A majority of Americans on both sides of the political aisle believe it’s important to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. Yet, December marks 14 months of Israel’s genocide in Gaza—a grim milestone that many of us across the reproductive health, rights, and justice (RHRJ) movements know to be a result of 76 years of colonization, ethnic cleansing, and occupation.
Over the last year, Israel has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians—a low estimate that is likely closer to 186,000. This includes over 16,000 children, not to mention the 300% rise in miscarriages among Palestinian women and Israel’s destruction of reproductive health care services in Gaza. What is happening violates every value that our movement holds dear.
As Jews, we understand that the process of dehumanization enables genocide. We understand that while “never again” should apply to everyone, it is clear that in the eyes of Zionists, it does not apply to Palestinians.
As anti-Zionist Jews working in RHRJ spaces, we firmly reject the notion that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. The 19th-century political ideology known as Zionism has many strands but broadly asserts that Jewish safety requires a Jewish-only nation-state. The formation of Israel meant the colonization of Palestine in 1948 when at least 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes. Israel has existed as an apartheid state in which Jews have more rights than Palestinians. Even though Jewish anti-Zionists have always existed, the Israeli government and its supporters continue to conflate antisemitism and anti-Zionism to quash resistance.
We understand why some Jews feel attached to Israel and the original vision of Zionism. Generations of Jews have faced violence, bigotry, and genocide. From a young age, Jews are taught that Israel’s existence is the antidote to our suffering. Having our own state means Jews can live among one another and finally be safe. But to quote Jewish political analyst Naomi Klein: Zionism is a false idol. Real safety for Jews comes from strong and deep relationships with non-Jewish neighbors, mutual aid networks dedicated to supporting each other, and a thriving multiracial democracy that cannot be distracted by the scapegoating of antisemitism. Israel and Zionism promote the opposite strategy: isolating from neighbors, militarizing borders, and expanding settler-colonialism and apartheid legal systems. These actions do not make us safer, and they have led to generations of violence against Palestinians.
It should come as no surprise that social justice organizations that have spoken up against genocide have been inundated with false claims of antisemitism—and the same is true in the reproductive health, rights, and justice movements.
We have been horrified to witness proponents of Zionism in our field espouse bad-faith accusations of antisemitism toward reproductive justice advocates. Conference panels and speeches spotlighting the genocide in Gaza—or featuring speakers who have condemned the genocide—have faced pushback, at times resulting in cancellation. Providers have been fired for posting about Palestine on social media. Abortion funds, some of the most underfunded yet essential organizations enabling patient access, have been accused of antisemitism. Notably, one abortion fund worker directed harassment toward her former fund after they stood up for Palestinian rights. They lost up to $100,000 in annual income, while the accuser started a new fund focused on “Jewish values”—a facade to satisfy donors who condemn critique of Israel while doing little to improve the abortion access landscape.
As Jews working in the movement, our dedication to anti-Zionism is informed by the same values that inform our commitment to reproductive justice. Many of us were drawn to work in this field because of our Jewish upbringing, which encouraged dedication to social justice movements. We hold firmly the right to have children, the right not to have children, and the right to raise children in safe communities, free from violence by individuals or the state. Confronting sexism, racism, transphobia, and xenophobia is core to our advocacy for reproductive freedom. The hypocrisy we see in our movement around Palestine should enrage all of us because it highlights deep-rooted racism toward Black and brown people, proliferating in our collective failure to condemn state violence and instead support liberation movements.
Our colleagues and supporters must consider that many of the U.S. leaders who most vocally support Israel are the same anti-abortion leaders that we are fighting every day. Right-wing movements have fought a grassroots campaign of white supremacy and Christian nationalism that is responsible for transphobic legislation and bans on gender-affirming care, teaching Black history and critical race theory, and abortion and health care. The largest political base of support for Zionism in the U.S. comes from the antisemitic Christian Zionist movement. The reproductive justice movement needs to broaden our analysis to build strong cross-issue movements and fight on the level that is needed.
Our movement proudly stands against conservative leaders who deny the right to abortion, prevent trans folks from receiving gender-affirming care, and, more generally, support efforts to undermine Democracy. Yet when these same individuals invoke racist, Islamophobic language to demonize Palestinians and Arabs while vocally supporting Israel, we are silent. Our field broadly operates from the understanding that the anti-abortion movement is rooted in white supremacy, yet it largely fails to consider that Israel’s settler-colonial project is also rooted in white supremacy. When conservatives support Israel, they do not support Jewish safety. Many of them espouse deeply antisemitic language and even stoke violence toward Jews. Their support for Israel is rooted in Christian Zionism and aimed at consolidating power against Indigenous populations, in part by establishing U.S. dominance in the Middle East through the proxy that is Israel. It is our duty to condemn this.
Amidst the horror in Gaza and the U.S. presidential election, we remain hopeful. In the U.S., we continue to witness a seismic shift in the perception of Israel and Palestine. A majority of Americans disapprove of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, and over 80% of Democrats supported a permanent cease-fire. Many of us in the RHRJ field are dedicated to Palestinian freedom, as seen by myriad calls for an end to the genocide. In the Jewish community, the tide is turning, too.
More Jews are questioning what they have been taught about Israel as they bear witness to the indiscriminate violence in Gaza. University students have also set an example for American civil society of what solidarity looks like. Their encampments last year spotlighting U.S. complicity in Israel’s genocide caught global attention, reminiscent of the student protests against the Vietnam war and South African apartheid. We celebrate the young Palestinians, Jews, and people of conscience who have risked their education to take a stand.
The fight for reproductive justice expands beyond borders and nation-states. As Jews dedicated to building a more just future, we cannot compartmentalize our fight for abortion access from the fight to see all people control their bodies, build families, and thrive in safe and sustainable communities—and this includes Palestinians.
