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In this gripping and profoundly informative conversation, I sit down with Izabella Tabarovsky, a leading scholar of Soviet anti-Zionism and contemporary left antisemitism. Tabarovsky is a Senior Fellow at the Z3 Institute for Jewish Priorities and a Research Fellow at both the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and ISGAP.Drawing from her years of research on Soviet propaganda and its legacy, Tabarovsky unpacks how virulently antisemitic forms of "anti-Zionism" were central to Cold War-era Communist ideology—and how many of these same tropes and tactics have re-emerged in today's far-left discourse. From the Soviet Union's deployment of conspiracy theories linking Zionism to Nazism to the global campaign that culminated in the infamous 1975 UN Resolution declaring Zionism a form of racism, we trace how these narratives were manufactured, exported, and normalized.Tabarovsky argues that, to quote William Faulkner, “the past is not dead, it is not even past.” Soviet-era antisemitic anti-Zionism, she shows, has left behind a “toxic ideological brew” that still shapes public conversations, academic discourse, and political movements in the West.Topics discussed:The Soviet Union's anti-Zionist propaganda machine and the role of the KGBHow antisemitism was masked as political critiqueThe use of prominent Soviet Jews in anti-Zionist campaignsThe parallels between Cold War-era propaganda and modern leftist antisemitismThe ideological roots of contemporary far-left anti-Zionist rhetoric
Rosa Freedman is the inaugural Professor of Law, Conflict and Global Development at the University of Reading. She received her LLB, LLM and PhD from the University of London, and is a non-practising barrister and member of the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn. Freedman's research focuses on the UN and human rights. She has published extensively on UN human rights bodies and systems, and on UN peacekeeping and accountability for human rights abuses. Her published work includes three monographs, five co-edited collections, and articles in the leading international law journals, as well as policy reports commissioned by national and regional bodies and parliaments. She is a visiting fellow at the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. Freedman has served as a member of the UN Secretary-General's Civil Society Advisory Board on prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, a Specialist Adviser on safeguarding to the UK government International Development Committee, and currently sits on a UK FCDO Steering Committee.
In the wake of the October 7 massacre in Israel, we have seen pro-Hamas activists on the political left celebrate the atrocities. The problem of left antisemitism seems worse now than ever before, or perhaps it has always been lurking just beneath the surface and now the mask has finally slipped.This week, I spoke with the British sociologist David Hirsh, a senior lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London, who literally wrote the book on the subject—Contemporary Left Antisemitism, published in 2018, for which I recently wrote a review. Hirsh is also the founder of the London Center for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, which does the noble work of nurturing scholarship on antisemitism and the Holocaust and building “a community of living research, scholarship and teaching.”In this conversation, we discuss the two types of antisemitism, the influence of societal structures versus personal agency in human behavior and in the Holocaust in particular, what it takes to overcome antisemitism, the importance of rational debate instead of simply denouncing people, the pro-Hamas protests we have seen on the political left in the wake of the October 7 massacre, and much more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe
This week on Times Will Tell we're speaking with Prof. Alvin Rosenfeld, the director of Indiana University's Center for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. Prof. Rosenfeld founded the Jewish Studies program at Indiana University some 50 years ago and served as its director for 30 years. But retirement has eluded Rosenfeld and in 2009 he founded the Center for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism after observing the rise of anti-Jewish hostility all over the world. "The last time I saw Elie [Weisel] shortly before he died, he was very downcast... He looked at me and he said, 'I've failed... Look at the rise of antisemitism today.' So he thought, I thought, we all thought that the more people come to know about the persecution and mass murder of the Jews the more reluctant anyone would be to speak hostilely against Jews in the public sphere. But we were simply wrong," said Rosenfeld. And while early in his career he was able to concentrate on poets William Blake and John Wheelwright, Prof. Rosenfeld's recent work deals with antisemitism, Holocaust literature and memory, including the 2011 book “The End of the Holocaust," and the 2021 collection of essays “Contending with Antisemitism in a Rapidly Changing Political Climate.” Times Will Tell podcasts are available for download on iTunes, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, PlayerFM or wherever you get your podcasts. IMAGE: Indiana University Prof. Alvin Rosenfeld, December 2022. (Gale Nichols)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nikki Veltkamp studies politics, psychology, law and economics at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She recently wrote a paper about the vulnerability of Jewish women, and the paper is being considered for publication in the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism.
