Unsettled

Oren Kroll-Zeldin is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies as well as Assistant Director of the Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco. He is the co-editor of This Is Your Song Too: Phish and Contemporary Jewish Identity.

A solid demonstration of why unconditional support for Israel is no longer acceptable to many young Jewish Americans. (Kirkus Reviews) If Zionism was the defining Jewish political theology of the twentieth century, Unsettled shows us definitively that a new Jewish political theology has come of age in the twenty-first. A Jewish liberation theology is emerging from the collective experiences of Gen Z and millennial Jews working for peace and justice in Palestine, and it will remake American Judaism. (Journal of Religion) As American media coverage of Israel continues to track further right than even some of the larger daily newspapers in Israel (Ha'aretz, for example), it becomes easier and easier in this country to equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. If only everyone tempted to do so would read a copy of Kroll-Zeldin's thoughtful, deeply personal look at the experience of Jewish American activists protesting the systemic violence of the Israeli state against Palestinians. Crucial context for the courage of American Jews who take seriously the warning 'never again.' (Literary Hub) Oren Kroll-Zeldin has produced a crucial and timely work, addressing not only Jewish solidarity with Palestine at a pivotal and historic moment, but also offering a vision of a Jewish future that is fully attuned to our histories and traditions while transcending the ugly nationalism that has characterized our community since the creation of the State of Israel. Kroll-Zeldin illuminates a past, a present, and most importantly a future that is not merely centered around political activism but offers a Jewish voice that brings us into solidarity with social justice movements around the world. This book is a valuable contribution. (Mitchell Plitnick, co-author of Except for Palestine) Kroll-Zeldin's sensitive and textured examination of what leads some young American Jews to engage in Palestine solidarity initiatives couldn't come at a better time. Understanding why some individuals choose to reach across the ethnic divide to enact social and political change helps unravel the ongoing mystery of how some people manage to skirt the dominant expectations of their communal upbringing. And it illuminates a key question around how individuals and groups draw markedly different lessons from the same apparent teachings as they move through the world, trying to make it just a little bit better. (Mira Sucharov, author of Borders and Belonging: A Memoir) The young American Jewish activists represented in this book…confidently root opposition to Israeli apartheid and ethno-nationalism—along with dedication to anti-racism, feminism, queer liberation and climate justice—in Jewish ethics and values. They create new and bolder forms of action on social media and in the streets. And they courageously take leadership of a growing anti-Zionist movement in the US, often challenging their own traditional upbringing. I am proud and heartened to welcome the publication of this timely new book. (Rosalind Petchesky, Co-editor/author, A Land With A People: Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism) Kroll-Zeldin provides an insider view and social history of important aspects of the Palestine Solidarity movement. I especially appreciated his analyses of how tactics undertaken by activists are chosen for both material and symbolic aims, and how, arising from critiques of the co-existence movement in Israel and Palestine, the co-resistance movement requires that Palestinians take the lead. (Reading Religion)