Journalist Philip Weiss (pictured) writes about American-Israeli relations, American Jewish life, and the role of the Israel lobby in American political and cultural life on his blog, Mondoweiss. (It should be noted he used to write for the New York Observer and claims his departure was due to his critiques of the Israeli government - so now you know where he’s coming from.) Today he takes on Zionism in U.S. politics, particularly in regards to Senator Chuck Schumer’s role in blocking Chas Freeman from the post of National Intelligence Council chief for anti-Israel statements. After lamenting the double-standard of such a move, he notes:

I would emphasize that Schumer’s investment is not unusual: Virtually every Jew in America with any communal life at all has been inculcated to some degree with Zionist ideas—the “secular religion,” per Dershowitz; to be anti-Zionist is to be anti-Semitic, says the American Jewish Committee—and has either gone along with it, in the great majority of cases, or agonized and had to form a reasoned opposition or criticism of it, as I have. I bet that Rahm Emanuel, the gameplayer nonpareil, has never thought twice about his Zionism, which was as natural to him as the fact that his father was a member of the Israeli terrorist organization the Irgun; and so when Israel was under attack in 1991, Rahm ran over there to serve on a civilian base, in uniform. And while most American Jews have never been to Israel, a majority of us say that Jerusalem must never be divided: again, a nationalist-religious belief, which they have not examined, or been forced to examine.

There are many Jews in our public life who have struggled to reconcile Zionist ideals with Israel’s behavior. Eric Alterman is a good example. He’s a liberal Jew who is also a Zionist. And he is, to his great credit, upfront about his investment; he is doing a forum on an alternative Jewish Israel lobby on Monday night. Now I disgree with Alterman on many issues around Israel; but at least he says, I’m a Zionist, the Jewish state is important to me.

The forum he is referring to is at the Y and is titled, Why We Need a Liberal Israel Lobby: What It Means for Israel and American Jews. In addition to Alterman, the panel features Jeremy Ben-Ami (executive director of J Street), Rabbi Steve Gutow (executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs), Michelle Goldberg (author of the New York Times bestseller Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism) and Jane Eisner (Forward editor).

Soon after, on March 24 at the Y, award-winning documentary filmmaker Oren Rudavsky; Abraham Foxman, the executive director of the Anti-Defamation League; Wall Street Journal editor Bret Stephens; and moderator Thane Rosenbaum, Fordham Law School professor, will discuss Why Zionism Has Become a Dirty Word. It seems Weiss’s position on that is pretty clear.