“Bundists and Zionists hated each other from the start. Bundists totally rejected this idea that they should leave their homes in order to colonize Palestine — a land where almost none of them had ever been.”

In her new book Here Where We Live Is Our Country, Molly Crabapple does something both radical and disarmingly simple: she tells a story that was never supposed to be remembered.

Through years of research and her signature visual storytelling, Molly resurrects the world of the Bund – a once mass movement of Jewish socialist revolutionaries who were unabashedly anti-nationalist and insisted that liberation could only come through struggle and solidarity, wherever Jews already lived. They called it “doykait,” or “hereness.” It meant fighting antisemitism not by fleeing, or by building a state elsewhere, but by linking arms with neighbors and refusing to abandon their homes and communities across Eastern Europe. In this new episode of ‘Beyond Israelism’, Molly and Simone Zimmerman revive the Bund’s lost history and political tradition.

“One of the things that Zionism tries to do is it tries to not just take over land and not just take over a culture, but tries to take over history.”

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Bundists organized workers, built schools and summer camps, created art and literature, and fought against the competing forces of European fascism and the Zionist movement who were both urging Jews to flee Europe.

While most Bundists were murdered in the Nazi gas chambers and Soviet gulags, some, like Marek Edelman – a leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – carried that commitment forward long after the Holocaust, insisting that Jewish identity demanded standing with the oppressed, including with Palestinians. It is for this reason — the Bund’s principled anti-Zionism — that they have been mostly excluded from history.

“It is impossible not to see the liquidation of Gaza in the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto...”

Molly’s vivid communing with the past offers a powerful companion to our present. She insists that history is not foreclosed, and that the traditions we inherit are, in part, a matter of choice. In a time of genocide and fascism, the Bund’s ideas could not feel more prescient, and their stories and lessons more urgent to learn from.

Free subscribers get a 5-minute preview of the video above while Zeteo’s paid subscribers can watch it in full. As always, you can also listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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‘Beyond Israelism with Simone Zimmerman’ is a provocative new video podcast series from Tikkun Olam Productions, the team behind the viral and award-winning 2023 film Israelism. In this series, Simone will host bold and inspiring conversations that face, head on, the growing global reckoning with Zionism, the debates over Jewish identity, and the urgent struggle for Palestinian freedom. The episodes will unpack the myths of Zionism; dive deep into the meaning of Palestinian liberation, and through raw and fearless discussions examine the Jewish relationship with Israel.

If you enjoyed this conversation, here are some additional resources:

Order Molly’s book: Here Where We Live Is Our Country

Molly’s op-ed in The Guardian: ‘They tried to smear him as an antisemite – but Mayor Zohran Mamdani walks in a rich Jewish tradition’

More of Molly’s work on her official website: www.mollycrabapple.com

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In the latest episode of ‘Beyond Israelism’, Simone Zimmerman engages in a powerful and timely conversation with Palestinian scholar and author Tareq Baconi, author of ‘Hamas Contained’ and his newly released memoir ‘Fire in Every Direction’. Tareq is regarded as one of the sharpest analysts when it comes to Gaza and Hamas, but this conversation moves beyond headlines into something more intimate. In his memoir, he weaves together his journey of coming out as a queer Palestinian with his family’s history of dispossession. He tells the story of finding his grandmother’s home in Haifa that she had fled during 1948 — a reminder that history is not abstract, but rather lived and carried across generations.

“Even before the genocide began, Gaza felt to me like the most truthful place of what the Palestinian experience is.”

Tareq explores the legacy of the Nakba as an ongoing structure rather than a closed chapter. He reflects on what it means to tell family stories in the midst of mass violence, and why publishing a personal memoir during a genocide has felt both unbearable and necessary. Tareq recently wrote in ‘+972 Magazine’ that “even if Hamas were dismantled tomorrow, the siege of Gaza, apartheid, and the denial of return would persist. At the same time, resistance would reconstitute itself in new forms because the condition that gives rise to it — colonial domination — remains.” Tareq offers historical depth and clarity in a moment saturated with distortion and political theater.

