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Defeating Zionism to Free Palestine
Abdul El-Sayed’s victory over Mike Rogers in Michigan’s US Senate race is presented as a challenge to Islamophobic campaigning and entrenched US support for Israel. The article argues that Palestinian liberation is central to opposing racism and colonialism, and that ending the war in Gaza requires confronting Zionism and the structures of Israeli rule.
El-Sayed, who would become the first Muslim US senator, campaigned against US support for Israel’s actions in Gaza. Donald Trump said the US would stop providing Israel with $4 billion in annual aid, but the article doubts this will happen and says ending aid alone would not end the conflict. It cites nearly 75,000 Palestinians killed since October 2023, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and introduces an essay by Noura Erakat and John Reynolds calling for decolonisation, justice, redistribution, reparations and refugee return.
In short
- El-Sayed won Michigan’s Senate race after campaigning against US support for Israel.
- The article argues Palestinian liberation requires confronting Zionism and colonial rule.
- It says ending US aid alone would not end the conflict in Gaza.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters argue that opposing Zionism as a political system is necessary to challenge Palestinian dispossession, unequal rule and the denial of refugees’ right to return. They see US aid and diplomatic backing as helping sustain these conditions, and contend that liberation requires a broader programme of decolonisation, justice and reparations, rather than simply ending military aid.
The case against
Critics argue that treating Zionism as the central problem risks conflating opposition to Israeli government policies with rejection of Jewish self-determination, and may leave too little room to address Israeli security and the history of antisemitism. They can support Palestinian rights and scrutiny of US aid while favouring a negotiated political settlement that protects both peoples, rather than making the defeat of Zionism its prerequisite.