The Virtue of Victimhood: the Divide Between Zionist and Anti-Zionist Jews

Golda Meir famously said that if Jews have to choose between being dead and pitied or being alive with a bad image, we should choose the latter, but in a world where victimhood has become virtuous, such an attitude is simply incomprehensible. Perhaps anti-Zionist Jews are lusting after victimhood? This would explain their pattern of encouraging us to trust the goodwill of antisemites.

A few years ago, I came across an article titled ‘What Shall we do with Haman?’ Penned by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, who sits on the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Rabbinical Council, the piece argued that Haman, the infamous villain in the Purim story, was treated too harshly. 

If you aren’t familiar, here’s a quick refresher: set in the Persian Empire around the 5th century BCE, Haman, a high-ranking advisor to King Achashverosh, convinced the king to issue a decree that would annihilate the Jews of Persia. Luckily, Haman’s genocidal plot was thwarted by Achashverosh’s wife, Queen Esther. In the end, Achashverosh decided to inflict upon Haman what Haman wished to inflict upon the Jews. And so, Haman was sent to the gallows. 

Bizarrely, Rabbi Gottlieb’s article argues that “we [must] protest this version of [the] story” because “telling stories that demonize and kill off your enemy is not a welcome contribution to Jewish life.” Perhaps we should have more empathy for a man who sought to commit a genocide against the Jews? 

Gottlieb argues that in lieu of capital punishment, Haman should have “taken lessons in cultural sensitivity and prejudice reduction” or “work[ed] at an interfaith center.” She goes on to exploit the naivety of children in her community who suggested that Haman study for his Bar Mitzvah, “[the kids] figure that by exposing Haman to Jewish traditions, he would come to love the Jews of Shushan.” Yes — Haman, who sought to commit genocide against all the Jews of Shushan, didn’t really hate the Jews. I guess he just needed a little exposure therapy?

Anti-Zionists take a similar approach to Pharaoh in the Pesach story. Despite the fact that Pesach celebrates Jewish liberation, every year JVP releases a bootleg Haggadah whose central theme is “freedom and liberation for ALL.” In their version of this story, “all” even includes Pharaoh’s army. Below is a quote from the front cover of the Haggadah:

“This time we cannot cross until we carry each other. All of us refugees, all of us prophets. No more taking turns on history’s wheel, trying to collect old debts no one can pay. The sea will not open that way. This time that country is what we promise each other, our rage pressed cheek to cheek until tears flood the space between, until there are no enemies left, because this time no one will be left to drown and all of us must be chosen. This time it’s all of us or none.”

Let’s put this into context: Jews who were forced into slavery at the behest of Pharaoh, are finally granted their freedom, but while they are fleeing, Pharaoh abruptly changes his mind and directs his army to pursue them. Eventually, Pharaoh and his forces catch up to the Jews at the Red Sea. At which point, the Jews face an ultimatum: be captured and return to slavery or…drown. Luckily, God splits the sea, allowing the Jews to pass through. He then closes the sea on Pharaoh’s army (who are still trying to abduct the Jews and return them to slavery). Inevitably, the Egyptian army drowned, and the Jews were able to evade capture. 

The notion that “nobody should be left to drown” and “all of us must be chosen” sends a clear message: if it’s us or them, it’s them…even if they are trying to slaughter us. Victimhood is virtuous, and we should aim for it!

Until recently, I believed that the term “suicidal empathy” fairly described anti-Zionist Jews, but now I’m not so sure. See, I believed they just wanted to see the best in everyone, even our undisputed enemies like Pharaoh or Haman. I was under the impression that anti-Zionist Jews were just extremely naive, like that friend in a toxic on/off relationship, who promises themselves that their partner has changed and genuinely believes they will treat them better this time. Similarly, anti-Zionist Jews exert tremendous energy attempting to convince Zionist Jews that the world will, this time, treat us better; they are sorry, they learned their lesson, and they promise they won’t do it again. 

Last month, JVP condemned the commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and Yom Ha’atzmaut, describing the national days of mourning as an “intentional manipulation of history through state holidays.” A bizarre accusation considering that Yom HaShoah marks the day of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The post read:

“We reject the Israeli state’s distortion of Jewish history into a myth of endless Jewish persecution. We refuse the idea that we are doomed to victimhood unless we accept militarism and nationalism.”

I am not convinced that anti-Zionist Jews truly believe that Jews are not “doomed to victimhood” without self determination, because we all saw what happened on October 7th. We saw what can happen in just 12 hours when we let our guard down. In just half a day, Hamas  managed to kill over 1200 people, abduct 250 hostages, and commit unspeakable crimes against the Jewish people. Still, anti-Zionists seem convinced that Jews don’t need a state or self determination. Perhaps, the world will protect us? Maybe an international body, like the United Nations or the Red Cross? How’s that been working out for us?

All of these questions bring to mind Albert Einstein, who famously defined insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. But I don’t believe that all anti-Zionist Jews are insane, or even stupid. At this point, I suspect it is more sinister. Perhaps they don’t even believe what they are saying. Perhaps in their quest for victimhood, they are hoping we are slaughtered, that way we will be, as Golda Meir described, “dead and pitied.”

It seems that anti-Zionist Jews are happy to take the risk while Zionist Jews are not. But it is worth questioning whether that is how they truly feel. Because in reality, the truth is bleak: we live in a world where Jewish survival is continuously met with condemnations – from Operation Entebbe to Operation Arnon – a world where a Nazi can be elected Secretary General of the United Nations; a world that took 50 years to commemorate the Munich Olympics Massacre. Luckily, we no longer need to seek the world’s permission for survival, mostly because we have a state of our own. And I would not want to ask permission for Jewish survival in this world.