Prominent Jewish Figures Speak Against Ethnic Exclusivity in Israel

As global discourse around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to evolve, attention turns to an often-overlooked element: the voices of dissent within the Jewish community itself. Over the past century, numerous influential Jewish figures, from Albert Einstein to Holocaust survivor Primo Levi, have spoken out against the idea of an ethnically exclusive Israeli state. Here’s a look at some of their thoughts:

Sigmund Freud
"I concede with sorrow that the baseless fanaticism of our people is in part to be blamed for the awakening of Arab distrust. I can raise no sympathy at all for the misdirected piety which transforms a piece of a Herodian wall into a national relic, thereby offending the feelings of the natives."

Albert Einstein
"The [Israeli] state idea is not according to my heart. I cannot understand why it is needed. It is connected with many difficulties and a narrow-mindedness. I believe it is bad."

Erich Fromm, Social Psychologist
"The claim of the Jews to the Land of Israel cannot be a realistic political claim. If all nations would suddenly claim territories in which their forefathers lived two thousand years ago, this world would be a madhouse."

Primo Levi, Writer and Auschwitz Survivor
"Everyone has their Jews. For the Israelis, they are the Palestinians."

Marek Edelman, Last Surviving Leader of the 1943 Warsaw Uprising
Edelman voiced his support for Palestinian resistance, likening them to the Jewish fighters in Warsaw. He started his letter with, "Commanders of the Palestine military, paramilitary and partisan operations – to all the soldiers of the Palestine fighting organisations."

Isaac Asimov, Novelist
"I find myself in the odd position of not being a Zionist… I think it is wrong for anyone to feel that there is anything special about any one heritage of whatever kind. It is delightful to have the human heritage exist in a thousand varieties, for it makes for greater interest, but as soon as one variety is thought to be more important than another, the groundwork is laid for destroying them all."

Hannah Arendt, Political Scientist
"The trouble is that Zionism has often thought and said that the evil of antisemitism was necessary for the good of the Jewish people."

I.F. Stone, US Journalist
"Israel is creating a kind of moral schizophrenia in world Jewry. In the outside world, the welfare of Jewry depends on the maintenance of secular, non-racial, pluralistic societies. In Israel, Jewry finds itself defending a society in which mixed marriages cannot be legalized, in which the ideal is racial and exclusionist."

Noam Chomsky
"In the Occupied Territories, what Israel is doing is much worse than apartheid. To call it apartheid is a gift to Israel, at least if by 'apartheid' you mean South African-style apartheid. What’s happening in the Occupied Territories is much worse."

Gabriel Kolko, Historian of Modern Warfare
"The large majority of Israelis are not in the least Jewish in the cultural sense, are scarcely socialist in any sense, and daily life and the way people live is no different in Israel than it is in Chicago or Amsterdam. There is simply no rational reason that justifies the state’s creation."

Miriam Margolyes, Actor
"The black South Africans asked for our support and now it’s the Palestinians who are asking for our support. I hate what Israel is doing over there to the Palestinians. I think that boycotting is a very active and non-violent way of protesting."

Uri Avnery, Ex-Israeli Army Officer
After an Israeli military victory, Avnery noted, "What will be seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image of Israel as a blood-stained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crimes and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints."

Henry Siegman, Rabbi and Director of the U.S./Middle East Project
"Israel has crossed the threshold from 'the only democracy in the Middle East' to the only apartheid regime in the Western world."

Richard Cohen, US Columnist
"The greatest mistake Israel could make at the moment is to forget that Israel itself is a mistake… The idea of creating a nation of European Jews in an area of Arab Muslims (and some Christians) has produced a century of warfare and terrorism."

Roseanne Barr, US Comedian, Writer, and Director
"I am sick of Israel and I am sick of Zionists. They are propped up by evangelical Christians who cannot wait for the Arabs to kill them so that their genocidal war god whom they misname Jesus can come back."

Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor of Tikkun Magazine
"If a Jew today goes into any synagogue in the U.S. or around the world and says, 'I don’t believe in God or Torah and I don’t follow the commandments,' most will still welcome you in and urge you to become involved. But say, 'I don’t support the State of Israel,' and you are likely to be labeled a 'self-hating Jew' or anti-Semite, scorned and dismissed."

Richard Falk, Former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Falk has called Israeli policies in the Occupied Territories "a crime against humanity," comparing Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to Nazi treatment of the Jews. He stated, "I think the Palestinians stand out as the most victimized people in the world."

As these prominent figures demonstrate, there’s a significant tradition of Jewish intellectuals and activists who have vehemently opposed the policies and underlying ideologies of the Israeli state. For further updates and insights, stay tuned to Laser Lens Media & News.