Pesach is not just a holiday. It is one of the most powerful expressions of Jewish memory, identity, and continuity. It tells the story of liberation from slavery, the forging of a people, and the return to a homeland. From ancient Egypt to modern Jerusalem, the Seder is a ritual deeply rooted in the Jewish historical experience — an experience that has always included Zionism at its spiritual core. “Next year in Jerusalem” is not a metaphor. It is a declaration of hope, connection, and peoplehood.
Which is why the rise of “anti-Zionist Seders,” like the one hosted by Dayenu Aotearoa, is not only troubling — it is offensive.
At this year’s event, Green Party MPs Chloe Swarbrick and Ricardo Menendez March joined the gathering, wearing watermelon-patterned kipot (a symbol adopted in online spaces as a stand-in for Palestinian nationalism) and keffiyehs, which have long ceased to be neutral items of clothing and are now understood by many as symbols of opposition to the existence of Israel. Their participation may have been intended as a show of solidarity, but for many in the Jewish community, it read as performance, appropriation, and erasure.
Worse still, this did not happen in a political vacuum. Both Swarbrick and Menendez March have repeatedly called for the dismantling of the State of Israel, including through the slogan “from the river to the sea” — a phrase widely recognized as a call for the elimination of Israel between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. That they would attend a Jewish ritual space, ostensibly in the name of “liberation,” while actively supporting the erasure of Jewish sovereignty, is a stunning act of hypocrisy.
Let’s be clear: an “anti-Zionist Seder” is not a bold reinterpretation. It is a political hijacking of Jewish sacred tradition. Zionism is not some recent colonial impulse — it is a 2,000-year-old yearning for return. It is woven into the prayers, songs, and rituals of Jewish life. To strip Zionism from Pesach is to gut the holiday of its heart.
Wearing Jewish ritual objects (like kipot) without understanding, let alone respecting, their meaning is cultural appropriation, plain and simple. It is especially grotesque when used as props in political theatre that seeks to undermine Jewish self-determination.
The Jewish community is not a monolith. There is space for diverse views on Israel and Palestine, and there are painful, important conversations to be had. But there is a line between critique and erasure. When public officials (who have advocated for Israel’s destruction) stand at a mock Seder calling themselves allies, they don’t build bridges. They burn them.
It is deeply disrespectful to distort Jewish ritual into a tool for anti-Zionist activism. It is not justice. It is not liberation. It is appropriation. And it is erasure — of our history, our identity, and our right to exist.