On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with Prof. Alvin H. Rosenfeld, professor of English and Jewish Studies at Indiana University. Prof. Rosenfeld holds the Irving M. Glazer Chair in Jewish Studies and is director of the University's Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. He is also the author of "How Are American Jews Faring in an Era of Rising Antisemitism?" which was published in the framework of the INSS collection of articles Contemporary Antisemitism in the United States. The podcast looks at the phenomenon of antisemitism in contemporary American society and asks: Why has antisemitism increased so rapidly in recent years? What are the similarities as well as the differences between the far right and the far left movements in the US today? Why did American institutional leaders fail to condemn antisemitic attacks in the US this past year? How has antisemitism affected the Jewish communities? And how does Prof. Rosenfeld see the future of the relations between American Jews and American society in the upcoming years?
Hungary's Jewish community is the largest in central and eastern Europe, and its regime the most ‘advanced' among its neighbors in undoing the tenets of liberal democracy. How does this affect the memory of the Holocaust in the country, as well as Jewish life more broadly? Dr Raphael Vago, retired Senior Lecturer in History and research fellow at the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, joins us in the studio. This episode is made possible by Tel Aviv University's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism.
Lesley Kleiff is a law and human rights professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK and Haifa University in Israel. She is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism -- https://www.jcajournal.com/ -- and has editorial roles at other academic journals on antisemitism. She is also an advisory board member at the Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law. In addition to teaching, editing and advising, she writes herself about contemporary antisemitism.
Dr Radu Ioanid, Romanian Ambassador to Israel and historian of Romanian Jewry, discusses his book The Ransom of the Jews: The Story of the Extraordinary Secret Bargain between Romania and Israel detailing how, over decades, hundreds of thousands of Romanian Jews were exchanged for money, livestock and goods. This episode is made possible by Tel Aviv University's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism.
In this podcast, INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with Prof. Eli Lederhendler, Stephen S. Wise Professor of American Jewish History and Institutions at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the outgoing chair of the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry. Prof. Lederhendler is also the author of the article "American Antisemitism in its Historical and Social Background,” published by INSS in its collection of articles on contemporary antisemitism in the United States. In this article, Prof. Lederhendler examines antisemitism in the United States in the context of American social history and analyzes how the phenomenon has developed in the United States over the past hundred years. The podcast looks at what is different in the American governmental and legal systems that prevents their decline into anarchy or fascism. Is American antisemitism different when compared to other forms of bigotry, and in what way? How does antisemitism in the United States differ from the phenomenon in other countries? What are the socio-historic origins of the discourse surrounding antisemitism in America? Has antisemitism in America evolved over time? What were related pivotal events in the 20th century? And how did the American Jewish community react to attacks against them? https://www.inss.org.il/publication/american-antisemitism-historical/
Welcome to Times Will Tell, the weekly podcast from The Times of Israel. In the wake of Operation Guardian of the Walls, late last week, host Amanda Borschel-Dan had a startling conversation with antisemitism scholar Adi Kantor from the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv. Kantor is a research associate at the Europe Research Program and in the institute's ongoing project "Contemporary Antisemitism in the United States.” Her main research fields include right-wing extremism, antisemitism, trauma, identity and intergenerational discourse after 1945. Kantor offers a disturbing look at the trend of increasing antisemitism that is sweeping the globe from all political and societal echelons. It's an upsetting conversation, but an important perspective to hear. Image: A man holds a placard during a protest organized by Jewish associations, who say justice has not been done for the killing of French Jewish woman Sarah Halimi, at Trocadero Plaza near Eiffel Tower in Paris, April 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In light of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and as we embark on the publication stage of our new research program: Contemporary Antisemitism in the United States, INSS Research Fellow, Dr. Michal Hatuel-Radoshitzky asks Co-founder of The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, Dr. Heidi Beirich, about right-wing extremism in the United States. The conversation references recent developments in the United States – particularly earlier in January when Congress certified Joe Biden as President-Elect, and right-wing extremists invaded the American Capitol. How do protestors' claims that "democrats stole the elections" circle back to Jews and antisemitism? What has changed in right-wing antisemitism? What is being done in the United States to combat the rise of extreme right-wing stances – and what role does civil society have? https://www.inss.org.il/publication/antisemitism-rising-among-american-right-wing-extremists/
An old spectre is haunting Europe—in fact, it’s as old as Europe itself, but given that it manifests itself in varied forms throughout History, the latest ones have become harder to identify each time. What is driving the ongoing spike in antisemitism across Europe? Who are the perpetrators of recent attacks, what motivates them, and in what ways are they different from past forms? How are identity politics and the Israel-Palestinian conflict playing into this worrying trend? To discuss all this we have with us two leaders in the study of—and the fight against—antisemitism. Simone Rodan-Benzaquen leads the American Jewish Committee's (AJC) work in Europe, and Günther Jikeli is the Erna B. Rosenfeld Professor at Indiana University’s Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. Rate and review Uncommon Decency on Apple Podcasts, and send us your comments or questions at @UnDecencyPod or uncommondecencypod@gmail.com.