This episode also lands at a critical political moment: Donald Trump unveiling his so-called “Board of Peace,” promoting glossy redevelopment schemes for Gaza while sidelining Palestinians. Against this backdrop, Tareq’s emphasis on the enduring realities of colonialism and apartheid feels clarifying and urgent. For anyone trying to make sense of this moment, this conversation offers something rare: moral seriousness, historical grounding, and a refusal to look away. This is a conversation that doesn’t just inform — it grounds us in our humanity, and invites us into a deeper understanding of what’s at stake.

Free subscribers get a 5-minute preview of the video above while Zeteo’s paid subscribers can watch it in full. As always, you can also listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple

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‘Beyond Israelism with Simone Zimmerman’ is a provocative new video podcast series from Tikkun Olam Productions, the team behind the viral and award-winning 2023 film Israelism. In this series, Simone will host bold and inspiring conversations that face, head on, the growing global reckoning with Zionism, the debates over Jewish identity, and the urgent struggle for Palestinian freedom. The episodes will unpack the myths of Zionism; dive deep into the meaning of Palestinian liberation, and through raw and fearless discussions examine the Jewish relationship with Israel.

If you enjoyed this conversation, here are some additional resources:

Order Tareq’s books Fire in Every Direction and Hamas Contained.

Tareq in +972 Magazine - ‘The Gaza Genocide Radicalized The World’ and ‘A Colonized Palestine Isn’t The Answer To The World’s Guilt’.

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Yuli reflects on her journey from an upbringing shaped by patriotism and belief in Israeli democracy to a painful reckoning with what she now calls an apartheid regime — and with the conditions that enabled mass complicity with genocide.

“Genocide is never done by a small group of people. It is always done with the cooperation, and often the support, of an entire society.”

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Yuli also revisits her years leading Breaking the Silence — a group of former Israeli soldiers that documented abuses under occupation — which became the target of an all-out smear campaign involving government officials, mainstream media, legal harassment, and infiltration by right-wing groups. That experience, chronicled in her memoir Who Do You Think You Are?, marked a turning point: she realized she had become a dissident against the regime.

Today, as head of B’Tselem, Yuli explains why the organization chose to name Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide in its report ‘Our Genocide’.

“This regime needs to be taken down and replaced with something just and democratic — because a regime that commits genocide is an illegitimate regime.”

Yuli insists that facing reality honestly is the only path toward justice, equality, and collective liberation. Simone and Yuli grapple with fear, trauma, and complicity, but refuse despair. In a moment when fascism feels ascendant and denial remains loud, this conversation offers something rare: an unequivocal insistence that another future is still possible.

Beyond Israelism with Simone Zimmerman is a provocative new video podcast series from Tikkun Olam Productions, the team behind the viral and award-winning 2023 film Israelism. In this series, Simone hosts bold and inspiring conversations that face the growing global reckoning with Zionism, the debates over Jewish identity, and the urgent struggle for Palestinian freedom.

If you enjoyed this conversation, here are some additional resources:

Pre-order Yuli Novak’s memoir, ‘Who Do You Think You Are’.

Read B’Tselem’s report about the genocide in Gaza, '‘Our Genocide’.

Read B’Tselem’s report about Israel’s network of torture prisons, ‘Welcome to Hell’.

Read B’Tselem’s report about Operation Protective Edge, ‘Whitewash protocol’.

Free subscribers get a 5 minute preview of the video above while Zeteo’s paid subscribers can watch it in full. As always, you can also listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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Spotify

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“I don’t identify as an activist…Being Palestinian, by definition, you have to be an advocate for your rights,” he tells Simone. “The fact that you’re Palestinian, you have to prove that you’re not a threat, you have to prove that you’re not an extremist, you have to prove that you’re just a human.”

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Simone also traces her own connection to the Columbia organizers in their conversation, beginning with her invitation to speak at a screening of Israelism amid months of efforts to silence student voices. And Mahmoud shares new stories about his harrowing experience in ICE detention, the people he met there, the poignant letters he wrote to his family, and how the dreams of many marginalized communities are the same.

“In my case, immigration laws were weaponized to suppress dissent… and how to feed the white supremacy agenda in this country,” he says. “It’s not about one person, it’s about creating this new environment of division, of hate, in this country so you can divide and conquer.”

