The Scarlet Letter “Z”: The Progressive Movement & American Zionism

In tandem with the recent war between Hamas and Israel, the Progressive movement shifted the No Zionists Allowed sign on their clubhouse door to front and center, triggering a collective rude awakening among those who consider themselves to be both Progressive and Zionist — defined as anyone who supports the self-determination of the Jewish people in a land they have deep ancestral ties to. I’ve always known that the Progressive movement isn’t a safe space for those who support Israel, but in response to the recent war between Israel and Hamas, the message has been amplified to full volume, and if you’ve been engaged in social justice circles or organizations, you’ve heard the message loud and clear that if you identify at all as a Zionist, don’t let the door hit you on the way out, if you can get there before being torn to shreds. In light of the fact that a significant portion of Jews are passionate social justice activists, a large number of whom support a Jewish homeland in the state of Israel (in addition to a self-governing Palestinian state) a deeply unsettling secondary memo Progressive Zionist Jews are receiving from peers and leaders alike, is that the only acceptable way to be Jewish in Progressive circles is to be a Jew who denounces the only Jewish country in the world. As Zioness describes, a good Jew must pass a litmus test in which they declare a binary Anti-Israel and Pro-Palestinian stance or be branded with a scarlet letter Z and promptly made fair game for verbal stoning and exile.

A subsequent revelation that so many SJeW’s (Jewish social justice warriors) have described over the last month is that there is indeed a connection between Anti-Zionism/Anti-Israel sentiment and Anti-semitism, and it exists on a far greater scale than ever imagined. While many Progressives have been resistant or reluctant to accept this, witnessing and experiencing Anti-Semitic hate crimes (especially those within Progressive circles!) sky-rocket to an unprecedented level in the last month with self-proclaimed Anti-Zionists around the world coming out as Anti-Jewish, attacking random Jews in the streets, this connection has literally hit too close to home and discerning Progressives are asking themselves (and their peers) questions like, if Anti-Zionism really has nothing to do with Anti-Semitism, then why are scores of random Jews around the world being attacked for simply being Jewish? If anti-China sentiment in the form of attacking random Asians in the US is clearly anti-Asian racism, and anger towards a foreign Islamic government in the form of attacking random Muslims is clearly Islamophobic, then why would it even be questioned whether Anti-Zionist sentiment in the form of attacking Jews is Anti-Semitic?

SJeW’s have been ushered into another stage of the awakening when their Progressive peers and organizations adeptly communicated, through their deafening silence, that they will valiantly fight the good fight against hatred towards every minority group except for the Jews. For these Jews who consistently fight for every other minority group, it has been a startling blow that Progressives did not create or even propagate, as they did with the meaningful #Islamophobia, #BlackLivesMatter, #StopAsianHate, any slogans or campaigns along the lines of #StopAnti-Semitism. Nor did they show solidarity when prompted. When the inconsistency has been pointed out, and both fear and disappointment expressed, a typical Progressive response has involved both subtle and overt gaslighting, a tactic that comes in many forms, including: invalidation (“It’s nothing compared to what X group experiences!”), denial (“Jews are exaggerating — it’s just been a few isolated events.”), justification and changing the topic (“What about what Israel is doing to the Palestinians!?,” “Jews are trying to take the spotlight off of what Israel is doing.”) While these gaslighting tactics are extremely effective in silencing people, instilling guilty and distorting their perception of reality, it’s been impossible for many Jewish Progressives to ignore the fact that not a single SJW labeled Asian fear of rising Asian hate as hyperbolic. Not a single Progressive downplayed or justified these hate crimes as backlash against the Chinese government, or said “Well, it’s nothing compared to the millions of people who died when China unleashed COVID!” Or, to a Muslim in Los Angeles upset about recent violent attacks on the Muslim community: “Stop taking the spotlight off of female genital mutilation and honor killings in Islamic countries!” or, “What about forced hijab and the systemic execution of homosexuals and honor killings under Shariah Law??” or, “Ugh, Muslims need to get over it, that only happened to like 2 people.”

