Silenced for Being a Zionist
A Shocking Disinvitation
A Rabbi Was Disinvited from an Anti-Nazi Rally. Why?
Because he supports Israel’s right to exist.
Imagine a civil rights leader being told they couldn't speak at a rally against racism. Or a feminist activist being excluded from a protest against gender violence.
Now imagine a rabbi, invited to speak at a rally against neo-Nazism, only to be told days later: You’re not welcome.
His crime? Believing that Jews have a right to a state. He can't speak out against Nazism because he supports Israel’s right to exist.
Let that sink in.
The Story
Last week in Cincinnati, Rabbi Ari Jun—a liberal Zionist and Reform synagogue leader—was invited to speak at a rally against white supremacy. Days later, he was told not to come. Why? Let's hear the voices of the rally organizers:
"Some of your values do not truly align with the values this protest is trying to represent." — Organizer Laini Smith
"Rabbi Ari Jun is a well-known Zionist... allowing Zionists to participate undermines the original goal of the demonstration." — Organizer Billie Pittman
This isn’t just politics. This is antisemitism.
The 3Ds of Antisemitism
How do we know when criticism of Israel crosses into antisemitism? The "3Ds test"—Demonization, Delegitimization, and Double Standards—makes it obvious.
1. Demonization
Demonization paints Israel as inherently evil.
Pro-Palestinian activist Mohammad Ahmad praised the organizers for "taking a clear stance against Zionism and all forms of white supremacy." He called Zionism "unequivocally racism" and "an ultranationalist, fascist, far-right ethno-supremacist ideology."
This isn’t a critique of policy. This is an attack on Jewish self-determination itself.
2. Delegitimization
Delegitimization denies Israel’s right to exist.
The rally organizers didn’t just criticize Israeli policies—they rejected Zionism altogether. They sent a clear message:
Jews who believe in their right to a homeland are not welcome.
Rabbi Jun has been criticized from both sides.
"I am attacked by people to the right of me for not being loyal enough to Israel, and I am attacked by progressives for having any association with Israel at all." — Rabbi Ari Jun
3. Double Standards
Would these organizers exclude Muslims who support Islamic nations?
Would they reject Christians who support Christian-majority countries?
Would they ban activists who back any other national movement?
Of course not.
Yet they excluded a rabbi—one who has openly criticized Israeli policies—simply for believing in Israel’s right to exist.
When Fighting Hate Becomes Spreading It
Excluding a rabbi from an anti-Nazi rally is beyond irony.
Zionism arose in response to centuries of persecution.
It is the belief that Jews, like all other peoples, deserve self-determination in their ancestral homeland. A 2021 Pew Research study found that about 80% of American Jews identify as Zionists.
By rejecting Rabbi Jun, the rally organizers sent a chilling message:
Jews are only welcome if they renounce a core part of their identity.
As Jun put it:
"It’s one thing to show up expecting disagreement. It’s another thing to be told, ‘You cannot show up as your full self.’"
History Repeats Itself
This isn’t new.
Jews have been forced to choose between their identity and acceptance for centuries—during the French Revolution, in Russian socialist movements, and now, in progressive spaces in America.
What makes this case so disturbing?
It happened at a rally against Nazism—the very ideology that sought to exterminate Jews.
Understanding the Line: Criticism vs. Antisemitism
Criticizing Israel’s government or policies is not inherently antisemitic. Many Israelis, Jews, and human rights activists openly debate and critique Israeli actions.
However, when criticism of Israel crosses into one of the 3Ds we mentioned—Demonization, Delegitimization, or Double Standards—it becomes antisemitism. Here's some more about each of these forms of antisemitism:
Demonization: When Israel is portrayed as a uniquely evil force, equated with Nazi Germany or apartheid South Africa, rather than judged in the same way as other nations.
Delegitimization: When Israel’s very right to exist is denied, rather than focusing on specific policies or actions.
Double Standards: When Israel is held to standards that no other country is expected to meet.
Those who truly care about justice and human rights should be able to distinguish between fair criticism and antisemitic rhetoric.
The Path Forward
How do we respond?
Call this what it is: antisemitism.
Insist that fighting hate must include fighting antisemitism in all its forms.
Rabbi Jun was prepared to speak out against white supremacy.
Instead, he was silenced by those who claim to oppose hate.
A movement that excludes Jews isn’t fighting hate—it’s fueling it.
Read more in my book First the Jews.
And this brand of antisemitism has become insidious and tries to weave itself into every single space where gathered are those with care and concern about the plight of our planet, the less resourced, the vulnerable, the traumatized.
Embracing antisemitism, call it plainly what it is in some quarters, open bigotry towards anything connected to Jewish and Jewishness, not just the nation of Israel, has been allowed to become a litmus test. The seething antisemitism is so thick sometimes that you can cut it with a knife. It is mental and spiritual illness that has displayed to me that it is willing to cause and create strife, conflict, harm all encompassing. Now, this is what is evil.