Order my new book Safety through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism today!
“The best book I’ve read on contemporary antisemitism and how to combat it. Careful, honest, eloquent, and essential at this terrible moment.” – Peter Beinart, author, The Crisis of Zionism
“This is a daring and provocative project of how to combat antisemitism from the Left. It is a desperately needed alternative to the phobic and sometimes shrill nature of the present discourse.” – Shaul Magid, author, The Necessity of Exile
“Dynamite” – Naomi Klein, author, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World
Two activist journalists present a progressive, intersectional approach to the vital question: What can we do about antisemitism?
Antisemitism is on the rise today. From synagogue shootings by white nationalists, to right-wing politicians and media figures pushing George Soros conspiracy theories, it’s clear that exclusionary nationalist movements are growing. By spreading division and fear, they put Jews, along with other marginalized groups and multiracial democracy itself, at risk.
And since the outbreak of war in Gaza, debates around antisemitism have become more polarized and high-stakes than ever. How can we stand in solidarity with Palestinians seeking justice, while also avoiding antisemitism — and resisting those who seek to conflate the two? How do we forge the coalitions across communities that we need, in order to overcome the politics of division and fear?
Using personal stories, historical deep-dives, front-line reporting, and interviews with leading change-makers, Burley and Lorber help us break the current impasse to understand how antisemitism works, what’s missing in contemporary debates, and how to build true safety through solidarity, for Jews and all people.
Reviews and Interviews:
- ‘Not Just a Jewish Issue’: A New Book Asks How the Left Should Fight Antisemitism — Etan Nechin, Haaretz
- “A fresh perspective on the rise of antisemitism in the United States.”
- ‘Meet people where they’re at’: How these authors think the left can fight antisemitism — Arno Rosenfeld, The Forward
- “The most comprehensive left-wing perspective on antisemitism I’ve come across.”
- Cause at Heart: Socialists & the Abolition of Antisemitism— Alan Wald, Against the Current
- “Replete with many deeply observed insights, careful and respectful judgments, measured analysis, and certainly a passionate critique of fascism and settler colonialism. The authors are not afraid of expressing uncomfortable truths, and they know that trying to win a debate by simply shoving one’s politics down other people’s throats is a prelude to an authoritarian culture.”
- Review of Safety through Solidarity — Matthew Lyons, Three Way Fight
- “Really it’s the best book-length discussion of antisemitism and how to combat it that I know of…the book offers important tools both for the immediate issue of antisemitism and for the larger project of using liberatory politics to combat supremacist mass movements.”
- Refusing to Be a Model Minority — David Renton, New Politics
- A Leftist Analysis of Antisemitism — Danny Katch, Jacobin
- An Essential and Timely Guide to Organizing Against Antisemitism — Paul Messersmith-Glavin, Waging Nonviolence
- Fighting Antisemitism Today—An Interview with Shane Burley and Ben Lorber — Kevin Van Meter, New Politics
- Re-opening the question of Jewish Liberation — Jonah Ben Avraham, Tempest
- Beyond Antisemitism — Joseph Finlay, Vashti
- Book review: Safety through Solidarity — Amy Hall, New Internationalist
Podcast Appearances:
- Beyond Fear: Combating Antisemitism with Shane Burley and Ben Lorber — American Council for Judaism, 7/15/25
- Out-Organizing Antisemitism— Final Straw Radio, 11/3/24
