Zioness Movement founding and activities
In 2017, Berman founded Zioness with a dozen friends after three Jewish participants at the Chicago Dyke March were ejected for carrying Pride flags adorned with the Star of David. Berman mobilized the new group to march in SlutWalk Chicago, a demonstration against sexual violence, bearing Star of David symbols. [5] Berman told NBC News “It’s important that we all call out anti-Semitism in our own spaces”. [6] She declared the group's goal to "empower Jewish activists in the future in every variety of social justice movement.” [7]
Berman explains her organization’s philosophy as “Can you Be Zionist and Progressive? (Of course!)”. [8] She describes Zionism as "a liberation movement and a progressive value", arguing that the progressive movement has long benefitted from the contributions of Zionists, that Jew hatred harmed Jeremy Corbyn's party, and that white supremacists blame Jews for helping other minority groups. [9]
Board members of Zioness include Elisha Weisel, son of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, who noted, "I found Zioness (on social media) before they found me”. [10] In her 2019 book on fighting antisemitism, Bari Weiss quoted Berman as saying “We have to be as intolerant of antisemitism from our political allies as from our foes.” [11]
In 2020, Zioness expressed outrage at the death of George Floyd, [12] and produced a guide for fighting antisemitism while supporting Black Lives Matter. [13]
In fall 2023, Berman objected to responses to the Gaza war which involved projecting American experiences of racism onto Israel. She expressed shock that feminists were questioning the evidence that women had been sexually assaulted by Hamas attackers. [3] She cautioned against reducing the Middle East conflict to an oppressor/oppressed binary. [14] Berman expressed concerns with the practice of linking antisemitism and Islamophobia together when discussing either form of hate. [15]
In August 2024, Berman told The Washington Post that while American Jews still find their traditional political home in the Democratic party, antisemitism on the left had grown since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. [16] On the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Berman moderated Zioness’s panel discussion on free speech and antisemitism on college campuses. [17] The panel featured legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky and U.S. Department of Education official Catherine E. Lhamon. [18]
In September 2024, Berman emcee’d the Jewish New Year ceremony at the Israeli embassy in Washington DC. Attendees included Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, and cybertechnology official Anne Neuberger. [19]