From the Standpoint of its Victims: Zionism, Palestine & The American Present

Edward Said’s landmark 1979 essay, Zionism from the Standpoint of Its Victims, highlighted the importance of critically analyzing Zionism — not only as a political idea for Israeli state-building, but in tandem with the standpoint of those it displaces, dispossesses, and silences as a precondition for its continued existence. He placed the erasure of Palestine at the center of a structure of imperialism and settler-colonialism — a structure that continues to dispossess Palestinian life while breeding repression across geographies and identities.

The Palestine Circle of the Riverside Church, Zeteo, and Project 48 will host a moderated discussion centered on the present-day political reality within the U.S. through this framework. From diverse cultural backgrounds as Jews and Palestinians, Simone Zimmerman, Hannah Einbinder, Mahmoud Khalil, and Isabella Hammad have refused to be silent in the face of atrocity, and have used their diverse platforms to challenge, oppose and resist the destructive distortions of Zionism.

Click here to read Edward Said’s essay, Zionism from the Standpoint of Its Victims, on which this discussion will be based.

📅 Thursday, April 16, 2026
🕕 7:00– 9:00pm | Doors close at 7:15pm
📍 The Riverside Church,  Nave
91 Claremont Ave, New York, NY 10027

This event is free and open to the community. Registration is required.