Joel S.
@joelhs.bsky.social
Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies, Sarah Lawrence College. PhD in Religious Studies, University of Chicago. Globalist elite and Thing-in-Itself-hating Jew. Husband of @petticoatshrink.bsky.social. He/Him/הוא/ער
This new report on Jewish anti-Zionists, despite being produced by people who disagree with them, is one of the first produced by a Jewish organization I have seen that does not dismiss them as ignorant, brainwashed, or self-hating. Worth reading: cdn.prod.website-files.com/61dbcf7b99a1...
cdn.prod.website-files.com
February 12, 2026 at 10:31 PM
This new report on Jewish anti-Zionists, despite being produced by people who disagree with them, is one of the first produced by a Jewish organization I have seen that does not dismiss them as ignorant, brainwashed, or self-hating. Worth reading: cdn.prod.website-files.com/61dbcf7b99a1...
This is the kind of thing that happened in dystopian fiction to warn us about what kind of society we were supposed to work to avoid becoming: www.kut.org/politics/202...
Trump administration is sending pregnant migrant girls to South Texas shelter flagged as medically inadequate
Government sources and advocates for the children worry the goal is to concentrate them in Texas, where abortion is banned.
www.kut.org
February 12, 2026 at 10:11 PM
This is the kind of thing that happened in dystopian fiction to warn us about what kind of society we were supposed to work to avoid becoming: www.kut.org/politics/202...
It is, in fact, a white supremacist (www.theguardian.com/technology/2...)
February 12, 2026 at 10:01 PM
It is, in fact, a white supremacist (www.theguardian.com/technology/2...)
Part of the problem is also that some people hear "anti-Zionism is not antisemitism" as meaning, "It is possible to oppose Zionism as an ideology without being antisemitic," and others hear it as meaning, "My antisemitism becomes acceptable if I brand it as anti-Zionism."
The problem is that some on the left know one fact about antisemitism, which is that “anti-zionism is not antisemitism.”
This is like if the only thing you knew about racism was “it’s not racist to criticize Liberia.”
It is true in most cases but you’re not actually anti-racist if you stop there
This is like if the only thing you knew about racism was “it’s not racist to criticize Liberia.”
It is true in most cases but you’re not actually anti-racist if you stop there
Pointing out antisemitism on the left is one of the most annoying experiences one can have on Bluesky, not only do you get actual antisemites in your replies but also other leftists who are reflexively defensive and who bristle at the slightest critique.
February 12, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Part of the problem is also that some people hear "anti-Zionism is not antisemitism" as meaning, "It is possible to oppose Zionism as an ideology without being antisemitic," and others hear it as meaning, "My antisemitism becomes acceptable if I brand it as anti-Zionism."
Schrödinger's humanities: Simultaneously too weak to fight for our own survival as a field, but also powerful enough to convert our students into full believers in gender theory and cultural Marxism.
February 12, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Schrödinger's humanities: Simultaneously too weak to fight for our own survival as a field, but also powerful enough to convert our students into full believers in gender theory and cultural Marxism.
I have an essay in this new volume from the University of Potsdam Press on "The Imagined Jew in Europe and the North American Sphere from 1700 until the Present." publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/in...
Making sure you're not a bot!
You are seeing this because the administrator of this website has set up Anubis to protect the server against the scourge of AI companies aggressively scraping websites. This can and does cause downtime for the websites, which makes their resources inaccessible for everyone.
publishup.uni-potsdam.de
February 12, 2026 at 6:21 PM
I have an essay in this new volume from the University of Potsdam Press on "The Imagined Jew in Europe and the North American Sphere from 1700 until the Present." publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/in...
"Nearly half of the Jews who don’t identify as either Zionist or anti-Zionist — representing 56% of the total population — think that Israel committed genocide against the Palestinians and that the country is an apartheid state." forward.com/news/antisem...
Most American Jews aren’t ‘Zionist’ — so what are they?
A survey found that even many Jews who don't identify as Zionists are still attached to Israel but also accuse it of apartheid and genocide.
forward.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:29 PM
"Nearly half of the Jews who don’t identify as either Zionist or anti-Zionist — representing 56% of the total population — think that Israel committed genocide against the Palestinians and that the country is an apartheid state." forward.com/news/antisem...
"My 'we're not out scouring the streets to disappear people' proclamation has a lot of people asking questions already answered by my proclamation."
Homan: "ICE is a legitimate federal law enforcement agency. We're not out scouring the streets to disappear people or deny people their civil rights or due process."
