Why we are holding an anti-Zionist Palestine Solidarity Seder

This article is one half of a debate. Read It isn’t a Seder if it contradicts the core narrative of the Jewish people.

The Jewish Council of Australia (Jewish Council) is collaborating with the Loud Jew Collective (LJC) to host a ‘Palestine Solidarity Seder’ this year, 5785. The LJC has hosted an anti-Zionist Seder for some years now and the Jewish Council, as an organisation committed to fostering diverse expressions of Jewishness, is eager to work with them this year, just as we were eager to join six other Jewish groups in a call to sanction Israel in March. 

It is both unsurprising and disappointing that some in the Jewish community have responded to our initiative with outrage. Still, I am grateful for the opportunity to briefly respond to their denunciations. 

This Seder identifies itself as anti-Zionist. However one might define Zionism, it is a political ideology which has led to the displacement of Palestinians from their land, and the prioritisation of the rights of Jewish people over the rights of Palestinians. Many people who identify as anti-Zionist reject this prioritisation of the rights of Jews over the rights of Palestinians, whilst still acknowledging the spiritual significance of the land of Israel to Jewish people. 

Not all of our 1000+ Jewish signatories identify as anti-Zionist, and we have many different views within the Council itself. That said, all of our Jewish supporters are horrified by the criminal atrocities that Israel is committing in their name and against the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank. Forensic Architecture, led by Eyal Weizman, has documented many of these atrocities in great detail, and recent days have brought revelations of new crimes, such as the execution and mass burial of 15 clearly marked aid and emergency workers in Gaza. According to Israeli Human Rights Organisation B’Tselem, Israel has killed more than 1000 Palestinians in Gaza since March 18 2025, more than 300 of them children. In this period, Israel has continued to block aid and displace the population while publicly discussing plans for ‘voluntary immigration’.