Prof. Havi Dreifuss of the Department of Jewish History at Tel Aviv University and the International Institute of Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem, discusses her book Relations Between Jews and Poles during the Holocaust: The Jewish Perspective, laying out the myriad views and feelings Polish Jews harbored for their country and their non-Jewish compatriots. This episode is made possible by Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism.
Dr. Scott Ury, the outgoing director of Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism, and Guy Meron, Prof. of Jewish History at the Open University of Israel, discuss their collected issue entitled Antisemitism: Historical Concept, Public Discourse. This episode is made possible by Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism.
Prof. Amir Teicher, a historian at Tel Aviv University, discusses his book Social Mendelism: Genetics and the Politics of Race in Germany, 1900-1948, exploring the cooptation of a seminal, 19th-century genetic theory by a climate of racial categorization several decades on. This episode is supported by The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.
Prof. Amos Morris-Reich, the incoming director of the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism, discusses his book Race and Photography: Racial Photography as Scientific Evidence 1876-1980, exploring the meeting point between culture and science against the backdrop of racism. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.
Nancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and History and the academic director of the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University, discusses her new book From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The New York Intellectuals and the Politics of Jewish Life, recounting her life on the cusp between Europe and America, and between liberal socialism and Reagan-era conservatism. This episode is sponsored by Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.
On a special episode commemorating the Israeli Holocaust memorial day, Dr. Amir Teicher and Shmuel Rosner discuss the genetical reasoning that the Nazis had for antisemitism, how it relates to science today and much more. Dr. Amir Teicher is an assistant professor of history at Tel Aviv University. His research focuses on German eugenics, the development of modern biological thinking, racism and antisemitism. He is currently a fellow in the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism. He was also a visiting fellow at the Center for Research of Antisemitism (ZfA), TU Berlin and a guest professor at the Chair of Science Studies, ETH Zurich. Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.
Speaker: Mark Weitzman Affiliation: New York Director, Task Force Against Hate, Simon Wiesenthal Center Title: "Contemporary Antisemitism: New Discourses, New Responses" Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT Date: September 23, 2008 Description: Mark Weitzman speaks about contemporary antisemitism and the need to alter the discourse surrounding antisemitism in order to more effectively combat the "new" forms of antisemitism.
Title: Africa and Contemporary Antisemitism Date: February 21, 2008 Titles, Speakers and Affiliations: Title: “Negation of Memory: Jewish and African Responses to the New Antisemitism and Racism” Speaker: Dr. Shalem Coulibaly Affiliation: Philosophy Department, University de Ouagadougou Title: “Antisemitism in Africa: Post 9-11” Speaker: Dr. Hubert Ngatcha Njila Affiliation: Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). Centre d’Etudes Nord- Américaines (CENA), Paris Convener: Dr. Charles Asher Small, Founder and Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT Description: Dr. Shalem Coulibaly and Dr. Hubert Ngatcha Njila speak about Africa and contemporary antisemitism, Jewish and African responses to the new antisemitism, and antisemitism in Africa following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Speaker: Esther Webman Affiliation: Acting Director, The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism & Racism, Tel Aviv University Title: "Continuity and Change in the Arab Holocaust Discourse" Convener: Dr. Charles Asher Small, Founder and Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT Date: April 23, 2009 Description: Esther Webman speaks about continuity and change in the Arab Holocaust discourse.
Title: "Confronting and Combating Contemporary Antisemitism in the Academy" Speakers, Affiliations and Titles: Speaker: Dr. Edward Beck Affiliation: Walden University Title: "Engaging, Educating and Empowering Faculty to Address Issues of Antisemitism in the Academy" Speaker: Dr. Samuel Edelman Affiliation: California State University, Chico Title: "Short Term and Long Term Strategies for Faculty Partnering with the Community and Students to Enhance Faculty Effectiveness in Reducing Antisemitism as Anti-Israelism on Campus" Speaker: Dr. Linda Blanshay Affiliation: Simon Wiesenthal Center Title: "Antisemitism on California University Campuses and the Simon Wiesenthal Center Response" Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT Date: August 24, 2010 Description: As part of the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA)/ International Association for the Study of Antisemitism (IASA) "Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity" Inaugural Conference (August 23-25, 2010), speakers discuss confronting and combating contemporary antisemitism in the academy.
Title: "Discourses of Contemporary Antisemitism" Speakers, Affiliations and Titles: Speaker: Dr. David Hirsh Affiliation: Goldsmiths College, University of London Title: "Struggles Over the Boundaries of Legitimate Discourse: Antisemitism and Bad Faith Allegations" Speaker: Dr. Lars Rensmann Affiliation: Department of Political Science, University of Michigan Title: "Antisemitism Reloaded: The Resurgence of Judeophobia in European Extreme Right Parties and the Crisis of Global Modernity" Speaker: Dr. Robert Fine Affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Warwick Title: "Between Opposition and Denial: The Radical Response to Antisemitism in Contemporary Europe" Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT Date: August 24, 2010 Description: As part of the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA)/ International Association for the Study of Antisemitism (IASA) "Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity" Inaugural Conference (August 23-25, 2010), speakers discuss topics including, the resurgence of Judeophobia in European extreme Right political parties.