February 12, 2026 at 3:11 PM
"My 'we're not out scouring the streets to disappear people' proclamation has a lot of people asking questions already answered by my proclamation."
Hadassah as it stands today would likely not allow their own founder to be a part of their organization, which is a sign of how dramatically definitions of "Zionism" have narrowed.
TIL Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, was a co-founder of the Ihud Party, which advocated a binational Jewish-Arab state.
February 12, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Hadassah as it stands today would likely not allow their own founder to be a part of their organization, which is a sign of how dramatically definitions of "Zionism" have narrowed.
Half the people who read this piece I wrote about American Jews and their relationship to Zionism today seem to think I'm an apologist for Zionism, while the other half seem to think I'm betraying Am Yisrael by justifying American Jews' drift away from Zionism. www.jta.org/2026/02/09/i...
Zionism was never a single concept. We should be grateful to JFNA’s survey for the reminder. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
A Jew can believe in a Jewish, democratic state and still doubt whether contemporary Zionism advances both of those commitments, writes a scholar of European Jewish intellectual history.
www.jta.org
February 12, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Half the people who read this piece I wrote about American Jews and their relationship to Zionism today seem to think I'm an apologist for Zionism, while the other half seem to think I'm betraying Am Yisrael by justifying American Jews' drift away from Zionism. www.jta.org/2026/02/09/i...
You could, you know, stop approaching them as a problem to be solved, rather than as an important part of the community who might be responding in a reasonable way to the state of the world today.
February 12, 2026 at 1:44 PM
You could, you know, stop approaching them as a problem to be solved, rather than as an important part of the community who might be responding in a reasonable way to the state of the world today.
"ICE is an affront to Torah, ICE is an affront to God." www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
Jewish leaders protest in DC, say ICE's actions are 'affront to God'
More than 150 rabbis and cantors protest outside ICE's headquarters in Washington, DC, criticizing the Trump administration's immigration enforcement.
www.usatoday.com
February 12, 2026 at 1:39 AM
"ICE is an affront to Torah, ICE is an affront to God." www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
"Syria’s New Government Returns Property to Syrian Jews Who Left Decades Ago" www.npr.org/2026/02/11/n...
Syria’s New Government Returns Property to Syrian Jews Who Left Decades Ago : State of the World from NPR
Syria’s Jewish community fled the country’s repressive Assad regime. Now, a new government is encouraging their return by giving back ownership of synagogues and other property. Jane Arraf is there a...
www.npr.org
February 12, 2026 at 12:46 AM
"Syria’s New Government Returns Property to Syrian Jews Who Left Decades Ago" www.npr.org/2026/02/11/n...
My colleague at my institution wrote a good piece about Zionism and historical contingencies, and the possibility things could have gone differently. thehistoricizer.substack.com/p/beware-the...
Beware the Seductive Meta-Narrative! Lazy History and the Flattening of Zionism
By Matt
thehistoricizer.substack.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:14 PM
My colleague at my institution wrote a good piece about Zionism and historical contingencies, and the possibility things could have gone differently. thehistoricizer.substack.com/p/beware-the...
Which is where the tensions around what we mean by "Jewish state" come into play - what do you do with someone like Martin Buber, who called himself a Zionist because he wanted a culturally Jewish state in Palestine, but imagined it on binationalist terms?
February 11, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Which is where the tensions around what we mean by "Jewish state" come into play - what do you do with someone like Martin Buber, who called himself a Zionist because he wanted a culturally Jewish state in Palestine, but imagined it on binationalist terms?
I'm not using "statist" in terms of "supporting the current government," but "defining a Jewish state as one with a durable Jewish voting majority."
February 11, 2026 at 10:12 PM
I'm not using "statist" in terms of "supporting the current government," but "defining a Jewish state as one with a durable Jewish voting majority."
Christian nationalist politicians lecturing Jews descended from Holocaust victims about what is actually antisemitic really is the logical endpoint to the current antisemitism discourse.
BONDI: You didn't ask Merrick Garland anything about Epstein
BALINT: Weak sauce
BONDI: And with this antisemitic culture right now, she voted against a resolution--
BALINT: You want to go there! Really? Talking about antisemitism to a woman who lost her grandfather in the Holocaust! *storms off*
BALINT: Weak sauce
BONDI: And with this antisemitic culture right now, she voted against a resolution--
BALINT: You want to go there! Really? Talking about antisemitism to a woman who lost her grandfather in the Holocaust! *storms off*
February 11, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Christian nationalist politicians lecturing Jews descended from Holocaust victims about what is actually antisemitic really is the logical endpoint to the current antisemitism discourse.
