In episode 25, I speak with Benjamin Balthaser about his new book, Citizens of the Whole World: Anti-Zionism and the Cultures of the American Jewish Left, just published by Verso. Benjamin tells me about his beloved communist grandparents and his own background as a labor activist and longtime member of Jewish Voice for Peace. We discuss the historical precedents to the current eruption of anti-Zionism among U.S. Jews on the left as we dig into the history, especially from the 1970s, of Jewish diasporism as a political identity. Benjamin shows us how diasporism grew out of the practical politics of the 1970s in response to the collapse of the New Left, the Jewish institutional turn towards Zionism, and the emergence of “identity politics.” We end by talking about the challenges of intersectional solidarity then and now, asking what we can learn from these earlier generations about maintaining our commitments to the liberation of all people, even when contradictions arise.This episode was recorded in two sections; you will notice a shift in sound quality after the musical break. We reference a future episode on the history of the red scare and its effects on Jewish institutions. Stay tuned! Books, movements and groups mentioned or discussed:Peter Beinart, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A ReckoningPeter Beinart and Angela Davis, “What a Lifetime of Struggle Taught Angela Davis” on The Beinart Notebook podcastDaniel Boyarin, The No State Solution: A Jewish ManifestoJudith Butler, Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of ZionismAbraham Cahan, The Rise of David LevinskyMarjorie N. Feld, The Threshold of Dissent: A History of American Jewish Critics of ZionismMichael Gold, Jews Without MoneyGeoffrey Levin, Our Palestine Question: Israel and American Jewish Dissent, 1948-1978Shaul Magid, The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a DistancePhilip Roth, Portnoy’s ComplaintMyron Perlman and The Chutzpah CollectiveStudents for a Democratic Society (SDS)Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)Black Power movement Music by Ben Roberts: [email protected] and ideas to [email protected]

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