Jewish Peoplehood, "Jewish Politics," and Political Responsibility: Arendt on Zionism and Partitions

In a series of essays published in the 1940s, Hannah Arendt came out against the political position adopted at the time by the Zionist movement, the demand to establish Palestine as an independent Jewish state. Instead, Arendt supported a federation based on national and civic equality between Jews and Arabs. The essay examines Arendt's analysis of Zionism and her objection to the Jewish state as part of her notions of "Jewish politics" and "Jewish peoplehood," which emerged in parallel with her monumental project, The Origins of Totalitarianism. Her "bi-national" approach is therefore viewed as the conclusion of her general understanding of anti-Semitism, the nation-state, and imperialism. This essay seeks to reintroduce Arendt's political observations into current debates as a resource for decolonizing Jewish identity.