At the same time, while criticism of a government's policies is considered an essential right and safeguard of democracy, criticism of Israeli policy is persistently attacked as anti-Zionist--or even anti-Semitic--by a majority of Israelis and by those outside the country who claim to be Israel's friends. The views of independent Israelis and Jews who examine, challenge, or oppose extreme Israeli governments and policies are rarely heard.
This book attempts to recover a history of dissent. In Wrestling with Zionism: Jewish Voices of Dissent, Daphna Levit amplifies the voices of twenty-one Jewish and Israeli thinkers--scholars, theologians, journalists, lawyers, activists--who have grappled with the evolution of Zionism since its inception on political, religious, cultural, ethical, or philosophical grounds.
Beginning in the late-nineteenth century, well before the founding of the State of Israel, and surveying pioneering figures up until the present, she introduces, examines, and brings together a range of contrasting viewpoints into a single historical conversation. As well, with these portraits she honors a tradition of courageous intellectual inquiry and activism, rooted in Jewish ethical imperatives. Drawing on her own lifetime of activism and research, Levit has assembled a foundational text, enabling us to consider the relationship of modern political Zionism and Judaism today, in revealing historical light.
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"Levit's book spotlights more voices of Jewish dissent right up to the present time. A number of the dissenters were Israeli army veterans whose military service awakened them to Israel's inhumane treatment of the Palestinians. Many also faced persecution in different ways, including being forced from academic positions and into exile, being subjected to verbal abuse, and being physically attacked and having their lives threatened. Each of the dissenters is remarkable in their own way."---- CovertAction
"Daphna Levit's Wrestling with Zionism is an invaluable study of the dissent that political Zionism has generated among Jews ever since its articulation by Theodor Herzl. Ambitious and comprehensive in scope, the book traces the development of dissenting views from early advocates of Jewish-Arab cooperation and bi-nationalism to calls by some present-day Israeli historians and journalists for reconstituting Israel as a state that confers equal rights on all citizens. Biographical sketches of the authors covered, including Levit herself, enliven the narrative and show how each came to question Zionist ideology or to reject it entirely."--Carolyn L. Karcher, professor emerita of English, American Studies, and Women's Studies at Temple University and editor of Reclaiming Judaism from Zionism: Stories of Personal Transformation
"A treasure trove ... Daphna Levit's new book, Wrestling with Zionism: Jewish Voices of Dissent offers a concise introduction to 20 major Jewish critics of political Zionism since its inception in the 1890s ... Today, the very idea of a hopeful, humane Zionism is obsolete. But Levit's last sentence points the way forward, telling 'every Zionist' to read Mahmoud Darwish and Edward Said, two Palestinians who opened her eyes. Their indomitable humanism can fill the void left by the failure of Herzl's dream, and help both people together to move toward a nobler vision. "--Mondoweiss
About the Author
Daphna Levit was born in Israel, served in the army, and received undergraduate degrees in linguistics and literature from Tel Aviv University. She received a scholarship to study comparative (Japanese) literature at Indiana University and conducted research in Japan on a U.S./Japan Friendship Commission grant on literature written by survivors of the A-Bomb. She has graduate degrees in finance (MBA) and East Asian studies (MA in economics) from Cornell University and worked as a financial analyst in Japan, London, and New York at Merrill Lynch (senior analyst), Morgan Stanley (vice president and head of Japan Desk) and Barings (senior vice president and head of Asia Desk). She has contributed numerous articles in both Hebrew and English to various publications such as Ha'aretz and The Other Israel and is coauthor of Israeli Rejectionism: A Hidden Agenda in the Middle East Peace Process. She was also active in Gush Shalom, B'tselem, Windows, Physicians for Human Rights, Makhsom Watch, Ta'ayush, and other peace organizations. She lives and teaches courses at academic institutions in Nova Scotia.
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Wrestling with Zionism: Jewish Voices of Dissent
Wrestling with Zionism: Jewish Voices of Dissent
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Publisher : Olive Branch Press
Publication date : 27 April 2020
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Joseph Clapper
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative.
