An open letter was published three weeks ago from a group claiming to speak for Oberlin’s Jewish students in the title of their article (“Open Letter from Oberlin’s Jewish Students,” The Oberlin Review, Nov. 17, 2023). While they might speak for themselves, they don’t reflect the feelings of all Jews here on Oberlin’s campus.
I am a liberal Jew who wants to see a safe and prosperous Israel as well as a healthy, stable Palestinian state. Yes, those two things can go hand in hand. I also spent a summer studying Middle Eastern politics at Brown University.
The writers of the open letter rightly state that “Jewish Americans are not a monolith.” I agree with them. Yet, that letter does not reflect my own beliefs and experiences as a Jewish student here at Oberlin.
While the letter does not directly reference the Holocaust, its references to “genocide,” use of the phrase “state-sanctioned anti-Jewish violence,” and reference to the “promise of never again” implicates the Holocaust in their argument. Based on this assumption, the letter uses the Holocaust as leverage, something many people, Jewish or not, deem to be incredibly harmful. In the first paragraph they state that because their grandparents survived the Holocaust and various other horrors Jews experienced in Europe, they stand in opposition to the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. There is no use in comparing two instances of large amounts of lives lost. These types of comparisons often belittle the names of both the six million lost in the Holocaust and the over 17,000 dead in Gaza. Leveraging the Holocaust is something usually done by those who aim to stoke fear. It’s been done by right-wing Israeli governments for decades as a means of stoking nationalist sentiment, and it’s been used by anti-Israel and anti-Zionist groups as a means to dehumanize Israelis, which is a stance that I do not think anyone would like to be associated with.
Also, claiming that Zionism is not an extension of Judaism is a risky endeavor. At its core, Zionism is a belief that Jews reserve the same rights to self determination as any other group of people, and it’s preferred that the Jewish state would be in the Holy Land. I know that my definition deviates a little from some of the more widely accepted definitions, but only on the front that they state the Jewish state must be in Israel/Palestine. If a yearning for self-determination in the Holy Land isn’t an extension of Judaism and the Jewish people, I don’t know what is. Now, Christian Zionism and Radical Zionism, which is where the Netanyahu government lies because of their ongoing support of the settlements and their denial of any Palestinian right to the land, are easily condemnable, and in my eyes should be as such, but Zionism itself is an idea that shouldn’t be trampled on. Zionism also is not a white supremacist ideal in the least. Any amount of historical knowledge of Zionism would tell you that Zionism is a response to the oppression of Jews in Europe, and a brief study of Jewish assimilation in America would be able to tell you that Jews most certainly aren’t all white. Israel, while having its fair share of racism, is not a state built on it. Israel has time and time again stood up for Jews of color in the diaspora and in Israel.
To be anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian means that you want to see Palestinian self-determination at the expense of Jewish self-determination, which is an unequal and negative way to want to end the conflict. In my eyes, being pro-Palestinian is wanting to see a strong Palestinian state, with a stable government that works for its people. Furthermore, Article 1 of the United Nations Charter states that international relations ought to function on the basis of respect for the “principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples,” meaning that should a new country be created, it should not infringe upon another state’s sovereignty as much as possible. Zionism is a broad spectrum, but its root is a need for Jewish self-determination, thus when advocating for Palestinian liberation whilst claiming anti-Zionism, one is clearly putting Palestinian self-determination over the self-determination of Jews. When my classmates side with Oberlin’s chapter of the national organization Students for Justice in Palestine, they are aligning with a group that has called for a third intifada and denied the two-state solution as a viable path in their protests. I heard these chants myself when I viewed the walkouts that happened in Tappan Square. Many chapters of the national SJP have lauded Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, and while Oberlin’s chapter hasn’t, they are still associated with the national branch that still has not been able to condemn that violence. In my opinion, these statements are clear and vile antisemitism. The intifadas targeted innocent Jews, and the denial of a two-state solution is saying that the Jewish state has no right to exist.
Speaking on behalf of Oberlin’s Jewish population, leveraging the Holocaust, and siding with an organization that proudly boasts antisemitic rhetoric, such as the SJP’s calls for intifada, does not liberate Palestine. Using your religion as leverage does not free Palestine. Being against the self determination of Jews does not free Palestine. It is a shame that voices across our community think that they can speak for an entire Jewish population, and it’s even worse that they chose to do so by using rhetoric that has been used by propagandists for decades. The entire legitimacy of their argument is based on the fact that they are Jews. You shouldn’t be proud of using Judaism in this way.
In my experience, I know that many other Jews grew up learning about Israeli nationalist ideals. These are separate from Zionism, but conflated by many. Israeli nationalism is the same as nationalism anywhere else; it is thinking that a country is better than any other. Teaching this is not good. But one should not replace this with more biased content. I think it is important that more of my classmates read academic articles, talk to Israelis, talk to Palestinians, and study both Jewish and Arab history and then come up with your stance. Dialogue always helps open up minds, and allows you to hear viewpoints you might not have heard otherwise.
To all, check in on your Jewish friends and your Palestinian friends, stay educated, and always fight for peace over violence.
