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There is an inherent danger in conflating Israel with the religion of Judaism and, by extension, conflating criticism of Israel or Political Zionism with antisemitism.whom they say “refuse to condemn violent slogans, deny Israel’s legitimacy, and accuse the Jewish state of genocide.
” The rabbis’ letter then leaps to the unfounded conclusion that Mamdani’s support for Palestinianand his critique of Israeli behavior is acting to “delegitimize the Jewish community and encouraging and exacerbating hostility toward Judaism and Jews.”During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as the idea of Zionism was being debated by European Jews, there were competing currents of thought, even amongst those who agreed that the Jewish people had a connection with the biblical land of Israel. Some saw the connection as spiritual; others had a more secular cultural bond. While some in these two camps sought a partnership with the Arabs who inhabited the land, the view that came to dominate the new movement advocated, instead, for an exclusive Jewish state inin the same way the British defined those whom they subjugated in other lands—objects of contempt who were undeserving of rights. In the early 1920s, a British journalist reported witnessing a group of European Jews carrying flags bearing the Star of David marching through the streets of Jerusalem chanting “Jerusalem is ours,” and “We want a Jewish State.” The journalist observed that Jerusalem’s inhabitants—Christians, Muslims, and Jews—were mostly befuddled. The flag with the star was foreign to them, as were the slogans. Arabs who objected to the march were accused of attacking Judaism because the flags included a Star of David. They were not. They were objecting to the European Jews’ claim that Jerusalem was theirs, as well as the marchers’ stated goal of ignoring Arab rights and supplanting them with a colonialist-supported foreign state. As the British designs on Palestine and their pledge to the Political Zionist movement became known, the Arabs of Palestine came to understand the portent of that early Jerusalem march. During the next three decades, a bloody conflict unfolded. While American Jews had some sympathy for their co-religionists in Palestine, the majority did not embrace Zionism or Israel as their self-identity. This was true even after the 1948 War and Israel’s Declaration of Independence. In the 1960s, several factors combined to make a change in American Jewish attitudes toward Israel: the US was in the midst of themovements that combined to challenge the American identity. In this context, the successful 1960s hasbara film, “The Exodus” and Israel’s victory in the 1967 war played significant roles in moving American Jews to demonstrate greater affinity with Israel. But affinity and financial support were not enough for Political Zionists. They continued to push the notion that Zionism and Judaism were the same. In the 1970s, leaders of the Anti-Defamation League , a group that had long been in the vanguard of defending Jews against bigotry, co-authored a book entitled, “The New Anti-Semitism,” advancing the case that because, in their view, Israel was so central to Judaism and Jewish identity, being against Israel was the newest form of hatred against Jews.and Democrats. When the arena shifted to the states, the pro-Israel forces were more successful. To date, more than three dozen states have passed such controversial bills, threatening protected speech. In the wake of the public outrage that followed Hamas’s October 7th, 2023 attack, the ADL and its allies in government andIt didn’t matter to them the protests were against Israeli actions not Jews, nor that polls were showing that Jewish Americans were deeply divided over Israeli policies. Instead, they supported efforts by Republicans to have the protests banned and pushed universities to punish students who engaged in criticism of Israel. Thousands of students were arrested, and many were suspended from their universities and had their degrees withheld. Faculty who supported the students were silenced or terminated, and some foreign students were held for deportation because they had been critical of Israel. Despite the fact that attacks against both Arab American and Jewish American students increased, the ADL and Republicans in Congress deployed a weaponized definition of antisemitism that slighted Arab concerns or judged them as, US television captured a scene which was deeply troubling in its implications. A young Jewish woman with a large Israeli flag draped around her neck like a cape was shown walking right into the middle of a pro-Palestinian demonstration. She was followed by a reporter and camera. Despite her deliberate provocation and the fact that she was ignored by the pro-Palestinian protesters, the woman could be heard saying to the reporter, “I just want to feel safe.” Enter Zohran Mamdani. He is an elected member of the New York State legislature whose entry into the mayoral contest electrified voters. His charisma and agenda to make New York more affordable has won support from young voters, the