Yes, We Must Fight Them—From the Left.

Bourgeois Zionism will not defeat bourgeois anti-Zionism.

Graeme Wood, author of The Way of Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State, recently published a piece in The Atlantic titled The Kind of Thing Dictators Do, addressing the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil. I assume my readers are already familiar with the balagan surrounding Khalil, which has sparked a national firestorm over free speech, Israel, Palestine, and the Trump Administration. At first glance, one might expect Wood’s article to offer a clear condemnation of punitive actions against those — citizens or not — who express sympathy for U.S.-designated terrorist organizations since such speech still falls under First Amendment protection. Yet despite its sharp title, the piece avoids an ideologically definitive stance. Rather, it meanders through a vague philosophical reflection on American identity and the meaning of free speech. Here’s how it ends:

“So far it appears that (Khalil) will contest his detention and deportation—and as someone who finds the singling out of immigrants for their politics a loathsome development, I hope that he does, and that he prevails. But if he emerges from immigration detention a free man on American soil, I hope his next step will be to show his commitment to his cause, by shredding his green card and booking one-way passage to a country whose policies he finds more agreeable.”

Sure, those who hate America might choose to “self-deport,” and in theory, it is dangerous for the government to ordain which speech is constitutionally protected and which is not. But what happens if a significant number of non-naturalized individuals organize in a way that poses an existential political threat to "Western values" and societal order? What then? In short, Wood takes the easy way out—moralistically condemning Trump’s authoritarian impulses while simultaneously arguing that Khalil and his allies should not be in the country due to their undoubtedly antisemitic activism.

Wood is not alone in this. Since Khalil’s arrest by an undercover agent of chaos in an Avengers T-shirt, numerous articles have been published that refuse to take a firm stance on the controversy: “This might be a violation of free speech, but protections don’t necessarily extend to green-card holders.” “This might be fascism, but what’s truly fascist is aligning with Hamas.” “Trump is right to put Columbia on notice, but stripping federal funding from research projects is a hallmark of reactionary, backward governance.” The result of this hedging is a legal and ideological maze with no clear answers. To all this indecisiveness, I say: enough.

Debating which speech should be permitted and what legal precedents apply to non-citizens versus citizens is ultimately unhelpful—it distracts from a clear, compelling argument for those of us who support Israel and oppose the harassment of Jewish students on college campuses. As a Zionist who was “radicalized” by campus activism against the Jewish people, I care less about prescribing punishments for our opponents and more about making the most effective arguments to prove that we are right and they are wrong. Focusing on punitive measures only creates martyrs for an already morally bankrupt cause—precisely what has happened with Mahmoud Khalil. Now, pro-Israel students are portrayed as being “in bed” with Trump and ICE, accused of silencing dissenting voices. This, in turn, undermines our argument that it is anti-Israel agitators, not us, who are trampling on free speech and liberal values.

Here’s what I propose: To win this debate—and to avoid future debacles where subjective interpretations of case law and legal precedent dominate—we must confront anti-Israel activism from the left, not the right. That means—please, stop calling these antisemitic agitators “radical leftists” on a mission to “destroy our country.” This rhetoric only makes them sound like badass revolutionaries, evoking the free speech protests of the ’60s, when students railed against the Vietnam War, racism, and sexism while being smeared as “Marxists” by a McCarthyite elite. For the love of God, stop calling Students for Justice in Palestine Marxists. The label is misapplied and imprecise. What Marx would have thought about Zionism—which was not a popular movement in his lifetime—is unclear. He may have indeed viewed it incorrectly as a European colonial project, or, considering his support for Irish and Polish nationalism, he may have considered it a justified liberation movement against imperial subjugation. Regardless, invoking Marxism in this context only makes us sound like 1950s rural Georgians grasping for intellectual-sounding buzzwords to justify their arguments for segregation.

Instead — what’s stopping us from invoking the values of Karl Marx against those who misuse his name? Here’s a good place to start: these student protesters epitomize a modern, out-of-touch bourgeoisie—entitled, privileged children attending universities with tuition nearing $100,000 a year. They do nothing to support the American and international worker, but instead attack historically persecuted minorities. This serves only as a distraction from the real issues that matter to the working class, like healthcare and wage stagnation. And who benefits from this misdirection? The same parasitic capitalists who exploit identity politics to divide and conquer. As an English rendition of The Internationale puts it: “The rich will famish you and eat you, while they speak of human rights!”

A prime example of the failed strategy of attacking student protesters from the right is the pro-Israel response to the student encampments of 2024. When the Hamasniks took to the quad, chanting, “There is only one solution, intifada, revolution!” Zionists stood across from them, waving Israeli and American flags, while major publications framed the protests as not just antisemitic, but anti-American, anti-“Judeo-Christian,” and “anti-Western.” We've seen this same approach applied to anti-Israel BDS resolutions—met with state laws banning boycotts of Israel (how has that worked out for us, fam?)—and to films like the Oscar-winning No Other Land, which depicts Israel as morally bankrupt. In response to the film’s screening, Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner is now trying to terminate the lease and government funding of an independent cinema that showed it—predictably galvanizing its supporters and drawing even more attention to it. I can think of nothing more self-defeating and unhelpful to our cause.

