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Copyright

Susan Landau;

Published On

2025-06-25

Page Range

pp. 61–64

Language

  • English

Print Length

4 pages

III. ENGAGING JEWISH VOICES OF CONSCIENCE AND DISSENT, POST 7 OCTOBER 2023

  • Susan Landau (author)
Chapter of: 'Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By': Jews of Conscience on Palestine(pp. 61–64)
Jewish dissent on Zionism prior to Israeli statehood in 1948 and beyond 7 October 2023 complicates our understanding of history, while it may allow us to reimagine the present.

Fast forward through seventy-seven years of Israel’s occupation of Palestine to 7 October 2023, when Hamas, the Palestinian military group from Gaza, attacked Israel. The cataclysmic series of events which followed have upended timeworn narratives and tropes which have served a range of political agendas.

Often-overlooked critical distinctions between Judaism and Zionism now demand investigation and clarification. 2024 bore witness to US academic institutions having lost a way to support free speech. Antisemitism became a wedge issue to deflect from the war on Gaza and legitimate demands for justice for Palestine.

The occurrences on 7 October 2023, and their aftermath, demand a reconsideration of earlier Jewish voices of conscience whose dissent has too often been silenced, marginalized, and dismissed. As well, the real time responses of current Jewish theologians, scholars, historians, educators, activists, and journalists in Part III inform, enlighten, and inspire rethinking.

Contributors

Susan Landau

(author)

Susan Landau is a passionate advocate for kindness, justice, truth, and equality. The time-honored ethical tradition of Judaism grounds her self-definition as an anti-Zionist Jew, and shapes over twenty years of her active engagement in learning, organizing, educating, writing, and advocating for justice for all people of historic Palestine. She offers presentations, classes, and webinars locally, and at regional and national conferences. Susan is a co-editor of a study guide, Why Palestine Matters: The Struggle to End Colonialism (2018, Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church, USA). Susan Landau, LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She combines her lifelong career as a psychotherapist with a commitment to political education and advocacy in support of justice in Palestine. Susan lives in East Falls, Pennsylvania where she maintains her private psychotherapy practice.