For its interest, we share with our readers this article originally published by the Chilean ‘Revista De Frente’ Magazine, on the First Anti-Zionist Anti-Colonial Jewish Congress.
For the first time, hundreds of Jews from around the world came together to openly challenge the State of Israel, to claim anti-Zionism as an ethical and moral expression of Judaism, and to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance.
Between the 13th-15th of June, 2025, the first International Jewish Anti-Zionist Congress was held in Vienna, a historic event that brought together more than 500 people from five continents. It was not just a conference, but a political, spiritual and cultural affirmation: Israel does not represent Judaism.
Held without national flags and with olive branches decorating the halls, the congress sought, in the words of one of its organisers, to “restore to Judaism its universal vocation for justice“, and to put an end to the identification between Judaism and Zionism that Israel has promoted for decades.
Between the 13th-15th of June, 2025, the first International Jewish Anti-Zionist Congress was held in Vienna, a historic event that brought together more than 500 people from five continents. It was not just a conference, but a political, spiritual and cultural affirmation: Israel does not represent Judaism.
Held without national flags and with olive branches decorating the halls, the congress sought, in the words of one of its organisers, to “restore to Judaism its universal vocation for justice“, and to put an end to the identification between Judaism and Zionism that Israel has promoted for decades.
Historic break
The event marked the most significant break in the Zionist monopoly on international Jewish representation. “Here Herzl was born, and here his idea died” quipped one attendee, referring to the symbolic choice of Vienna as the venue.
For the first time, an international forum of Jews not only denied Israel’s legitimacy to speak on behalf of the Jewish people, but called for the suspension of its membership in the UN and its Association Agreement with the EU, and the reactivation of the academic and cultural boycott against its institutions.
Participants included renowned academics, Hasidic rabbis, young activists, Holocaust survivors and descendants of families persecuted by Nazism. All united under one slogan: “Not in our name“.
The event marked the most significant break in the Zionist monopoly on international Jewish representation. “Here Herzl was born, and here his idea died” quipped one attendee, referring to the symbolic choice of Vienna as the venue.
For the first time, an international forum of Jews not only denied Israel’s legitimacy to speak on behalf of the Jewish people, but called for the suspension of its membership in the UN and its Association Agreement with the EU, and the reactivation of the academic and cultural boycott against its institutions.
Participants included renowned academics, Hasidic rabbis, young activists, Holocaust survivors and descendants of families persecuted by Nazism. All united under one slogan: “Not in our name“.
Vienna Declaration and Historical Justice
The congress culminated in the adoption of the Vienna Declaration, the core of which reads: “We reject the claim of Zionism to represent Judaism and condemn the use of Judaism as a tool of colonialism, apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people“.
A 91-year-old Nazi camp survivor excitedly sang Mawtini in Arabic [1], recalling that she had first done so during the Naksa. “I never imagined that one day I would sing it against Tel Aviv“, she said, her voice breaking.
The congress expressed explicit support for Palestinian resistance in all its forms, considered it a legitimate struggle against a racist colonial system, and demanded that Israeli leaders be brought before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
“Whoever lived through the hell of Nazism cannot remain silent about what Israel is doing today in Gaza“, said one of the survivors. Another participant proposed broadening the concept of international crimes to include colonialism and the blockade as systematic practices of extermination.
The congress culminated in the adoption of the Vienna Declaration, the core of which reads: “We reject the claim of Zionism to represent Judaism and condemn the use of Judaism as a tool of colonialism, apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people“.
A 91-year-old Nazi camp survivor excitedly sang Mawtini in Arabic [1], recalling that she had first done so during the Naksa. “I never imagined that one day I would sing it against Tel Aviv“, she said, her voice breaking.
The congress expressed explicit support for Palestinian resistance in all its forms, considered it a legitimate struggle against a racist colonial system, and demanded that Israeli leaders be brought before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
“Whoever lived through the hell of Nazism cannot remain silent about what Israel is doing today in Gaza“, said one of the survivors. Another participant proposed broadening the concept of international crimes to include colonialism and the blockade as systematic practices of extermination.
A new internationalism
The congress denounced not only the state of Israel, but also the complicity of Western powers. “Shame, on the governments that repress solidarity with Palestine while justifying genocide“, was proclaimed in the closing session.
The US was strongly condemned for its unconditional support of Tel Aviv, Germany for instrumentalising the Holocaust, and France and Austria for repressing pro-Palestinian mobilisations under the pretext of anti-Semitism.
In one of the most applauded sessions, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi took the floor in Arabic and exclaimed: “You, people of Gaza, are braver than the children of Israel in the time of Pharaoh“.
The conclusion was clear: liberate Palestine, from the river to the sea, not through the two-state farce, but through a single democratic state for all its inhabitants. To this end, it was proposed to create a Jewish-Palestinian and international coalition, and to give intellectual, moral and logistical backing to boycott campaigns.