The Trump administration is trying to divide Jews from other marginalized communities at a time of rising antisemitism and fascism, by forcing Jews to choose between supporting ICE or rejecting federal security funding. It is an unacceptable choice,. www.jta.org/2026/02/11/i...
American synagogues are being forced into a terrible choice: Collaborate with ICE or risk our own safety - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jewish federations should fund security so synagogues don't have to accept the federal government's conditions, a Philadelphia rabbi urges.
www.jta.org
February 11, 2026 at 5:32 PM
The Trump administration is trying to divide Jews from other marginalized communities at a time of rising antisemitism and fascism, by forcing Jews to choose between supporting ICE or rejecting federal security funding. It is an unacceptable choice,. www.jta.org/2026/02/11/i...
Anyway, if you want to read my take on why we need a more nuanced discussion of what we mean when we use the word "Zionism," which seems to have upset a lot of people on all sides of the political spectrum, here it is: www.jta.org/2026/02/09/i...
Zionism was never a single concept. We should be grateful to JFNA’s survey for the reminder. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
A Jew can believe in a Jewish, democratic state and still doubt whether contemporary Zionism advances both of those commitments, writes a scholar of European Jewish intellectual history.
www.jta.org
February 11, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Anyway, if you want to read my take on why we need a more nuanced discussion of what we mean when we use the word "Zionism," which seems to have upset a lot of people on all sides of the political spectrum, here it is: www.jta.org/2026/02/09/i...
Me: "Zionism once had many non-statist meanings, but now it basically is used synonymously with statist political Zionism."
Jews to my right: "You're giving cover to antisemites by rejecting Zionism!"
People to my left: "You're covering up for genocide by rehabilitating Zionism!"
Jews to my right: "You're giving cover to antisemites by rejecting Zionism!"
People to my left: "You're covering up for genocide by rehabilitating Zionism!"
February 11, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Me: "Zionism once had many non-statist meanings, but now it basically is used synonymously with statist political Zionism."
Jews to my right: "You're giving cover to antisemites by rejecting Zionism!"
People to my left: "You're covering up for genocide by rehabilitating Zionism!"
Jews to my right: "You're giving cover to antisemites by rejecting Zionism!"
People to my left: "You're covering up for genocide by rehabilitating Zionism!"
Have a post go semi-viral on this platform, get accused by people to my right of sucking up to antisemites who will never accept any Jews, and by people to my left of covering up for Palestinian genocide, all because I wrote a semi-nuanced article on the changing meaning of the word "Zionism."
February 11, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Have a post go semi-viral on this platform, get accused by people to my right of sucking up to antisemites who will never accept any Jews, and by people to my left of covering up for Palestinian genocide, all because I wrote a semi-nuanced article on the changing meaning of the word "Zionism."
"Amy Kershenbaum, 58, who was among those inside the event, said: 'Many of us would not be here if Reform policies were in place when our ancestors sought refuge.'"
February 11, 2026 at 4:46 PM
"Amy Kershenbaum, 58, who was among those inside the event, said: 'Many of us would not be here if Reform policies were in place when our ancestors sought refuge.'"
Nigel Farage should be heckled everywhere he goes, but also, calling Jews who support Reform UK “Reform Jewish” is going to get very confusing very quickly.
February 11, 2026 at 4:20 PM
Nigel Farage should be heckled everywhere he goes, but also, calling Jews who support Reform UK “Reform Jewish” is going to get very confusing very quickly.
The far-right Reform UK launched a Jewish members' organization. Jewish protesters interrupted the event, heckled Nigel Farage, and accused Farage of using Jews "launder and whitewash his politics." www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Nigel Farage heckled at launch of Reform Jewish group
Jewish activists interrupt speech at synagogue and accuse party of paving way for persecution of other minorities
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:58 PM
The far-right Reform UK launched a Jewish members' organization. Jewish protesters interrupted the event, heckled Nigel Farage, and accused Farage of using Jews "launder and whitewash his politics." www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
“Israeli Annexation of the West Bank Is Now a Legal Reality” www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
'Tectonic': Israeli annexation of the West Bank is now a legal reality
As Israel Expands Its Legal Powers in the West Bank Into Palestinian-controlled Enclaves, Could the International Community – and U.S. President Donald Trump – Finally Be Moved to Act Beyond Empty Con...
www.haaretz.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:11 PM
“Israeli Annexation of the West Bank Is Now a Legal Reality” www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...