Dave5

In 1919, Rabbi Berkowitz co-organized a petition signed by three hundred prominent U.S. Jews which was published in the New York Times and delivered to the Paris Peace Conference. The 1919 statement, addressed to President Woodrow Wilson, made prescient points in opposition to the Zionist movement, including warnings that Zionists underestimated Muslim and Christian Palestinians’ allegiance to the land, that Zionism’s assurance of respect for other communities under Jewish dominance were incompatible with real equality, democracy, or the safety of the global Jewish community.

Like my rabbinic ancestor, I’m a longtime anti-Zionist. JVP Philadelphia’s inbox overflows with Jews and other allies reaching out to join in calls for peace, and for an end to the occupation and the unjust conditions that can only yield more violence.