MU Group Asks Students to Imagine Jewish Identity without Israel

Recently, I attended an event where students were asked to reimagine Jewish identity without Israel. In 2023, two Jewish men released a documentary film called Israelism. The story follows the transformation of a Jewish woman named Simone Zimmerman. She recalls how she grew up going to Hebrew day school and grieves that she was indoctrinated to support Israel. As a young lady, she ventures into the West Bank and she sees the anguish of the Palestinians, and so she decides to devote herself to challenging American Jews. The film was sponsored by a tiny group of Jewish students called, “Progressive Jews of Mizzou.” At the end of the occasion, they posted a question on the screen: “Can Jewish identity be reclaimed and reimagined without Israel?”

Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to a state. If you are an anti-Zionist, then you believe that Jewish people should not have a state. During the discussion session, a Jewish student named Leor declared to the audience: “Zionism is a cult. It starts when they are young. They are pushing a cult-like identity into Judaism.” This was followed by the Jewish girl leading the dialogue repeating: “Zionism is a cult. When you grow up, you get all of those cult things.” So, how did a group of about five Jewish students get the idea to ask how we can imagine a world without Israel? My answer is that these students are bombarded by the message that if you want to care about the Palestinians, then you have to want to eliminate Israel, and these Jewish kids fall for it.

In the documentary, in the progressive scenes, Simone starts by revealing how she was taught to love Israel as a child. As a teenager, she spends a day dressing up as an Israeli soldier. Simone leaves for university. For the first time, she sees a Palestinian person who is trying to present a resolution against Israel. Simone rushes to speak in favor of the Jewish State, but when she hears the Palestinian student speaking everything begins to break down. She goes back to her community and tries to find answers, but no one can respond! Ultimately, Simone visits the West Bank, she claims that she is horrified when she sees the oppression of the Palestinians, from that point forward, she becomes committed to confronting American Jews.

I had the exact opposite experience of Simone. My mother moved to Missouri and disappeared from the Jewish community. During my entire childhood, I never once thought of myself as being a Jewish person, stepped inside a synagogue, or heard the word “Zionism.” I only began to meet Jewish people when I was in my 20s. When I was about 30 years-old, I was invited to study at a religious school in Jerusalem. At a certain point, I began to develop a deep interest in the conflict. For months, I would walk to the Arab bus station and take rides to different Palestinian villages.

In the documentary, Simone travels to the West Bank to meet a Palestinian activist named Sami Awad. I also traveled to the West Bank to meet Sami Awad. In fact, I camped out overnight with Sami and a small cadre of American Jews who came to protest. In the film, we meet an ex-Israeli soldier named Avner Gvaryahu. I also met with Avner Gvaryahu. He belongs to a small bunch of ex-Israeli soldiers who formed a group called, “Breaking the Silence.” They regret their military service and supposedly break the silence regarding crimes committed against the Palestinians. So, I did everything Simone told me to do. I met with Palestinians and ex-Israel soldiers who condemn Israel, and I still support Israel. So, how did this happen? The answer is that when I traveled into the West Bank I learned that the root cause of the conflict is the Palestinian cultural refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish State.

Many well intentioned westerners are concerned with bringing about an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One proposed solution is to create a Palestinian State next to Israel, which will be located in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This theory is named, “The Two-State Solution.” In the film, we do not meet a single Palestinian who advocates for the goal of creating a Palestinian State located next to a Jewish State. Likewise, the directors of the film never say that they want the government of Israel to withdraw their military troops from the West Bank, so that a Palestinian State can be created next to Israel. Although the characters in the film never say the exact sentence, “Israel should not exist,” the characters shown in the film constantly argue that Jews who support Israel are evil. Obviously, if it is evil to support the idea that a Jewish State should exist, then it means that a Jewish State should not exist.

From the top to the bottom, the West Bank is a giant billboard declaring the message that Palestinians will return to Israel and destroy it. Every Palestinian village is covered in signs showing the numbers “1948,” which is a reference to the year that Israel was founded, and it means that Palestinians will undo the year that Israel was established. The numbers are often accompanied by a metal key image. The key image refers to the keys to the doors of Arabs who owned houses in Israel before the war, and the message is that the Palestinians will return and take the land. Every Palestinian town is covered in images of the map of Israel being swept away and replaced with Palestine. Fatah is one of the strongest political parties in the West Bank. Fatah made a flag with an image of Israel being destroyed by two machine guns. The yellow Fatah Flag hangs up everywhere. In fact, in the film, there is a scene where two kids are playing soccer, and there is a crumpled yellow Fatah flag hanging on a pole.

If you don’t believe my description of the West Bank, then I will present the film as evidence. We are introduced to two Palestinian men who are supposedly peace activists. One of them is named Sami Awad and the other man is named Baha Hilo. When Baha is giving a tour, you can see him pointing to a wall where a key image is painted. Later, when the two men sit down in a restaurant to eat, if you look above Sami’s shoulder, then you will see that the restaurant has the numbers “1948” written on the column. Even more, when the two men are walking, then you can see that Baha is wearing a shirt that reads: “Intifada 48.” In Arabic, the word “intifada” means “to shake off.” It means to shake off the Israeli government through the use of terrorist attacks. The message of his shirt is that the Palestinians must tear down the Jewish State from the original 1948 borders.

Sami exclaims to Simone, “we are real human beings, that just want to survive and live like all other people in this world.” Well, unfortunately, that is not Sami’s only message. Sami Awad’s father is Bishara Awad, who founded Bethlehem Bible College. In the Bible, there is a scene where God makes a covenant with the Seed of Abraham. Christian Zionists believe that God still has a covenant with the Jewish people. After the formation of the first Christian community, a theological idea emerged that the Jews had sinned by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, and therefore they were rejected by God. Sami’s mission has been to preach that Christians who believe that God still has a covenant with the Jewish people are wrong; which means that Sami’s goal is to preach that the Jewish people have been rejected by God.

The film also introduces us to an American-Palestinian Professor named Noura Erakat. When asked what she would recommend to change the conflict, she responds, “I would recommend freedom.” Well, unfortunately, that is not Noura’s only message. Noura also demands that we must recognize Hamas as the representatives of the Palestinian people. In an interview, Noura declared, “There must be a recognition that Hamas, unlike these awful comparisons to ISIS and al-Qaeda, is actually a nascent sovereign of the Palestinian people.”

In summary, the film provides three Palestinians to convince me that the Palestinians just want peace. However, one of the Palestinians is wearing a shirt calling for an intifada, the second Palestinian preaches that God has rejected the Jewish people, and the third Palestinian says that Hamas is the true ruler of the Palestinian people. Unfortunately, the message of the people in the film is that if you want to care about the Palestinians, then you have to want to eliminate Israel.

Image 1: If you look above Sami Awad’s shoulder, then you will see that the restaurant has the numbers “1948” written on the column.

Image 2: Baha Hilo is wearing a shirt that is supposed to look like a football jersey which reads: “Intifada 48.”