On May 6th, 2024, US President Joe Biden, in a speech on antisemitism, said, “To the Jewish community, I want you to know, I see your hurt, your fear, your pain. Let me reassure you. As your President, you are not alone. You belong. You always have and you always will.” I am a Jewish American but when Biden addressed “the Jewish community,” he was not speaking to me. When Biden said, “you are not alone, you belong,” he was not reassuring me. I am not part of Biden’s imagined monolithic Jewish community and he made that very clear as he continued: “My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and it’s right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad.” For Biden, the only good Jews are Zionists – those who support Israel and its settler colonial project. But what about the rest of us? We Jews who reject a conflation of Judaism and Zionism? We Jews who say never again and mean never again for everyone? We Jews who are calling for a free Palestine and an end to Israel’s occupation? ….more