The congress denounced not only the state of Israel, but also the complicity of Western powers. “Shame, on the governments that repress solidarity with Palestine while justifying genocide“, was proclaimed in the closing session.
The US was strongly condemned for its unconditional support of Tel Aviv, Germany for instrumentalising the Holocaust, and France and Austria for repressing pro-Palestinian mobilisations under the pretext of anti-Semitism.
In one of the most applauded sessions, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi took the floor in Arabic and exclaimed: “You, people of Gaza, are braver than the children of Israel in the time of Pharaoh“.
The conclusion was clear: liberate Palestine, from the river to the sea, not through the two-state farce, but through a single democratic state for all its inhabitants. To this end, it was proposed to create a Jewish-Palestinian and international coalition, and to give intellectual, moral and logistical backing to boycott campaigns.
Below we share with you and invite you to sign the statement that emanated from the meeting
The world watches in horror the unfolding genocide against the Palestinian people committed by Zionism in partnership with the West. It is our obligation as Jews to take action, as this is done in our name. We must join our Palestinian brothers and sisters in their darkest hour, and work for decolonising Palestine!
The world watches in horror the unfolding genocide against the Palestinian people committed by Zionism in partnership with the West. It is our obligation as Jews to take action, as this is done in our name. We must join our Palestinian brothers and sisters in their darkest hour, and work for decolonising Palestine!
Jews and people of Jewish descent everywhere – those whom the Zionist state claims to speak for – are coming together and uniting to declare the unwavering opposition to Zionism.
Since the First Zionist Congress over a century ago, Zionist leaders have claimed to speak on behalf of the entire world Jewry, thus holding Jews and Judaism hostage to Zionism, while permanently attempting to silence our opposition and trampling on the spiritual integrity of the Jewish religion. Jewish tradition, history and culture is totally opposed to genocide.
An impressive history of Jewish resistance to Zionism is as long as Zionism – it included Jewish religious communities as well as secular movements of Jewish descent, and the vehement Jewish opposition to the creation of the Zionist state from within Palestine itself.
Zionism is a crime against Judaism and the indigenous people of Palestine, and we are committed to putting an end to it. Over the years, it has been proven that Zionism, instead of protecting Jews, turned into a great danger by committing atrocious acts in the name of Jews and Judaism. Zionism claims the supremacy of Jews and thereby fully adopts the racist assumption inherent to antisemitism that insists on the ‘otherness‘ of Jews.
The Zionist settler-colonial entity denies even the most basic rights to the Palestinians. Zionism is responsible for colonialism, apartheid, ethnic-cleansing and genocide in the West Bank and in Gaza for more than eight decades. Fourteen million Palestinians worldwide are its direct victims. To the atrocities it commits we firmly say “Not in Our Name!” We are devoted to ending Zionism and we are devoted to the decolonisation of Palestine with our Palestinian partners!
Above all, Zionism is a crime against humanity. Dedicated to the oath of the survivors of Mauthausen concentration camp, handed down to us as testimony of resistance against Nazi fascism, we follow their universal legacy and reiterate their message:
The Zionist settler-colonial entity denies even the most basic rights to the Palestinians. Zionism is responsible for colonialism, apartheid, ethnic-cleansing and genocide in the West Bank and in Gaza for more than eight decades. Fourteen million Palestinians worldwide are its direct victims. To the atrocities it commits we firmly say “Not in Our Name!” We are devoted to ending Zionism and we are devoted to the decolonisation of Palestine with our Palestinian partners!
Above all, Zionism is a crime against humanity. Dedicated to the oath of the survivors of Mauthausen concentration camp, handed down to us as testimony of resistance against Nazi fascism, we follow their universal legacy and reiterate their message:
“The permanence in the camp, lasting years, has reinforced in our minds the knowledge of the value of brotherhood among the people of all nations. True to these ideals, we make a solemn oath to continue to fight, firm and united, against imperialism and against the instigation of hatred between peoples”.
Together we will join forces at the first Jewish Antizionist Congress and united we will join the Palestinians in liberating Palestine, and building a just and equal society!
Together we will join forces at the first Jewish Antizionist Congress and united we will join the Palestinians in liberating Palestine, and building a just and equal society!
Judaism is not Zionism!
Click here to subscribe to the statement
[1] – An Arabic national poem by the Palestinian poet Ibrahim Tuqan, composed by the Lebanese musician Mohammed Flayfel in 1934. The song formerly served as an unofficial anthem of Palestinians and other peoples of the Middle East for much of the 20th century. Though it has since been superseded, in 1996, by an official national anthem there, many Palestinians still identify strongly with it and consider it the unofficial national anthem of their country.
[2] – meaning “the setback” in Arabic, it was the displacement of around 280,000 to 325,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, when the territories were captured by Israel following their surprise attack that began the 1967 Six-Day War. At the time of the cessation of hostilities, Israel had occupied the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan, and the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Until 1967, roughly half of all Palestinians still lived within the boundaries of former Mandatory Palestine, but after 1967 the majority lived as refugees in other countries.
