Jewish Alliance
of Simcoe
We're an anti-zionist, progressive Jewish collective based in Simcoe County.
Our vision of Jewish life is a flourishing global diaspora, building on our diverse historic traditions to help make our local communities more just and inclusive for everyone.
Join us in fostering anti-oppressive spaces to stand in solidarity with our neighbours, and celebrate diasporic Jewish culture, faith and history together!
Jewish Alliance
of Simcoe
Mission Statement
Jewish Alliance
of Simcoe
Suggested Reading
On Christian Zionism & White Supremacy
101: Christian Zionism
Aidan Orly
A summary of contemporary Christian zionism in the United States. This page collects decades of research by Political Research Associates (PRA), a social justice research and strategy center.History shows that anti-Semitism and pro-Zionism have never been mutually exclusive
Amy Kaplan
This article is hosted on Mondoweiss, a US-based news website devoted to progressive investigative reporting covering American foreign policy in Palestine. Kaplan was also the author of Our American Israel: The Story of an Entangled Alliance, which traces the history of how zionist propaganda came to be entangled with American nationalism.
Taking the “Race” Out of Master Race: The Evolving Role of the Jew in White Supremacist Discourse
Emma Rosenberg
Emma Rosenberg is a Faculty Fellow at the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies at NYU. Her research centres the intersection between nationalism, religious identities, and citizenship.To Oppose Zionism, We Have to Deal with Christian Zionism
Ashley J. Bohrer
This article represents a culmination of the research and advocacy work of Ashley J. Bohrer, a scholar-activist based in Chicago. Her scholarly writing centres pairing intersectional feminist frameworks with Marxist analysis. She is actively involved with The Center for Jewish Nonviolence, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Chicago chapter of Never Again Action.Understanding Alt-Right Antisemitism: What The New White Supremacy Means for American Jews, and Why It Matters
Ben Lorber
This article presents a broad summary of contemporary North American white nationalist sources and their perspectives on the state of Israel. Ben Lorber is likewise the co-author of Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism.
On Jewish Anti-zionism vs. Zionist Ideology
The Bund: A Graphic History of Jewish Labour Resistance
Sharon Rudahl, Michael Kluckner and Paul Buhle
Anyone looking for a readable, layman-friendly introduction to the anti-Zionist Jewish Labor Bund might be interested in this historical graphic novel. The artist, Michael Kluckner, hosts a number of preview pages and his reflections on the project here. The Forgotten History of the Jewish, Anti-zionist Left
interview with Benjamin Balthaser
Benjamin Balthaser's extensive academic output on the history of Jewish resistance to zionism, imperialism and white supremacy can be found here.Israel's Black Panthers: The Radicals Who Punctured a Nation's Founding Myth
Asaf Elia-Shalev
Journalist Asaf Elia-Shalev draws on archival documents and interviews with elderly activists to capture the history of a Mizrahi-led movement inspired by the American Black Panthers. His book elaborates on the little-known history of radical struggle from within the state of Israel, and how it reflects on the complex relationships between Mizrahi Jews and the zionist project.The Jewish State
Theodor Herzl
As a founding text of Jewish political zionism, Herzl's writing is revealing. His casually racist civilizational rhetoric (characteristic of 20th century European settler-colonialism) and disdain for the poor migrants his colonization company would conscript into building his ideal "democratic monarchy" speaks for itself. He likewise anticipates antisemitic support for his vision, paired with widespread Jewish resistance. Of course, Herzl dismisses the latter as a product of "mediocre minds."The land of promise : a Critique of Political Zionism
Abdelwahab El-Messiri
Dr. El-Messiri is famous in Egypt for his many-volumed work “Encyclopedia of Jews, Judaism and Zionism.” Despite zionist accusations to the contrary, El-Messiri clearly and consistently repudiates all forms of antisemitism, while making a strong case for why Judaism is fundamentally oppositional to zionism from a secular, humanist point of view.Modern Middle Eastern Jewish Thought: Writings on Identity, Politics, and Culture, 1893–1958
Edited by Moshe Behar and Zvi Ben-Dor Benite
A critical anthology of original texts written by Jewish intellectuals defining themselves as Mizrahi, Sephardic, and Arab-Jewish. Many of the chosen authors object to Zionism on leftist grounds. The volume includes a rare translation of documents written by Yusuf Zhilkha, of the Anti-Zionist League in Iraq.Revolutionary Yiddishland: A History of Jewish Radicalism
Alain Brossat and Sylvie Klingberg
A sweeping narrative covering the broad strokes of Jewish radical movements in Central and Eastern Europe throughout the 20th century. Revolutionary Yiddishland offers insight into a deeply significant part of Jewish history that was later suppressed by Zionist ideology and historiography.Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism
Shane Burley and Ben Lorber
As Jewish anti-zionist journalists, researchers and organizers with over a decade of experience, Burley and Lorber plainly lay out the mechanisms behind modern-day structural antisemitism. They also describe how the rhetoric of antisemitism is misappropriated by bad faith actors with racist right-wing agendas. Solidarity through collective liberation is the only way forward. There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart: Mending the World as Jewish Anarchists
Edited by Cindy Milstein
A collection of intimate essays drawing parallels between Jewish radical history and contemporary manifestations of Jewish radical thought. This book is an inviting read from a queer, feminist perspective. A Threat from Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism
Yakov M. Rabkin
Rabkin's work presents an account of Jewish anti-zionism from a more explicitly theological standpoint. With its thorough historical scholarship of religious Jewish opposition to zionism, this book offers a valuable counterweight to more explicitly secular movements.The untold story of Arab Jews — and their solidarity with Palestinians
Sigal Samuel
Sigal Samuel is an award-winning author and journalist. She has written multiple books and articles centering Mizrahi Jewish experience, and its intersections with anti-colonial and anti-racist struggle. With Freedom in Our Ears: Histories of Jewish Anarchism
Edited by Anna Elena Torres and Kenyon Zimmer
A collection of forgotten and suppressed Jewish radical history that documents both the significance of anarchist contributions to labor and the heterogeneity within Jewish anarchist thought.
Jewish Alliance
of Simcoe
Defining Antisemitism
Drawing on the IJV alternative to the IHRA and the Jerusalem Declaration, we present the following as our working definition of antisemitism:
Jewish Alliance
of Simcoe
Land Acknowledgement
As Jews committed to decolonial Jewish practice, we want to acknowledge the colonial legacies of the region presently known as "Simcoe County."We are based on the traditional land of the Anishnaabek (a confederacy comprised of the Ojibwe, Odawa and Pottawatomi, also referred to as the Three Fires Council) and maintain an awareness that we live and work on unceded land, through treaty agreements that were broken by the British, and later, Canada.We aim to recognize and support the many ways that all First Nations, Metis and Inuit people residing on Turtle Island are working to sustain their communities and restore their jurisdiction after centuries of violent colonization.