Attacking student protesters and BDS supporters from the left would mean refusing to legitimize anti-Zionism—a racist and imperialist movement (more on that later)—and instead going on the offensive. Rather than reacting defensively, we should propose our own BDS resolution targeting university ties with Qatar. For example:

"We, as Jewish students, demand that our university sever all financial relationships with Qatar—a militantly oppressive, sexist, homophobic, and antisemitic regime guilty of enslaving and exploiting migrant workers. We call for the dismissal of professors with financial ties to Qatar, the removal of Qatari influence from Middle Eastern studies departments, the closure of satellite campuses in Doha, and the protection of Jewish students’ right to celebrate their culture and nationality free from coercion and discrimination."

Considering Qatar has funneled over $4 billion into American universities since 2001, this argument shouldn’t be difficult to make—or to win.

Hitting anti-Israel protestors from the left also means reclaiming the very language often used against us to strengthen our arguments: anti-Zionism is the imperialist and colonialist movement. No, Israel does not have a "right to exist"—a defensive and ultimately weak rhetorical position. Israel does exist, and its existence represents a persecuted Middle Eastern minority practicing self-determination after centuries of brutality. As we’ve seen most recently with the massacre of Alawites in Syria, minorities in this region who lack the means to defend themselves are doomed to atrocities.

Yes, October 7th was an act of terrorism, but that word alone is unconvincing to many young people who have been conditioned by the flawed adage that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” To much of my generation, “terrorist” carries an intrinsic Bush-era, reactionary connotation. October 7th was indeed an act of terrorism, but not just terrorism—it was an act of Arab-Muslim supremacy, a brutal attempt to relegate a liberated minority back to its historically assigned status of inferiority and powerlessness. I can think of nothing more inherently right-wing.

Finally, Jewish students must go beyond merely arguing against anti-Zionism from the left—we must proactively argue for Zionism from the left. That means, for the love of God (pun intended), stop framing Israel’s legitimacy in religious terms—and stop aligning with evangelical Christian organizations. The assertion that God gave the people of Israel the land of Israel, that our claim to the land is biblically ordained, does absolutely nothing to persuade left-wing thinkers.

Instead, we must ground our argument in a modern analysis of realpolitik, asserting that the Jewish people are as legitimate as any other nation: we have our own language, national consciousness, foundational myths, and an uninterrupted connection to our homeland—not because of divine decree, but because we are its Indigenous people.

The practical outgrowth of this approach should be the creation of Jewish organizations that prioritize socialist-Zionist ideals—community service and mutual aid, environmentalism, folk culture like music and dance, wealth redistribution, feminism, and social justice. If we want to win, we must make Zionism a cause that naturally aligns with progressive values, rather than something leftists feel obligated to oppose.

The original Labor Zionist critique of Diaspora Jewry was that it remained a subordinate community—reading books, debating spirituality, and relying on the land’s power brokers for safety rather than seizing history with its own hands. I level the same critique at the American Jewish community today, without hesitation. There is nothing wrong with reading books and contemplating spirituality (a favorite pastime of mine), but we must abandon the subordination and dependence on political elites to fight our battles, and trade contemplation for collective action: out of the shul and into the streets!

Forget the glamorous galas and antisemitism conferences, where champagne glasses clink and wealthy donors pontificate, keeping us perpetually on defense instead of offense. Instead, let us build. Let us create new movements—run and managed solely by young people (as Herzl said: “The young and poor are the first to see the light”)—focused on real action: raising money for Holocaust survivors living in poverty, funding Jewish education for the majority of Jewish families who can’t afford it, providing financial security for young Jews making Aliyah, and offering Hebrew lessons to all who wish to learn it.

Let us break from the right-wing power brokers who sneer about “Marxist traitors” and instead create community gardens where Jews and their allies cultivate land together and reap its benefits collectively. And let us reject—clearly and explicitly—the Christian nationalists who seek to exploit our identity for their dubious ends.

The point I wish to end with is this: bourgeois Zionism will not defeat bourgeois anti-Zionism. As Zionists, we must identify our enemy clearly and without hesitation—an out-of-touch, elitist, and racist movement that seeks to subjugate our people while distracting from economic insecurity and authoritarian oppression.

To fight it, we must purge the classist elements within our movement—the so-called “leaders” who align with powerful conservative interests, flirting with illiberalism rather than supporting Zionist initiatives from the ground up. If we shift our strategy and inject the energy of left-wing Zionism into our struggle, we will no longer need to wade through murky debates over free speech, deportations, and due process. Instead, the Jewish community will sustain itself through its own strength, its own institutions, and its own liberation—unyielding in the face of the snobs who seek to dismantle it.

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Dear comrades, Bourgeois Nationalist is back! Apologies for the time off I took — in case you didn’t hear, I wrote a book, 10 Things Every Jew Should Know Before They Go To College, which is now available for order, and vying for the top spot on Amazon against Beinart’s latest screed — which I have not read, but I assume will be along the lines of: “I was lied to at Summer Camp and Purim is racist.” After a much-needed vacation from writing (doctor’s orders,) I will be doing my best to update this blog at least once a week, with takes as hot as possible. I appreciate your support and would be very grateful if you considered chipping in a few bucks a month, instead of giving it to a logoed Jewish organization, which, I can assure you, does not need it.

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