It’s time for a pivot: Announcing ‘Expose Antizionism Now’

Some people call themselves an “October 8th Jew.” While October 7th certainly snapped me wide awake, I wouldn’t use that term for myself. I might use a different one: a Summer 2014 Jew (read about my journey here).

Seeing the world’s reaction to Operation Protective Edge back in July and August 2014 broke me into a million pieces. I had spent years involved with the Israel/Arab “peace industry,” only to find out that the issues I thought undergirded the conflict, and indeed the world’s perception of it, were superficial distractions from the core issue at hand. And that core issue, which nobody in the peace industry could come out and say plainly, was hatred. For the first time, I saw my social circles get swept up along with the rest of the world in distortions and lies about Israel’s actions, and worse – Israel’s very identity.

Since then, I’ve spent years trying to dispel and debate and debunk and refute those lies. But I rarely made headway outside the echo chamber of other people who were also putting all their energy into dispelling and debating and debunking and refuting those lies.

This past summer, I decided I’m done sitting on the sidelines. It was time to lead the way towards that change. I left my career in computational biology and data science to lead the most important fight of my life: the fight against antizionism to secure Jewish civil rights and safety. Joined by a group of regional volunteers, I founded Expose Antizionism Now.

On October 7th itself, I was slapped across the face with one of the most painful lies I’d seen: a family member posting the “disappearing map” meme with the words “Free Palestine.” I was shocked and gutted – surely, he knows better? Trying to make sense of how this could have happened, I realized something profoundly terrifying: the lies were no longer niche fringe beliefs, but were moving into the mainstream. I felt stuck. How could I have a real conversation with an actual person I know and love, whose heart is in the right place but who is grossly misinformed and has no idea that he’s been captured by a sophisticated propaganda machine?

Down I went into the rabbit hole to figure out how someone so well-intentioned and smart could come away so very misguided, so morally assured about themselves, and so deeply intransigent. I now understand what happened: they had fallen for antizionism.

I also now understand why I barely made any inroads during my years of dispelling and debating and debunking and refuting its lies. I was so focused on convincing people that “Zionism is not bad” that I never considered the parallel approach: teaching people that “antizionism is bad.” If people never have a chance to learn about why antizionism is bad on its own and what it really is – an ideology of Jew-hatred rooted in the denial of Jewish peoplehood – someone else will teach it to them. And that someone else will assure them it’s social justice, or human rights, or that old strawman “political criticism.”

The reason I couldn’t consider this alternate approach was that I also didn’t have the knowledge or vocabulary to express it. I could spend days listing out fact after fact about Israel and Zionism, but what did I know about antizionism itself? Almost nothing – I barely knew how to pin down its unique anti-Jewish tropes, which borrow from antisemitic tropes but use new words that sneak past our defenses. I knew almost nothing of its century-long history as a movement of Jew-hatred, or how it evolved from roots in the Bolshevik movement, journeyed through Arab/Nazi collaboration, was refined in the Soviet propaganda machine, and finally got filtered through third-worldism to capture the west. If I didn’t know any of this, how could I teach it to others? So I got to work, and now I’m ready to help you do the same.

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It’s time for a pivot. The strategies we have been using to combat antizionist hate and secure Jewish safety are, quite frankly, not working. Jews are increasingly kicked out of their professional and social circles, told we must sacrifice core parts of our identity to be allowed a seat at the table. We change our names on Uber. We no longer publish locations of our gatherings. We think twice before putting on a Magen David necklace. We allocate more and more of the budgets we should be using to openly celebrate our Jewish traditions on security guards. And when we beg our friends and neighbors to stand with us, we are met with apathy at best, dismissal at worst. This is not what success looks like.

At Expose Antizionism Now, it’s our mission to educate and empower you to get out there and start exposing antizionism as Jew-hatred. Consider us your partners for adopting a new strategic approach to revoke antizionism’s permission structure. We’ll support you to…

• Talk the talk by filling in the gaps in our education so we know exactly what antizionism is, where it comes from, and how it’s spent a century ravaging Jewish communities wherever it takes root. Once we know what it is, we’ll feel more confident to teach it to others.
• Walk the walk by gaining the language and confidence to pivot to a new strategy that keeps the spotlight on antizionism itself. Instead of debating antizionist lies, we’ll help you have conversations that question the very premise of the lies themselves. We promise – you’re allowed to condemn antizionism on its own terms, without hedging or adding a caveat.

We know these are tall orders, and we know this pivot may not come naturally or easily. That’s why we’re building a supportive community to tackle this together and stand behind you so nobody has to go this road alone. The change won’t happen overnight, and it won’t even happen in a single conversation. This is all about playing the long game: through concerted, repeated efforts to expose antizionism (now) as Jew-hatred, we’ll bring about the cultural shift we need to secure our right to live safely as free Jews.

How are we going to make this impact?

• We’re writing on Substack about how to recognize antizionism, how it operates, and how to strategically combat it.
• We’ve developed a powerful AI toolkit called Azaryah that leaves other AIs in the dust when it comes to chatting about antizionism. With Azaryah, we can reach everyone everywhere to empower them with the knowledge and skills to teach antizionism. (Psst – help us make Azaryah free so we can really reach everyone everywhere!)
• We’ll be creating educational resources and discussion kits to help you spread the word about antizionism in your own circles.
• We’ll be launching antizionism learning pods, where we come together in small, supportive cohorts to learn and practice these skills. Each cohort will then be empowered to lead their own learning pods and spread the word far and wide.
• We’re available for tailored seminars and trainings to bring your community the insights and tools that meet the moment we’re in now.
• We’re available to consult with your community about how you can complement your existing programs with ways to learn and teach antizionism.

Join our community! Together, we’re going to make it clear that antizionism is not acceptable, and Jewish safety is non-negotiable. You can…

• Subscribe to our mailing list to be the first to know about our new offerings, events, and resources.
• Follow us on social media. We’re on Instagram and Threads as @expantizionism, on Facebook as @exposeantizionism (alongside our Facebook Group where we’re building a supportive community to navigate antizionism together), and on LinkedIn.
• Support our work as a founding donor. Your donation is the catalyst we need to launch our educational programming and resources so we can empower everyone with the most effective strategies to expose antizionism.
• Subscribe to our Substack.
• Invite us to your community for a training that resonates your needs and values.
• Reach out to us to get involved, start the conversation about how we can support you, or just to say hi! We’re here to partner with and support anyone who wants to learn a better way to combat antizionist hate.

There’s a lot of work to do, so let’s get going. We look forward to having you with us.

Expose Antizionism Now is a strictly non-partisan 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 42-4203874) based in Philadelphia, PA.