Description
Since the originary moments of political Zionism in the 18th century, Palestinian and Jewish (and Palestinian Jewish) thinkers and organisers have articulated forms of solidarity with each other across borders in order to oppose the colonial racism and antisemitism inherent to Zionist thought. Such forms of solidarity have become more urgent and more clear in many leftist quarters since October 7. Solidarity movements with Palestinians, especially by a growing number of Jews openly stating that they are anti-Zionist, are growing. Whilst these reactions to Zionism are necessary for fighting the Israeli state, this paper asks what a form of internationalist politics around Palestine that does not centre opposition to Zionism (even if it is anti-Zionist) might look like. Drawing on our ongoing conversation, we examine the role of "Magical Marxism", the imagination, lost Jewish-Palestinian histories, and theories of futurity to envision forms of solidarity that are not primarily reactions to Zionism but that actively imagine and create a shared future free from its violent, life-flattening constraints. Through this conversation, we aim to engage critically with the foreclosures imposed by Zionism and to imagine an (im)possible common future rooted in a present politics of solidarity and liberation dreams.