city’s, recent immigrants, and liberals. After decisively winning the Democratic primary, New York’s financial elites and political establishment mobilized to defeat Mamdani in the general election. While polls are showing him still holding a substantial lead over his main opponent, billionaire donors have poured tens of millions into ads that ironically have used anti-Muslim tropes to defame and smear the candidate and his community. While there are many issues at play in this contest, the dominant media narrative has been that Mamdani’s criticism of Israel is making the city unsafe for Jews. This is easily disproven by the most recent poll of Jewish voters showing Mamdani tied with his nearest competitor—and leading by two to one among Jews between the ages of 18 to 45.is not antisemitic. This shouldn’t threaten Jews. In fact, the threat to Jews comes from those, like the ADL, who falsely equate all Jews with Israel’s deplorable behaviors. Or the rabbis who use false charges to incite against a candidate whose one crime has been to tell the truth.His continued imprisonment is not merely unjust; it silences the one leader most capable of uniting the Palestinian people and leading them toward a political solution. For more than two decades, Marwan Barghouti has sat behind Israeli bars—a living emblem of a brutal occupation that has deniedtheir freedom and dignity. His continued imprisonment is not merely unjust; it silences the one leader most capable of uniting the Palestinian people and leading them toward a political solution.over many years show he is the most popular Palestinian political figure, trusted across factions and generations—even by many who have lost faith in politics. Releasing him is not a concession. It is a prerequisite for peace.was a prominent member of Fatah, the Palestinian political faction that dominates the Palestinian Authority , which governs limited parts of the occupied. He was also an elected parliamentarian. He was arrested by Israeli forces on April 15, 2002, and in 2004 an Israeli court convicted him and sentenced him to five life terms plus 40 years, accusing him of involvement in attacks that killed Israelis. Barghouti denied the charges, refused to recognize the court’s legitimacy, and declared himself a political prisoner under occupation. is inseparable from the larger machinery of occupation: like thousands of other Palestinian prisoners, he has endured brutal and degrading treatment, including torture, solitary confinement, and denial of adequate medical care. Throughout his imprisonment, Barghouti has supported a principled stance: he rejects attacks on civilians and defends the right of a people living under military occupation to resist within international law. He has long advocated for negotiations grounded in equality and self-determination. That combination makes him uniquely capable of serving as a key mediator., “Israel sees my father as a danger because of his ability to bring Palestinians together.” Keeping him locked away serves two aims forthat he was severely beaten by guards in September. That fear increased on August 15, 2025, when Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir The family has repeatedly asked Israel to allow international lawyers and the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit him, but their requests have been, “Anyone serious about ‘peace’ should ensure his release, as the most popular—and unlawfully detained—Palestinian leader.” On October 29, a group of global leaders called The Elders, which was started by Nelson Mandela in 2007,on President Trump to demand Barghouti’s release, “capitalising on the opportunity opened up by the fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza.”Ari Ayalon, have acknowledged that if Israel truly wants a partner who can deliver the Palestinian public to an agreement, Barghouti is the one leader with the legitimacy to do it.Barghouti’s popularity as a uniting figure is why so many Palestinians call him their Nelson Mandela. Mandela’s release did not solve South Africa’s problems overnight, but it unlocked a door that had been nailed shut. Barghouti’s freedom could do the same. If Israel truly seeks peace, it must stop locking away the very leadership capable of achieving it. If the international community truly stands forPalestinianism insists that disarmament must extend beyond arsenals to include the dismantling of the systems that arm injustice: unchecked power, selective law, and institutional silence.observes Disarmament Week—a global call to reduce weapons, promote peace, and raise awareness about the human cost of armed conflict. Held annually from October 24 to 30, this observance invites governments, civil society, and individuals to reflect on the roots of violence and the pathways to peace. In 2025, as the world confronts escalating conflicts and humanitarian crises, the objectives of Disarmament Week resonate with renewed urgency. This essay argues that true disarmament must dismantle not only weapons but the global systems that perpetuate impunity and selective justice. It invites reflection on how Palestinianism reframes peace—not as the absence