Reviewed in the United States on 1 May 2024
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Very informative. Gives you a wider perspective than some of the propaganda that is coming from Israel
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said
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book
Reviewed in Canada on 15 October 2021
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What a great book and a great writer!
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Dr.Mohammad_Mahmoud
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 February 2022
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Must be read by anyone interested about the conflict in middle east, from experts point of view.
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Seth Morrison
5.0 out of 5 stars Some Prominent Israelis Question Zionism
Reviewed in the United States on 16 February 2021
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Levit introduces readers to many prominent Jewish Israeli thinkers who question political zionism. Levit's profiles demonstrate that Jewish support for political zionism is not universal and show how badly political zionism has harmed Palestinians.
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Emmkay
1,411 reviews147 followers
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October 27, 2025
An introduction to Jewish writers who have dissented or offered a differing viewpoint either from within or outside Zionism. It was educational in that I am now oriented to and have heard of some of these writers, and could search out more information or their own writings (or in the case of Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt, I now know they had concerns with Zionism - had not been familiar with their perspectives on this before). But it took me a long time to finish as I found it distractingly poorly put together. Each chapter introduced two to four writers, provides a brief biographical introduction, and then hops through their work, with some excerpts and commentary - it lacked depth and felt dry. Since many of the writers expressed concern around the same events or topics, such as the 1967 war, it was also repetitive. And it has been a long time since I’ve read a book this badly copy edited, from several commas between subjects and predicates, to an editor’s full note to draft left in the text, to a date that made no sense at all. 2.5.
2025-reads canadian non-fiction
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Nora Murad
Author 5 books24 followers
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April 3, 2021
Wrestling with Zionism is an excellent overview of the history of Jewish non-zionist and anti-zionist thought and action. Highlighting the major theorists in each historical period, the book demonstrates that zionism was always a contested concept in Jewish discourse. As such, the book contributes to the efforts of justice-minded activists to break the default association of Jews with the State of Israel and challenges the efforts of zionists to equate anti-zionism with antisemitism.
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Debra Offenhartz
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December 13, 2024
As a lifelong lover of Israel, right or wrong, this book opened my eyes and broke my heart. It made me stop, remember and reconsider. A great tool for unraveling the history of Judaism and of Zionism. Helpful stories to read as I grapple with new definitions and ways to be both . After all, as Hillel wrote,"IF not for myself then who? If not now, when? "This book aids me in my challenging quest to find ways to support the existance of two historic people in a land shared and loved by both....
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Jolie
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February 20, 2024
Great intro to some further reading, but REALLY could have done with a copy editor! There was a whole editor’s comment printed in the book in the middle of a sentence, but otherwise needed-edits were only mildly distracting. I appreciate this book existing, and look forward to reading more of the works referenced in it.
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Rachel Gordon
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June 4, 2021
I found this book highly readable, really informative, and very pertinent. It was fascinating to read about Einstein, Buber, Arendt, and others' deep concerns and foresight about exactly what I (as a Jewish American) find deeply troubling about the State of Israel today. I would have given the book five stars, but it was a bit too polemical and sometimes didn't cite sources where I thought it should have. It also really needed better copyediting, which is not the fault of the author but was really distracting (I do professional copyediting, so my standards are high... but among other things, there's literally a long editor's note that they failed to remove from the text before publication, which is just sloppy).
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Paula Kirman
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October 24, 2020
I thought this was going to be a collection of essays about Zionism by the Jewish voices themselves, but rather, it is an examination of the lives of people like Arendt and Chomsky in light of their political views.
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Jason Motz
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May 10, 2024
Probably worth a five, but for some annoying typesetting errors in the latter half of the book. That quibble aside, this is a powerful, compact, and insightful look at the uses and abuses of Zionism. Galvanizing stuff. Tuck in!
activism politics
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Charlie Wright
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December 22, 2025
Whilst the content educational, the book is poorly put together and difficult to digest.
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