Title: "Self Hatred and Contemporary Antisemitism" Speakers, Affiliations and Topics: Speaker: Dr. Doron Ben-Atar Affiliation: Professor of History, Fordham University, New York Title: "Without Ahavath Yisrael: Thoughts on Radical Anti-Zionism at Brandeis" Speaker: Dr. Richard Landes Affiliation: Department of History, Boston University Title: "Scourges and Their Audiences: What Drives Jews to Loathe Israel Publicly and What To Do About It?" Speaker: Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld Affiliation: Professor of Jewish Studies and English, Indiana University; Director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, Indiana University Title: "Beyond Criticism and Dissent: On Jewish Contributions to the Delegitimation of Israel" AND "Roundtable: Discussions in the Study of Antisemitism" Speakers and Affiliations Speaker: Dr. Charles Asher Small Affiliation: Founder and Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) Speaker: Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld Affiliation: Professor of Jewish Studies and English, Indiana University; Director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, Indiana University Speaker: Dr. David Feldman Affiliation: Professor of History at Birkbeck University of London; Director of the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism Speaker: Dr. Dina Porat Affiliation: Department of Jewish History, Tel Aviv University Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT Date: August 25, 2010 Description: This session is part of the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA)/ International Association for the Study of Antisemitism (IASA) Inaugural "Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity" Conference (August 23-25, 2010). Speakers discuss various topics, including Jewish self-hatred and the Jewish contribution to the delegitimization of Israel and modern manifestations of anitsemitism.
Title: "Contemporary Antisemitism and the Deligitimization of Israel," as part of the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA) / International Association for the Study of Global Antisemitism (IASA) "Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity" Conference (August 23-25, 2010). Speakers, Affiliations and Topics: Speaker: Dr. Daniel Goldhagen Affiliation: Harvard University Speaker: Dr. Deborah Lipstadt Affiliation: Emory University Topic: "The Iranian President, the Canadian Professor, the Literary Journal and the Holocaust Denial Conference that Never Was" Speaker: Dr. Walter Reich Affiliation: George Washington University Topic: "The Rabbi and the President: Don't Give Us the Holocaust at the Expense of Israel" Speaker: Dr. Dina Porat Affiliation: Tel Aviv University Topic: "Are Events in the Middle East Indeed the Source of Global New Antisemitism?" Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT Date: August 24, 2010
Title: "Social Theory and Contemporary Antisemitism" Date: August 24, 2010 Speakers, Affiliations and Titles: Speaker: Dr. Catherine Chatterley Affiliation: University of Manitoba Title: “The Antisemitic Imagination” Speaker: Dr. Alan Rosenbaum Affiliation: Cleveland State University Title: “Philosophical Reflections on Antisemitism Today” Speaker: Dr. David Seymour Affiliation: Lancaster University Title: “Antisemitism as a State of Exception” Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT
The Dr. James Sacks Conference: The Psychological Impact of the Threat of Contemporary Genocidal Antisemitism: From Denial and Paralysis to Understanding the Challenge – Part 2 Title: “Coaching for Killing: What Motivational Mechanisms Underlie Islamists Terrorists’ Ideology” Date: April 28, 2009 Speaker: Idit Shalev Affiliation: Post-Doctorate Associate, YIISA Panel Discussion (Min. 26:30)– Stevan Hobfoll, Neil Kressel and Idit Shalev Title: “Victims of Success: How Envious Antisemitism Foments Genocidal Intent and Undermines Bystanders’ Moral Outrage” (Min. 48:10) Speaker: Peter Glick Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Lawrence University Location: Yale University
The Dr. James Sacks Conference: The Psychological Impact of the Threat of Contemporary Genocidal Antisemitism: From Denial and Paralysis to Understanding the Challenge – Part 1 Date: April 28, 2009 Introduction by Charles Small, Founder and Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) Speakers and Affiliations: Speaker: Stevan Hobfoll Affiliation: The Judd & Marjorie Weinberg Presidential Professor & Chair, Department of Behavioral Sciences, Rush University Medical Center Title: “The Impact of Terrorism and War on Tearing the Self and the Fabric of Society Speaker: Neil Kressel Affiliation: Visiting Associate Professor, YIISA; Professor, Psychology, William Paterson University Title: “Why Well-Intention Westerns Fail to Grasp the Dangers Associated with Antisemitism in the Muslim World” Location: Yale University