- Talking About Antisemitism — Jewish Currents, 9/5/24
- Fighting Antisemitism— It Could Happen Here, 8/8/24
- Shane and Ben on Confronting Antisemitism on the Left Pt. I— Live Like the World is Dying, 8/1/24
- Safety through Solidarity— New Books in Critical Theory, 9/21/24
- A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism— UNFTR Media, 7/26/24
- “Safety Through Solidarity” and Community Mobilization in the Current Terrain— It’s Going Down, 7/4/24
- Safety Through Solidarity: The Necessity Of Generative Conversations About Antisemitism— Last Born in the Wilderness, 6/28/24
- Shane Burley & Ben Lorber on Fighting Antisemitism— Yeah Nah Pasaran, 6/6/24
Excerpts:
- Jacob and Esau: Antisemitism is Not Inevitable— Evolve: Reconstructing Judaism
- Zionism Will Never be a Solution to Antisemitism— Truthout
- The Shadowy World of Conspiracy Theories is a Threat to Us All — Inkstick
- Synagogue Safety Beyond Higher Walls and Militarized Police— Political Research Associates
- How to Fight Antisemitism: And Win — Vashti
Events:
- Congregation T’chiyah and Detroit Jews for Justice: with Lisa Tencer, 6/30/25
- Ramapo College: Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies with Jacob Labendz, 5/20/25
- UCLA Leve Center for Jewish Studies: ‘Safety through Solidarity in the University and Our Communities’ with Robin D.G. Kelley, David Myers, Dov Waxman, Nadav David and Denee Jackson, 4/21/25
- UCLA School of Law: Law and Antisemitism Conference, 3/23/25
- Political Research Associates: ‘Safety through Solidarity: How Authoritarians Use Antisemitism and How to Fight Back’ with Rev. Dr. Naomi Washington-Leapheart, 3/12/25
- Carleton College: with Rabbi Michaela Brown, 2/16/25
- Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation: with Joshua Shanes, Evanston, IL, 2/9/25
- Brandeis University: with Sarah Mayorga, 2/3/25
- Notre Dame University: with Atalia Omer, 12/12/24
- MaTovu: with Laura Horwitz, St. Louis, MO, 11/20/24
- Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East: with Dana Fisher Ashrawi, virtual, 11/13/24
- Bluestockings: with Shoshana Brown and Audrey Sasson, co-sponsored by Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, JVP NYC and IfNotNow NYC, New York, NY, 9/10/24
- Harvard Divinity School: with Shaul Magid, 9/9/24 (article about the event)
- Busboys and Poets: with Rebecca Ennen, co-sponsord by New Synagogue Project, JVP DC and IfNotNow DC, Washington D.C, 9/8/24
- Making Worlds: with Matt Lyons and Rabbi Alissa Wise, co-sponsored by Kol Tzedek, JVP Philly and IfNotNow Philly, Philadelphia, PA, 9/7/24
- Red Emma’s: with Rabbi Ariana Katz, co-sponsored by Hinenu Baltimore, JVP Baltimore and IfNotNow Baltimore, MD, 9/5/24
- Bend the Arc: with Maya Berry, Rachel Laforest and Graie Hagans, virtual, 9/30/24
- The Forward: with Arno Rosenfeld, virtual, 8/20/24
- Powell’s City of Books: with Eric Ward and CJ Alicandro, co-sponsored by Congregation Shir Tikvah, Portland DSA, JVP Portland, PopMob and the Institute for Anarchist Studies, Portland, OR, 8/7/24
- Left Bank Books: with Diana Falchuk, Dan Berger and Dalya Perez, sponsored by Kadima, Seattle, WA 8/6/24
- Jewish Council on Urban Affairs: with Becca Lubow, Chicago, IL, 7/17/24
- Mac’s Backs: with Danny Caine, sponsored by Cleveland Jewish Collective, Cleveland, OH, 6/27/24
- Women and Children First: with Becca Lubow, co-sponsored by In These Times, CTU, JVP-Chicago and IfNotNow Chicago, Chicago, IL, 6/26/24
- A Room of One’s Ow: with Shahanna McKinney-Baldon, co-sponsored by Edot, Congregation Shaarei Shamayim & Never Again Action Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 6/25/24
- Moon Palace Books: with Carin Mrotz, sponsored by Jewish Community Action, Minneapolis, MN, 6/24/24
- Jewish Currents: with Mari Cohen, virtual, 6/10/24
Ben Lorber 