Discover the sweeping and revelatory history of a hidden tradition of Jewish thinkers who opposed Zionism.

In-person registration for this event has sold out, but livestream tickets are still available. A limited number of standby tickets may be available on the night of the event.

Pulitzer Prize winner Benjamin Moser uncovers a global lineage of Jewish dissenters who confronted Zionism’s moral and political stakes—often at devastating personal cost. Through a cast of artists, rabbis, poets, lawyers, activists, journalists, and politicians, Moser traces a monumental narrative that dismantles a powerful myth: that anti-Zionism is synonymous with antisemitism. Spanning continents and centuries, these voices—people from the right and the left, Reform and Orthodox, Ashkenazic and Sephardic, men and women, gay and straight—differ sharply in belief and background, yet converge on a shared warning about the consequences of a nationalist project built on exclusion. Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History restores the full scale and depth of Jewish ethical imagination, affirming that Judaism is older and larger than any single political project.

Benjamin Moser worked on Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History during his 2025-2026 Fellowship at the Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. He will discuss his book with bestselling author and historian Rashid Khalidi.

To join this event in-person | Please be sure to register for an In-Person Ticket. Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form shortly before the program.

To join the livestream | A livestream of this event will be available on the NYPL event page. To receive an email reminder shortly in advance of the event, please be sure to register! If you encounter any issues, please join us on NYPL's YouTube channel.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Benjamin Moser is the author of Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and a New York Times Notable Book of 2009. For his work bringing Clarice Lispector to international prominence, he received Brazil’s first State Prize for Cultural Diplomacy. He is also the author of Sontag: Her Life and Work, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2020, and The Upside-Down World: Meetings with the Dutch Masters.

Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Arab Studies at Columbia University. He has taught at the Lebanese University, the American University of Beirut, and the University of Chicago. He was editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies, and served as president of the Middle East Studies Association. He has authored ten books, most recently The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017; Palestine: A Primer; and, with Tariq Ali, The Neck and the Sword: Palestine’s Unfinished Struggle. He is completing a book with the working title Britain, Ireland, Palestine, Israel.

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ACCESSIBILITY

In-Person | Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service at least two weeks in advance of the event: please submit your request via this form. This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs. 

Livestream | Captions and a transcript will be provided. Media used over the course of the conversation will be accompanied by alt text and/or audio description. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation at least two weeks in advance of the event: please submit your request via this form.

CONNECT

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The Cullman Center is made possible by a generous endowment from Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman in honor of Brooke Russell Astor, with major support provided by Mrs. John L. Weinberg, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Estate of Charles J. Liebman, The von der Heyden Family Foundation, John and Constance Birkelund, and The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, and with additional gifts from Helen and Roger Alcaly, The Rona Jaffe Foundation, The Arts and Letters Foundation Inc., William W. Karatz, Merilee and Roy Bostock, and Cullman Center Fellows.