‘Hereness’: What the forgotten history of Jewish anti-Zionism can teach us today

Anti-Zionist Jews are rediscovering a forgotten history of Jewish opposition to Zionism, which can offer valuable lessons for today. The Jewish Labour Bund, founded in Eastern Europe in the late 19th century, was a socialist movement that preserved Jewish cultural identity while advocating for workers' rights. By the early 20th century, it had become the largest and most organized Jewish party in the region, with 34,000 members across 274 branches.

The Bund emphasized the idea of "hereness" or "doikayt" in Yiddish, which argued that Jewish safety did not depend on a separate ethnostate in Palestine but rather in fighting oppression in their current homes. Critics of Zionism often conflate it with Judaism, unfairly branding anti-Zionist Jews as antisemites and erasing their distinct identities.

In recent years, younger generations of Jews, particularly in the United States, are increasingly distancing themselves from Zionism and embracing alternative Jewish identities. The Bund movement's legacy is a powerful reminder of the potential for Jewish solidarity and resistance outside of the Zionist narrative.