Pulitzer Prize-winning author Benjamin Moser knew he was touching a third rail with his latest book recounting the history of Jewish anti-Zionists who criticized and even opposed the creation of the modern nation-state of Israel.
Regardless, he persisted.
Moser grew up like many American Jews with a liberal Zionism that romanticized Israel and often ignored the existence and disenfranchisement of the Palestinian people. Israel was the only democracy in the Middle East, a haven for Jews, a beacon for other nations, and there would be peace in the region if only those violent, pesky Arabs would stop being so anti-semitic and murderous.
With more awareness and education, Moser realized he grew up with a lie. The past three years awakened the world, which has witnessed a genocide unfold live on their smartphones. Moser sought to see if Jews like him were indeed outliers, also “self-hating” according to some community member, or if there was a tradition of Jewish intellectual, cultural, and religious thought that warned about the inherently colonial and racist nature of the modern Zionist project.
Moser’s answer is his latest book, Anti Zionism: A Jewish History, which is receiving rave reviews and harsh criticism by establishment media, including many Jewish American liberals. Moser’s argument is indeed provocative, because he argues Israel didn’t “lose” its way recently, rather the whole concept was flawed from the beginning and its trend towards extremism was inevitable.
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