All posts tagged: anti-Zionism

She was shunned for renouncing Zionism. A decade later, a rabbinical college is honoring her.

She was shunned for renouncing Zionism. A decade later, a rabbinical college is honoring her.

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — There’s nothing unusual about the honorary doctorate the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College will grant at commencement next week to Hasia R. Diner — except one thing. Ever since she publicly renounced Zionism in an op-ed in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz 10 years ago, this leading historian of the American Jewish experience has been persona non grata in most institutional Jewish spheres. The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College insists the honor it will grant her on Sunday (May 17) has nothing to do with her views on Zionism. “Our criteria for this award is outstanding contributions in one’s field of expertise,” said Rabbi Deborah Waxman, the college’s president and CEO based in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia. Still, the honor is noteworthy for what it says about American Judaism at this moment. The consensus that made Zionism a centerpiece of Jewish identity has broken down. Younger Jews are increasingly alienated from an identity joined at the hip with unquestioning support for Israel. Anguished over Israel’s war on Gaza — one 2025 survey found that half of American Jews …

Zack Polanski in furious row with journalist who says ‘your family are disgusted!’ | Politics | News

Zack Polanski in furious row with journalist who says ‘your family are disgusted!’ | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

Polanski hit out at media coverage of him (Image: Getty) Green Party leader Zack Polanski’s family are “disgusted” with him due to “the Jew hate” in his party, it has been claimed. Journalist Nicole Lampert made the claims on X after Mr Polanski attacked her for a piece she wrote for The Daily Mail, which saw her speak to estranged family members of the former Liberal Democrat. The piece purports to have spoken to three family members of Mr Polanski who suggested he had placed his political ambition above his loyalty to his community and roots. It comes as the party is set to declare Zionism as racism at its spring conference on Saturday. Under the motion, which will be voted on by members, the Greens would become an explicitly anti-Zionist party, reject key definitions of anti-Semitism that equate anti-Zionism with Jew-hatred, impose sanctions on Israel and endorse “resistance and liberation from Israeli occupation” – language critics say effectively backs Hamas attacks. READ MORE: Zack Polanski disowned by own family over anti-Semitism claims READ MORE: …

Britain’s ‘godless’ university has become dogged by anti-Semitism

Britain’s ‘godless’ university has become dogged by anti-Semitism

Published by Sam Flores

In just a couple of months, University College London (UCL) will celebrate its 200th anniversary. Its controversial launch in February 1826 as a university outside Oxford and Cambridge, which would admit people of all religions, attracted fury from the likes of esteemed educator Thomas Arnold, who called it a “godless institution in Gower Street”. Founded by a diverse group, it has always claimed to value inclusion, and was the second British university to award degrees to women. One of its most contentious and pioneering concepts was not only to admit Jews but also to teach Hebrew and Jewish studies from the start. Now it is the second-largest university in the country, and Jewish students from the UK and around the world (55 per cent of the student body are not British) make up about 1 per cent of UCL’s student body (around 25 per cent of the students come from China and Hong Kong). The 200th anniversary should go down as a success story by almost every measure; UCL is now recognised as one of …