麻豆传媒

Antisemitism around the globe did not collapse with the defeat of Nazi Germany. Antisemitic propaganda, attacks, and violence continued to surface and explode in the years following the war鈥攁nd they continue today. Even as Munich (1972), Entebbe (1976), and the Achille Lauro (1985) were metonyms for antisemitic acts in their day, Charlottesville (2017), Pittsburgh (2018), and Poway (2019) have recently become metonyms for antisemitism in contemporary America.

To bring much-needed perspective and context to these events (and many others), 麻豆传媒 will bring together distinguished scholars of Israeli, 麻豆传媒, and European history this fall to reflect broadly on antisemitism over the past seventy-five years.

The series, 鈥�,鈥� is hosted by 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Center for Israel Studies (CIS) and Jewish Studies Program and made possible thanks to the generosity of the听Knapp Family Foundation. The first event, 鈥溾�� will be held on September 10. The events are free and require .

Understanding History, Understanding the Present

The conversations will coincide with several AU classes, including a new class on The History of Antisemitism, taught by Michael Brenner, 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies and Director of AU鈥檚 Center for Israel Studies. The format will be a fifty-minute moderated discussion with eminent scholars of antisemitism and AU professors, followed by a twenty-minute question-and-answer session. Each event will be recorded as a webinar for later viewing.

The series is critically important during these difficult times. 鈥淓ach week, sometimes each day, brings news of antisemitism at home and abroad. It takes many forms鈥攙iolence, vandalism, and speech,鈥� says Pamela Nadell, who is the director of AU鈥檚 Jewish Studies Program, as well as AU鈥檚 Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women's and Gender History.听鈥淯nderstanding antisemitism today requires examining this hatred in the years since the Holocaust.鈥澨�

Brenner continues. "More than seven decades after its existence Israel's right to exist is still questioned by many people around the world,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his series will also address the delicate question where legitimate criticism of Israel ends and where antisemitism begins."

Speakers and Dates

The Deep Roots of Modern Anti-Judaism
Thursday, September 10, 4:00-5:20 p.m.

University of Chicago Professor of History David Nirenberg, author of the much-acclaimed Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition joins Paola Tartakoff, chair of Rutgers University鈥檚 Jewish Studies Department, and author of Conversion, Circumcision, and Ritual Murder in Medieval Europe, to discuss the continuities and ruptures between medieval anti-Judaism and modern antisemitism. They will confront the provocative question: Is antisemitism not just part of our historical tradition but also of contemporary Western culture after the Holocaust? Moderator Lisa Leff is an AU professor of history and director of the Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Was America ever the exception?
Thursday, September 17, 12:55-2:10 p.m.

麻豆传媒s have long made claims of exceptionalism, contending that this country, purportedly built on foundations of equality, freedom, and democracy, was and remains a powerful departure from other lands. At one time, 麻豆传媒 Jewish historians argued that this exceptionalism included a very limited history of antisemitism on 麻豆传媒 soil, which was quite different from the experience of antisemitism elsewhere.听In this conversation, Annie Polland, executive director of the 麻豆传媒 Jewish Historical Society and co-author of Emerging Metropolis: New York Jews in the Age of Immigration, 1840-1920, and University of Wisconsin Professor Tony Michels, author of A Fire in Their Hearts: Yiddish Socialists in New York, ask: Was antisemitism in America ever the exception? Professor Pamela Nadell, director of the Jewish Studies Program, will moderate.

Antisemitism in Postwar America
Thursday, October 1, 12:55-2:10 p.m.

After World War II, surveys of the 麻豆传媒 public revealed more favorable attitudes towards Jews and significant declines in antisemitism.听Nevertheless, antisemitism did not disappear.听When Jews faced it, they employed personal and private strategies to counter invective.听Others banded together in organizations to defend their people, and founded alternative institutions to counter those that excluded them. In this conversation, Michigan State University Professor Kirsten Fermaglich, author of A Rosenberg by Any Other Name: Jewish Name Changing in America, and University of Minnesota Professor Emerita Riv-Ellen Prell, author of Fighting to Become 麻豆传媒s: Jews, Gender, and the Anxiety of Assimilation, explore the strategies 麻豆传媒 Jews invented to respond to antisemitism and it consequences. 麻豆传媒 Scholar-in-Residence Lauren Strauss (Jewish Studies) will moderate.