Furthermore, the most startling and revealing behavior, it seems, is when Progressives have implicated themselves in collectively enabling, justifying, and fueling the Anti-Semitism, all of which is evident in the formulaically propagated statements used by all who seek to invalidate Israel’s existence (including those, like Hamas, who harrowingly call for it’s final destruction) laden with the same old regurgitated and perpetually debunked fallacies, historical “revisions” (aka inaccuracies), and demonizing tropes — “Zionism is apartheid/occupation/genocide/white settler colonialism/ethnic cleansing/blood thirst/killing hunger.” (Imagine if you’d said to an Asian, “It’s backlash against the China virus!”) And this brings us (back to) the ultimate gaslighting message and evidence of how slyly and effectively Anti-Zionism can serve as a Trojan horse for Anti-Jew hatred: “It’s not Anti-semitism, it’s Anti-Zionism, and they’re totally different!” But the frightening hypocrisy is undeniable when in the same breath, so-called social justice warriors, including self-proclaimed Progressive congresswomen and house representatives, like AOC and the rest of “The Squad” can proclaim that criticizing Islamic countries is Islamophobia, but then make libelous inflammatory statements and foment egregious lies that invalidate Israel’s very existence while claiming it has nothing to do with Anti-semitism. There have even been calls for the elimination of Israel by popular organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America. This has sent a huge red flag to SJeW’s that there are powerful top-down forces within the Progressive movement who are ostracizing Zionist Progressives while antagonistically fueling division, hatred, and the same vilification of Zionism and Israel.

Disillusioned and scared Progressive Zionists, I hear you. Hurt and confused SJeW’s, I feel you. I empathize with feeling like you have to hide your support for Israel under the floorboards, or be excluded, shamed, name-called, othered, and even vilified or attacked. I empathize with the painful conundrum of: “Do I step into the role of change agent by challenging this, but become a pariah in a movement I’ve felt at home in, or do I stay silent while enabling it and betraying my inner integrity?” Whether or not we feel courageous, it’s collectively dawning on us that the price of silence has become too high to pay. I know what we’re up against is formidable and it’s all too easy to try to ignore it, internalize the gaslighting, cave to pressure. So what do we do? We come together and empower one another to find our voices and lend them to ensuring history does not repeat itself yet again, strengthening one another’s belief that we can all play a role in influencing the evolutionary trajectory of the Progressive movement and the most importantly the fate of the Jews and Israel:

“There is nothing we need more right now in our culture than the kind of conviction that comes from knowing at a deep level that what we do is real and genuinely matters, that it has ethical import… in the sense that our actions are connected, in some small but significant way, to the fate of a process much larger than ourselves.” -Carter Phipps

We can learn from groups like Irshad Manji’s Moral Courage Project that help embolden our courage to express opinions on and discuss contentious topics gracefully, especially ones that challenge the status quo, “to do the right thing in the face our fears.” We arm ourselves not with the same vitriol we’ve been targeted with, but with both compassion and fierce discernment needed to chip away at false narratives and calcified myths about Israel and the regressive binary paradigm in which Zionism and Progressivism are held as mutually exclusive. We get support from new Progressive communities that welcome all Jews with open arms and speak out against Anti-Semitism just as strongly as all other forms of hatred. Ones like Zioness who prove that Zionism and social justice go hand in hand and who show how Progressivism and Zionism are not an either/or but a both/and, and why and how the world must make a collective shift to recognize this. We can open up to any of our Progressive peers who have resisted being brainwashed by the demonization of Israel and resisted taking sides. Peers who we know to be curious individuals open to widening their perception of reality, and who are likely to update their views based on compelling new information. Most importantly, we get inspired by and amplify the voices of vocal progress-oriented Zionists who can help us see through the haze of Gaslighting and keep our spirits strong, brave organizations and individuals who embody what it means to be, as Zioness describes, both unabashedly progressive and unapologetically Zionist.

Change agents to follow: Rudy Rochman, Zioness, Hananya Naftali, Eve Barlow, Bari Weiss, @BlackJewishMagic, @RootsMetal