As Israel Attacks Iran, in the Name of ‘Self-Defence’, Hundreds of Delegates in Vienna Reject Western Imperialism Mad Dog

Tony Greenstein’s speech at the Anti-Zionist Jewish Congress, Vienna 14 June 2025

The conference which I attended from June 13-15, organised by a small Steering Committee based in Vienna, was a truly joyous coming together of Palestine solidarity activists the world over. There was even a delegation from Indonesia.

The conference itself was overbooked with hundreds of people having to be turned away. Jewish and non-Jewish people of all faiths and none were united in a determination to see an end to the poisonous ideology of Zionism which motivated the creation of the Israeli state.

Ilan Pappe speaking at Anti-Zionist Jewish Congress 13 June 2025

On the eve of the conference Israel launched an unprovoked attack on Iran, almost certainly in co-ordination with the United States and Britain, using Iran’s nuclear facilities as the pretext for the attack.

Tonight we hear of a massive Iranian counter-attack which has hit Tel Aviv, the centre of the failed state with Tel Aviv being hit particularly hard. It is small justice for razing Gaza to rubble but welcome nonetheless. The sooner Israeli citizens become accustomed to their own homes being bombed, the sooner they may recognise that Palestinians have had to put up with this particular Israeli speciality for far too long.

Ghada Karmi Francesca Albanese Rahma Zein & Rima Hassan @ Vienna AntiZionist Jewish Congress 13.6.25

Zionism was called by one speaker, Ghada Karmi, an ideology of evil and it is entirely appropriate.  A state 47% of whose Jewish citizens responded in a poll undertaken by Pennsylvania State University to say they wanted to exterminate every last human being in Gaza.

The state allegedly set up as compensation for the annihilation of Jews in the Holocaust has become the mirror image of Nazi Germany.

Israelis commemorate the Holocaust on 3 separate days each year and for the rest of the year they keep their remaining holocaust survivors in poverty. The holocaust, like anti-Semitism, has been weaponised to legitimise a state based on the same founding principles that Nazi Germany was founded on.

There were a range of speakers today – both on live video call and in person. The Conference was open by veteran Israeli anti-Zionist Haim Bresheeth from Britain’s Jewish Network for Palestine. 

The first session’s speakers were Ghada Karmi, Ilan Pappe and Rima Hassan, the heroine of the freedom flotilla and Francesca Albanese, the fearless UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine. The latter two appeared by video link. Rima had intended to attend in person but because of her kidnapping by Israel she was unable to make it. The session was moderated by Haim Bresheeth.

We had a special video greeting delegates from Roger Waters who I  understand very generously helped fund the conference which was enormously expensive.

The next session was moderated by Ronnie Barkan. Yakov Rabkin spoke by zoom, with Donny Gluckstein, Haim Bresheeth and Awad Abdelfatah speaking in person.

Speakers at the next session were Ilan Pappé, Ghada Karmi, Ramzy Baroud hosted and moderated by Peter Eisenstein and Gülmihri Aytaç

After the evening meal the final session had the Jewish podcaster Katie Halper, Rahma Zein, Wieland Hoban and Astrid Wagner.

Tomorrow morning starts with a session From Pride to Denial: Arab Jews and Integrating in the Arab World with Iris Hefets, Reuven Abergel, and Camille Levy Sarfati speaking.

After that there will be a session on Reclaiming Anti-Fascism and Fighting the Instrumentalisation of Antisemitism at which Tony Greenstein, Stephen Kapos, Wieland Hoban and Wilhelm Langthaler will speak.

In the afternoon there will be a session on Decolonisation and Liberation: The Relevance of Historical Models when Ronnie Barkan, Ramzy Baroud and Roshan Dadoo will be speaking.

The final session tomorrow Against Zionism and Imperialism: The Move to Ending Impunity, Implementing Sanctions will include Peter Eisenstein, Haim Bresheeth, Tarkan Tek and Irina Vana as speakers.

The Congress will continue on the Sunday with three parallel workshops taking place over two sessions, with feedback and discussion on workshops.

The Congress represents the first visible sign of the cracks in the previously monolithic support of diaspora Jewish communities for Zionism and Israel. Jewish people world wide are waking up the fact that they are being used by the imperialist elites as a moral alibi for Israel’s genocide and mass murder and apartheid. An Israel which is occupying Lebanese and Syrian territory, and which will threaten Jordan and Egypt in the future is attacking Iran and Yemen now.

Israel is imperialism’s mad dog run wild in the Middle East. Every time it attacks a country it is for self-defence. Just like its bogus attacks on people as ‘anti-Semites’ this dressing up of continual attacks on its neighbours as ‘self-defence’ is wearing thin as shown by every poll in Western countries, including the United States.

Today we have a situation where the elites in society everywhere support the Zionist State of Israel but the people are increasingly expressing their  revulusion at a state whose militarism is resembling that of its ideological father, Adolf Hitler.

For further details of speaker see below and for the programme see here.

Tony Greenstein