In Episode 222 [14] of the CounterVortex podcast [15], Bill Weinberg marks the 81st anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising [16] by reviewing the new documentary on Jewish armed struggle against the Nazis, Resistance—They Fought Back [17]. A nearly forgotten element of this struggle was the consciously anti-Zionist politics [18] of some of the resistance leaders—most notably Jewish Combat Organization subcommander Marek Edelman [19], who was the last surviving leader [20] of the Ghetto Uprising when he died in his native Poland in 2009. Edelman was a follower of the General Jewish Labor Bund [21], which rejected the colonization of Palestine in favor of fighting for a dignified and secure place for Jews within Europe. This history is especially critical at this moment in light of credible accusations [22] that the self-proclaimed Jewish State is committing genocide in Gaza, and propagandistic efforts [23] to cynically conflate [24] anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.
Listen on SoundCloud [14] or via Patreon [25].
Book discussed: They Fought Back: The Story of the Jewish Resistance in Nazi Europe [28] by Yuri Suhl, ed.
Production by Chris Rywalt [29]
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