“UNDERSTANDING ZIONISM”  

Class 1 – Origins of Zionism

This session will outline the emergence of Zionism as a reactionary, colonial movement and ideology. Participants will learn the conditions, in both Palestine and Europe, through which Zionism emerged, the political orientation and class character of the early Zionist movement, its organizational development, and the alliances it built with European imperialism and fascism. Through this session, participants will explore some of the founding myths of Zionism as well as its defining characteristics to understand why genocide and ethnic cleansing are not aberrations from the logic of Zionism, but a key part of it that has manifested in different ways over time.