Ask Haviv Anything Episode 64: The Soviet roots of today's antizionism, with Izabella Tabarovsky
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Nov 28, 2025 Izabella Tabarovsky, a scholar specializing in Soviet anti-Zionism and antisemitism, delves into how Soviet ideologies shaped today's discourse on Israel. She explores Stalin's early rejection of Jewish nationhood and the complex relationship between Soviet propaganda and Jewish identity. Key topics include the evolution of anti-Zionism from ideological critique to conspiratorial narratives, the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee's fate, and the impact of the Six-Day War on Jewish consciousness. Tabarovsky calls for grassroots activism and reclaiming Jewish dignity in the face of historical repression.
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Soviet Denial Of Jewish Peoplehood
- Stalin argued Jews were not a people because they lacked a common territory, language, and unified economic life.
- That Marxist denial of Jewish nationhood became the foundation for Soviet anti-Zionist policy.
Class Over Ethnicity In Bolshevik Strategy
- Bolsheviks opposed Zionism partly to win Jewish loyalties for socialist revolution and to undercut nationalist alternatives.
- They framed identity by class not ethnicity, pitching Jews as proletarians rather than a nation.
The Jewish Anti‑Fascist Committee Turned Victim
- Stalin created a Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee to raise money and support during WWII and sent members abroad.
- After the war he turned on them, arresting and executing leaders when geopolitics and paranoia shifted.
