Interrupting Identity: Zionism and the Palestinian Other

Abstract

Featuring narrative argument in Jewish dissent for Palestinians rights, this article examines identity reconstitution and the attunement to being in relationship with the foreign other. The author promotes a critical rhetoric of first-person narrative for the attunement of identity as an ethical practice in relation to alterity. This rhetoric is exemplified in the work of Sara Roy, Jewish American dissenter, and scholar, who speaks out in support of Palestinian rights as a child of Holocaust survivors. In the process of speaking out, Roy reinvents Jewish self-understanding as an alternative to Zionist identity formations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 I would like to thank the two RR reviewers, Jeffrey St. Onge and Derek Sparby, for their critical comments that significantly helped me develop this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brooke Hotez

Brooke Hotez, PhD, is an independent scholar and adjunct instructor in rhetoric and composition. She presented her paper “Rhetorical Uses of Antisemitism and Jewish Dissent for Palestinian Rights” on the Jewish Caucus panel at the 2023 Conference on College Composition and Communication Annual Convention. She lives in Houston, Texas.