anti-zionist jewish authors to support 💠
although i am not jewish myself, i believe thoroughly that zionism is not a requirement for judaism and therefore it must be accepted to proudly support jewish voices against the genocide. here are some books by anti-zionist authors to support this jewish american heritage month and beyond!
inspired by @beforeviolets on instagram
created by keyaunna
last updated July, 2026
Comments
Kalyn Josephson is Jewish, pro-Palestine, and her book This Dark Descent is inspired by Jewish folklore!
ooh fantastic list thank you for putting this together!
Sim Kern could be a good fit for this list.
not jewish myself either, but god i love this list! tysm for sharing!!
Leigh Bardugo is a Zionist though :( unless something recent has happened—I can’t see anything on an initial search
keyaunnaOP
aw man :( i thought she wasn't, will remove her
I was really disappointed too, I really enjoyed the six of crows books
Leigh Bardugo has explicitly stated that she is pro-Palestine in a tweet from May 5, 2020. I haven't seen anything showing that she is a Zionist.
Also I looked up her name, the date, and tweet and have no search results showing any tweet. If it was a screenshot you saw it could have been fake / maybe she deleted it. But one tweet in 2020 doesn’t make someone an anti-Zionist, especially with the 2021, 2023- etc. escalations of violence.
More recently, in 2024, she answered (or rather dodged) a question at a panel about why she hasn’t been actually actively supporting BIPOC people when her books are about oppression especially with what’s going on in Palestine— and Leigh said she is no longer political. She made a vague “sure what’s happening in Gaza is sad” statement but a passive “it’s sad” is bullshit. It’s not “happening” passively it’s being perpetuated by Israel. She’s made no condemnation of Israel or real active support of Palestine.
Wtaf. The privilege to say you’re “no longer political” is mind boggling, particularly considering her body of work. Six of Crows has been a huge favourite of mine, but I will be rethinking that.
I'm not trying to say that she is someone without fault or that she shouldn't be more outspoken about her beliefs, I'm simply stating that calling someone a Zionist when they've simply said that publicly they are apolitical is disingenuous.
As someone who has received death threats due to being publicly queer & trans on social media, I can understand the desire to keep certain things private for one's own safety (& I'm nowhere near in the public light the way she is). Has that changed my own behaviors in regards to speaking out against systems of oppression? No. But I don't know everyone else's capacity.
Please don't read further into my statement beyond what I've explicitly stated. I think everyone can make their own decisions as to whether they'd like to support her or not, I just disagree with calling someone a Zionist when there is no proof that they are a Zionist.
I think the phrase “If you’re not for us, you’re against us” is apt here. Apathy is complicity. I talk about this with my mother a lot when she says she just can’t with the new anymore as it’s too insert descriptor here. Being able to tune the news, the world, injustice, out is a huge privilege. I live in a place where my rights are actively under attack, and I had to frame it to her that way to get her to listen. If she stopped paying attention, even at home, she was saying what they were doing to me was okay.
I would respectfully disagree. My philosophy aligns with Angela Davis: “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist." If someone is not actively antiracist or antizionist they are not doing their part in fighting oppression. Leigh hasn’t renounced her Israeli citizenship, hasn’t made any public signatures or donations + calls to donate in support of Palestine, when asked directly did not make her stance clear. I think we have a difference of perspective here
Marci Daniels (At Sea) is regularly outspoken in support of Palestine - @maytheyallbeeatenbybears on IG
Eyal Weizman and Ilan Pappé! Weizman talks about the Israeli occupation of Palestine from an architectural perspective, and Ilan Pappé is a part of Israel's New Historians who discuss the occupation of Palestine for what it is.
Norman Finkelstein, Avi Shlaim too. I'm mostly including non-fiction but they're very very essential imo.
Also is Yael van der Wouden anti-zionist? I've heard otherwise so I just wanna conform.
PS: I forgot Leslie Feinberg
Leslie is everything 🫶🫶🫶
keyaunnaOP
yael van der wouden has signed an anti israel letter from jewish authors 💗
thank you for this list! looking forward to checking out these books.
