Anti-Zionist Committees of the American Public

Key Findings:

In this op-ed, the author addresses parallels between the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public and modern day Anti-Zionist movements amongst Jews, particularly in the US. By highlighting their core similarities, the author aims to shed light on the danger of the current state of antisemitism, and how a lack of solidarity amongst the Jews amplifies that danger. 

In the 1980s Soviet Union, the author’s family members were victims of harsh treatment due to their support of Israel and their desire to emigrate there. With the emergence of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public, Zionism was vilified, and propelled antisemitic sentiments. The author points out that many of the individuals who spoke out against Israel and aligned with the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public were Jews, and describes this phenomenon, which lives on in modern times, as “political apostasy”. Historically, there were times when Jews had to denounce their religion to stay safe in the diaspora. Now, Jews are instead likely to vilify and condemn the Jewish state out of fear, or the need to align with liberal and leftist ideologies. 

In the wake of 7 October and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the author criticizes Jews who choose to align with Anti-Zionism, as this ideology inherently endangers their own safety and causes a divide between the Jewish community. Shrayer states, “Whether or not they realize it, American anti-Zionist Jews are the useful idiots of the anti-Zionist Soviet legacy, linking arms with forces that undermine their safety in a world increasingly hateful to them as Jews.” 

Due to his family’s experience in the Soviet Union, and seeing firsthand how Anti-Zionist sentiment (propelled mostly by Jews) eventually amounted to such severe and dangerous antisemitism, the author hopes for an eventual return to unity and solidarity within the Jewish community.