Jewish, not Zionist
by Marilyn Garson
Published by Left of the Equator, October 22, 2024
Retail price: $30 NZD
Amazon, Apple, Kobo and other ebooks: $9.99 US / $16.50 NZD
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What happens in Aotearoa NZ when a Jew acknowledges Palestinians as her equals? What does anti-Zionist mean? For the first time, Jewish, not Zionist tells a very personal story of Aotearoa’s Jewish solidarity with Palestine.
Marilyn Garson worked in Gaza for four years. In her new book, she recounts her homecoming as a practising Jew seeking her faith community and justice for Palestine. Painfully excluded from her community, she slowly constructed a liberatory Jewish identity—both activist and spiritual. She co-founded Alternative Jewish Voices to call for justice in a pluralist, anti-racist Jewish voice.
In two parts, the book also carefully explores the power of a political definition of antisemitism to shield Israel’s unbearable violence and apartheid. It deconstructs the echo chamber of overlapping entities which purport to speak for the Jewish community. Throughout, the book offers timely analysis of the impact of the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 Advisory Opinion. In particular, Garson reinvigorates human rights as a radical politics for dehumanised Palestine.
A founding member of Global Jews for Palestine, Garson writes with the aroha of Gaza and an unwavering resolve learned on the front lines of the international movement for justice.
Advance praise for “Jewish, not Zionist”
One day, Jewish, not Zionist will be riveting testimony to a Jewish solidarity with Palestine that blossomed in our unique context of Aotearoa. Right now, it is an urgent meditation on getting there. Together.
We are very fortunate to be offered a glimpse into a full life of solidarity and community building, from a writer who treats self-reflection with the utmost care. A brilliant work of solidarity. Garson shines a light, through sharp and honest prose, on an alternative path to identity and religious hope through community building.
In this extraordinary book, Marilyn Garson grapples with the unbearable pain of her exclusion from her small New Zealand Jewish community in response to her support for Palestinian human rights. Rather than a tale of retreat and recrimination, this is a story of spiritual and political commitment to the principle that Jewish tradition and practice can and must be reclaimed for liberatory purposes.
Marilyn Garson’s compelling book takes readers on a journey of resistance, shedding light on the conflict between Jewish identity and Zionism. It urges us to delve into grassroots Jewish solidarity, its potential and challenges, and the struggle against Zionism’s dominance. This timely contribution is essential in understanding the role of Jewish solidarity in dismantling Israeli colonisation and reclaiming the true essence of Jewish identity. It is particularly relevant in the face of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, providing valuable insights and perspectives on these current events.
An ancient Chinese proverb says: “When Marilyn Garson speaks, the world ought to listen.” Having benefited from Marilyn’s wisdom and spirit over many years, I wholeheartedly recommend the proverb and her new book.