Simone and Mahmoud also speak about Mahmoud’s solidarity with anti-Zionist Jewish students at Columbia, the political journeys he saw them undertake, and how they worked together to demand divestment and speak out against a genocide.

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It’s a powerful, grounding episode, and one that offers both an inside view of a pivotal student movement and a reminder of the human beings who continue to bear the weight of speaking out.

Free subscribers get a 6-minute preview of the video above while Zeteo’s paid subscribers can watch it in full. As always, you can also listen wherever you get your podcasts.

If you enjoy this conversation, here are some additional resources:

Read Mahmoud’s letters from detention

More about the Columbia encampment

Beyond Israelism with Simone Zimmerman is a provocative new video podcast series from Tikkun Olam Productions, the team behind the viral and award-winning 2023 film Israelism. In this series, Simone will host bold and inspiring conversations that face, head on, the growing global reckoning with Zionism, the debates over Jewish identity, and the urgent struggle for Palestinian freedom. The episodes will unpack the myths of Zionism; dive deep into the meaning of Palestinian liberation, and through raw and fearless discussions examine the Jewish relationship with Israel.

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Hannah Einbeinder has become one of the most visible, outspoken anti-Zionist Jews in Hollywood over the last year. In this episode, she opens up about how she decided to become more outspoken — about how October 7 prompted a journey of reckoning with her Zionism, how friends supported her on that journey, how she has decided to use the responsibility of her visibility as the genocide in Gaza has worsened. “My Zionism was connected to a sense of denial, but it also…demanded that I keep a distance between myself and the very tangible, real world pain of Palestinians,” says Hannah.

Beyond Israelism with Simone Zimmerman is a provocative new video podcast series from Tikkun Olam Productions, the team behind the viral and award-winning 2023 film Israelism. In this series, Simone will host bold and inspiring conversations that face, head on, the growing global reckoning with Zionism, the debates over Jewish identity, and the urgent struggle for Palestinian freedom. The episodes will unpack the myths of Zionism; dive deep into the meaning of Palestinian liberation, and through raw and fearless discussions examine the Jewish relationship with Israel.

Hannah and Simone discuss the pain of letting go of old stories and myths, unpack how to navigate disagreement and even rupture with loved ones, and their shared visions for a different kind of Jewish life. Don’t miss Hannah’s reading list for unlearning Zionism as well as films she recommends!

“There was a time where I would have heard the words that I said that night and been like, who is this? You know, I would have been so upset with my current self,” Hannah tells Simone. Check out the full episode for an empowering, emotional, and much-needed conversation.

If you enjoyed this conversation, here are some additional resources:

Donate to Pal Humanity — a cause close to Hannah’s heart.

Arielle Angel’s article ‘We Need New Jewish Institutions’ mentioned in the episode.

Simone Zimmerman’s piece on ‘Rhetoric Without Reckoning’

Support Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza.

Donate to the Gaza soup kitchen.

Free subscribers get a 10-minute preview of the video above while Zeteo’s paid subscribers can watch it in full. As always, you can also listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple

Spotify

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Zeteo is proud to announce the launch of a new and provocative video podcast series from the team behind the viral and award-winning 2023 film Israelism. Hosted by Jewish-American activist Simone Zimmerman, whose personal story is chronicled in that film, ‘Beyond Israelism’ is a show you won’t want to miss.

Simone will host bold and inspiring conversations that face, head on, the growing global reckoning with Zionism, the debates over Jewish identity, and the urgent struggle for Palestinian freedom. The episodes will unpack the myths of Zionism; dive deep into the meaning of Palestinian liberation, and through raw and fearless discussions examine the Jewish relationship with Israel.

Where else in our media can you find something like this?

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Watch the trailer above for a sneak peak into just two of the many guests we’ve got lined up for you.

‘Beyond Israelism’ will be releasing on Thursday October 9 – so stay tuned!

To our paid subscribers, thank you so much for supporting us. Because of you, we’re able to take on new, exciting, and important projects like this that expand critical conversations beyond what you see in mainstream media. This would not be possible without your financial support.

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