The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance (On Zionism, Israel, Anti-Zionism, Jewish Identity, and More) w/ Shaul Magid

Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

On this edition of Parallax Views, Shaul Magid, author of Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical, returns to discuss his latest book, The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance. In said series of essays Shaul explores Jewish identity, Israel, Zionism, anti-Zionism, Jewish intellectual history, and more from a provocative but thought-provoking manner that even manages to delve into his own intellectual evolution going back to his youthful involvement in Israeli counterculture. At much of the core of the book are the questions: "Has Zionism exhausted itself?" and what exactly is the importance of Exile in Jewish culture and thought.

We'll also delve into the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movements and the Jewish community's response to it, Shaul's critique of liberal Zionism, the idea of "counter-Zionism", the Gaza war and the October 7th Hamas attack, settler-colonialism and Shaul's critique of pro-Israel voices using the rhetoric of "freeing Palestinians from Hamas" since the war began, and much, much more.