of conflict, but as the restoration of dignity.Palestinianism has emerged as a global ethical framework. It links Palestinian resistance to struggles for justice worldwide—from South Africa’s fight againstand anti-racist movements. It also exposes the failures of global governance, where law is bent by power, and silence becomes complicity. Palestinianism insists that disarmament must extend beyond arsenals. It must include the dismantling of the systems that arm injustice: unchecked power, selective law, and institutional silence. In this sense, Disarmament Week is not only about reducing weapons—it is about confronting the ideologies and structures that perpetuate violence.illustrates a spectrum of violence prohibited under international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention. United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations have documented patterns including indiscriminate attacks on civilians, destruction of medical facilities, targeting journalists, and denial of: The silencing of memory through attacks on journalists, schools, and archives—an attempt to erase not just lives but legacies. These crimes are lived realities, reflecting the erosion of norms meant to safeguard humanity. They reveal what jurists call the “architecture of impunity”: a UN system paralyzed by vetoes, and a world where accountability is rationed by politics.The integration of Palestinianism into the discourse of Disarmament Week adds new dimensions to the very definition of disarmament. It shifts the focus from weapons alone to the systems that sustain violence: impunity, silence, and structural. Disarmament, in this light, becomes not only a technical goal but a moral imperative—a commitment to dismantling the conditions that allow injustice to persist. It is about restoring dignity where it has been denied, and ensuring that peace is not built on erasure, but on recognition., but it is most brutally exposed there. It raises a critical question: Is international law a shield for the vulnerable, or a tool for the powerful? Disarmament Week offers a moment to confront these contradictions. It reminds us that peace is not the absence of war—it is the presence of justice. It calls on the international community to uphold theacross the globe have responded with unprecedented solidarity with the Palestinian people. Student movements have organized teach-ins, professional associations have spoken out, and grassroots campaigns have mobilized worldwide. Global media outlets have amplified Palestinian voices, countering narratives that erase suffering or normalize occupation. A growing number of governments have also recognized the State ofAs a health professional, I have had the privilege of visiting several Palestinian refugee camps. There, I witnessed not only the daily hardships of displacement, but also the resilience of families determined to preserve dignity under the harshest conditions. Working alongside local health and social organizations, I saw how disabledI remember a child in a wheelchair, smiling as he recited poetry in a crowded clinic. His voice was soft, but his presence was defiant—a reminder that dignity resists even in rubble. These experiences deepened my understanding of Palestinianism as more than an abstract principle. It is lived in the bodies ofdenied healthcare, in the aspirations of students studying in overcrowded classrooms, and in the perseverance of families who rebuild after every demolition. Palestinianism, for me, is therefore not only a global framework of justice and peace—it is also a lived ethic of solidarity, rooted in the faces and stories of people I had the honor to serve.and the credibility of international law.To embrace Palestinianism is to affirm justice without exception—not as a slogan, but as a standard and a criterion.Top ICE Official Says Protesters Can Be Arrested for Simply Criticizing Mass Deportation Campaign: Court FilingThe Librarian’s Call: Documenting Is ResistanceTrump Targets Another Late Night Comedian, Saying It's 'Probably Illegal' to Make Fun of HimReport Details Massive Federal Contracts, Enforcement Actions Against Trump's Ballroom Donors
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Common DreamsCommon Dreams has been providing breaking news & views for the progressive community since 1997. We are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and 100% reader supported. Our Mission: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
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Common DreamsCommon Dreams has been providing breaking news & views for the progressive community since 1997. We are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and 100% reader supported. Our Mission: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
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Common DreamsCommon Dreams has been providing breaking news & views for the progressive community since 1997. We are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and 100% reader supported. Our Mission: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
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