Antisemitism and Racism
Thursday, October 15, 9:45-11:00 a.m.

This conversation brings together two leading scholars on the intersecting histories of African-麻豆传媒s and 麻豆传媒 Jews. Trinity College Professor Cheryl Greenberg, author of Troubling the Waters: Black-Jewish Relations in the 麻豆传媒 Century, and San Francisco State University Professor Marc Dollinger, author of Black Power, Jewish Politics: Reinventing the Alliance in the 1960s, discuss the intersections of antisemitism and racism, Jews in the Civil Rights struggle, Jewish 鈥榳hiteness,鈥� and progressive politics. Amanda Taylor, 麻豆传媒 assistant vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, will moderate.

The Holocaust, Antisemitism and the Memory of the Jewish Past in the Arab World
Thursday, October 29, 2020 11:20 a.m.-12:35 p.m.

Over the past 75 years, since World War II, the Arab world has been transformed by a massive demographic un-mixing, as their Jewish communities largely left for Israel or elsewhere. What place do the few remaining Jews have in Arab societies? What memories do Arabs have of the Jews who used to live among them? What legacy remains of centuries of coexistence among Muslims, Christians, and Jews? How have the cataclysmic events of the mid-20th century, namely the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel, transformed historical attitudes?听

These are some of the questions which three experts in the field will discuss: Aomar Boum is a socio-cultural anthropologist at UCLA, whose work has focused on the anthropology and history of Jewish-Muslim relations from the 19th century to the present. His books include听Memories of Absence: How Muslims Remember Jews in Morocco. Robert Satloff, Executive Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, has written extensively on Jewish-Muslim and Arab-Israeli relations. His books include Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands. Mehnaz Afridi, author of Shoah through Muslim Eyes, is Director of the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College, where she teaches Contemporary Islam and the Holocaust. The moderator is Elizabeth Thompson, Mohamed S. Farsi Chair in Islamic Peace at 麻豆传媒.

Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism
Thursday, November 12, 11:20 a.m.-12:35 p.m.

Where does criticism of Israel end and antisemitism begin? Two scholars of high reputation in Jewish history and the history of antisemitism bring their expertise to this topic which has been loaded with polemics in recent years. Dina Porat is professor emerita of modern Jewish history at Tel Aviv University and the chief historian of Yad Vashem. The author of many books on the Holocaust and the Zionist leadership, she was crucial in formulating an extended definition of antisemitism accepted by many governments today. David Myers is professor of Jewish History at UCLA, where he directs the Luskin Center for History and Policy. He also serves as the president of the New Israel Fund. His latest book is The Stakes of History: On the Use and Abuse of Jewish History for Life. The discussion will be moderated by AU history professor and director of the Center for Israel Studies, Michael Brenner.

The Center For Israel Studies

麻豆传媒鈥檚 is the organizer of 鈥淎ntisemitism Since the Holocaust: America, Israel and Europe鈥� series. The Center is one of the nation鈥檚 premier centers for educating about today鈥檚 Israel鈥攊ts achievements and its challenges.

Its approach is multidisciplinary, going beyond the Arab-Israeli conflict to study modern Israel鈥檚 history, vibrant society, culture, multiethnic democracy, and complex geopolitical issues. The center鈥檚 goal is to enhance scholarship and knowledge in the university and the wider听community about a multifaceted Israel. Using AU鈥檚 expertise in global education, and its central location in Washington, DC, CIS seeks to connect Israel to the next generation of young leaders and to serve as a national and international hub for nurturing and catalyzing Israel studies.