Violent Majorities 2.1: Peter Beinart on Long-Distance Israeli Ethnonationalism (LA, AS)

Feb 6, 2025

In this conversation, Peter Beinart, a columnist and author known for his critical views on Israeli policies, shares insights from his new book. He delves into the moral implications of Zionism and the struggles of Jewish identity amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Beinart reflects on historical parallels with apartheid South Africa and the shifting attitudes of younger Jews towards anti-Zionism. The discussion advocates for solidarity against authoritarianism and emphasizes the interconnectedness of global struggles for justice.

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Intro

00:00 • 3min

Navigating Identity and Advocacy

03:05 • 10min

Navigating Jewish Identity and Apartheid

13:24 • 8min

Evolving Perspectives on Zionism and Palestinian Solidarity

21:14 • 23min

Interconnectedness in Faith and Activism

44:12 • 3min

Global Implications of Gaza: A Mirror to Oppression

47:34 • 3min

Exploring Anti-Nationalism through Jewish Texts

50:32 • 2min

Political anthropologists Ajantha Subramanian and Lori Allen are back to continue RTB's Violent Majorities series with a set of three episodes on long-distance ethno-nationalism. Today, they speak with Peter Beinart (an editor at Jewish Currents and Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York) about his just-released book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning (Knopf, 2025). It aims to mobilize Jewish religious ethics and teachings to reach a Jewish-American audience shaped by Zionism. Beinart seeks to debunk myths that prevent many from realizing that the moral abominations committed against Palestinians are part of the Israeli settler-colonial-nation-state project.

Peter is haunted by the fact that some of the most ardent opposition to apartheid in his parents’ country of South Africa came from secular Jewish people, and is troubled by the nationalistic tendency of religiously observant Jews there in the apartheid era. The three also discuss questions of solidarity against and among authoritarians, Israel’s threat to international law, the dangers of minority alliances with majoritarian politics, campus politics, and the importance of seeing Gaza and Palestine as connected to us all.

Peter’s Recallable Book is Accepting the Yoke of Heaven: Commentary on the Weekly Torah Portion, by Orthodox scientist, philosopher, and Judaica scholar Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903-1994), who emphasized the idolatry of investing the state with anything more than a supportive role in Jewish life.

Mentioned in the Episode:

119 Violent Majorities, Indian and Israeli Ethnonationalism. Episode 2: Natasha Roth-Rowland with Ajantha and Lori
Aparna Gopalan, "The Hindu Nationalists Using the Pro-Israel Playbook," Jewish Currents.
Isabella Hammad, Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative.
Martin Luther King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Message.
The Beinart Notebook podcast

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