As Israel’s military campaign in Gaza reaches unprecedented levels of destruction, a global wave of protest has emerged.

Among the most striking are the voices coming from within Jewish communities themselves. From Melbourne to New York, London to Tel Aviv, Jewish intellectuals, artists, and community leaders are speaking out – many under the powerful refrain: “Not in my name.”

I was born and raised in old Damascus, Syria, near the Jewish quarter, in a neighbourhood rich in religious and ethnic diversity. Perhaps that’s why I have been especially moved by the group Jews Against the Occupation. Formed in May 2003 to project a distinctly Jewish voice in support of Palestinian national and human rights, the group has consistently advocated for a just and peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since October 2023, its members have taken part in every rally against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Their steadfast presence has lifted my spirits and affirmed a simple but profound truth: that humanity and moral courage transcend ethnicity.

At these demonstrations in Sydney, I came to know several of the group’s members personally. It was also through these gatherings that I met other principled Jewish activists, including academic and public commentator Dr Peter Slezak.

Jewish dissent in Australia

In 2023, Jewish Australians marched in Melbourne under banners reading “Jews for Palestine” and “No to Genocide, Yes to Justice.” One protester, a second-generation Holocaust survivor, said: “Being Jewish should never mean supporting injustice.”

A few Jewish voices have emerged as consistent and courageous critics of Israel’s actions. One of the most prominent is Dr Slezak, an associate professor at UNSW Sydney. The child of Holocaust survivors, Slezak has long spoken out against what he calls the “ideological indoctrination” that blinds many diaspora Jews to Israeli oppression.

“We are taught tikkun olam – to repair the world,” Slezak said in a 2023 interview. “What Israel is doing to Palestinians is not repair, it is destruction.”

Equally prominent is Antony Loewenstein, a Jewish-Australian journalist and author, whose 2023 book, The Palestine Laboratory, investigates how Israel tests its surveillance and military technologies on Palestinians before exporting them globally. Loewenstein is a long-time critic of Israeli militarism and the ways Jewish institutions around the world shield Israel from accountability.

“Israel claims to act on behalf of all Jews, but many of us reject that,” he wrote in The Guardian Australia during the 2021 Gaza escalation. “Its endless occupation and apartheid policies make the world less safe for Jews, not more.”

He has also warned of the broader implications of this uncritical support:

“When Jewish institutions around the world defend every Israeli war crime, they blur the line between Judaism and state violence. That’s incredibly dangerous,” he told Al Jazeera in 2024.

Loewenstein first came to my attention through his bestselling 2006 book, My Israel Question. Following its release, he generously granted me permission to publish the speech he gave at the book’s launch. That speech appeared in Issue 24 of Kalimat, the literary magazine I used to edit and publish.

Loewenstein, Slezak and others argue that genuine Jewish security cannot be built on the oppression of others. Their message resonates with growing numbers of diaspora Jews who feel alienated by the mainstream narrative.

In her ABC Radio National interview with Sarah Kanowski on the program Conversations (2 November 2023), acclaimed British-Australian actor Miriam Margolyes spoke candidly — and emotionally — about Israeli aggression and the suffering in Gaza. Margolyes said she was “devastated” by what was happening in Gaza and expressed deep anguish over the killing of innocent civilians, particularly children. She was unequivocal: “What Israel is doing is not right. I think it’s barbarous. And I’m Jewish, and I think it’s shameful.”

Margolyes made a clear distinction between Judaism and Zionism and reiterated that opposing Israel’s policies is not antisemitic. She spoke proudly of the Jewish values she cherishes — justice, care for the stranger, and moral integrity — and argued that Israel has betrayed those values.

Margolyes’ statements were heartfelt, principled, and courageous. She joined a growing number of Jewish public figures — especially from the arts and academia — who have used their platforms to speak out against what they view as Israeli state violence, apartheid and moral failure. Her words strongly align with the “Not in My Name” movement, adding a powerful voice to the international Jewish dissent against the war on Gaza.

Jewish dissent and Israel’s aggression toward Iran

The dissent voiced by Jewish intellectuals is not limited to Gaza. Increasingly, their criticism extends to Israel’s broader regional strategy –particularly its aggressive posture toward Iran. From cyberattacks like the Stuxnet virus, to airstrikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria, to the assassination of Iranian scientists, Israel has maintained a confrontational approach that many see as reckless and destabilising.

In The Palestine Laboratory, Loewenstein connects Israel’s hostility toward Iran to a wider pattern of militarised dominance. In a 2024 Democracy Now! interview, he said:

“Israel has cultivated an image as a necessary aggressor, but its actions toward Iran — often unprovoked — only escalate tensions and make real diplomacy impossible.”

Other Jewish critics echo this view. Richard Falk, the Jewish-American legal scholar and former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Palestine, has described Israel’s posture as part of a “permanent war doctrine”.

“By claiming existential threats from Iran while refusing all diplomatic engagement, Israel seeks perpetual justification for military dominance, with devastating consequences for the region and for Jewish safety globally,” Falk wrote in Middle East Eye in 2022.

In December 2023, Jewish Voice for Peace issued a statement condemning Israeli threats against Iran:

“As Jews, we reject the narrative that equates our safety with endless war. Violence toward Iran, like violence in Gaza, is not in our name.”

These critics argue that Israel’s aggression against Iran, like its occupation of Palestine, contributes to growing antisemitism by conflating Jewish identity with state violence.

International voices of conscience

Criticism of Israeli policy extends far beyond Australia – and far beyond the events of October 2023. Jewish-American intellectual Noam Chomsky has long described Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as both a moral and strategic failure. “What Israel is doing is a recipe for catastrophe,” he warned in a 2022 interview.

The late Tony Judt, historian and once a self-described Zionist turned critic, cautioned that conflating Jewish identity with Israeli nationalism could have dangerous consequences. In his landmark 2003 essay for The New York Review of Books, he wrote: “The Israel that exists today is bad for the Jews.”

These warnings resonate now more than ever. When major Jewish institutions remain silent — or worse, defend — indiscriminate bombing, settler violence, and ethnic cleansing, they risk reinforcing harmful stereotypes. As Loewenstein puts it, such silence “makes the world less safe for Jews, not more".

The price of speaking out

This growing chorus of dissent often comes at a personal cost. These individuals are not only challenging the policies of a powerful state but also confronting cultural and religious expectations within their own communities.

In Australia, Slezak and Loewenstein have faced backlash and marginalisation. In the US, columnist Peter Beinart has been disinvited from synagogues and public forums after advocating for equal rights for Palestinians.

What unites them is a moral conviction: that Jewish identity should never be used to justify apartheid, occupation or militarism.

Their courage today reminds us that identity does not excuse violence, and that speaking out — even against one’s own nation or community — is sometimes the highest form of loyalty.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.

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