Podcast appearances and mentions of robert wistrich

When it comes to a broad and detailed analysis of antisemitism, the late Robert Wistrich was in a league of his own.

Not for nothing did author Robert Wistrich call antisemitism the world's oldest hatred.

Anti-Semitism has, regrettably, been with us for millennia. But its nature and character, its intellectual foundations, its accusations against the Jews have all undergone a process of evolution. In medieval Christendom, Jews were condemned as unsaved, guilty of the crime of deicide. In the Europe of the Enlightenment, Jew-hatred took on a more secular character, grounding itself in the racial pseudo-science of the age. Today, anti-Semitism has tied itself to hatred of the State of Israel and flourishes within the reactionary world of radical Islam and its western apologists. In 2013, Hebrew University's Robert Wistrich explored these changing faces of anti-Semitism in the pages Commentary magazine. His piece traces this pernicious hatred through history, highlighting the strikingly similar tropes that recur among anti-Semites from Nazi Europe to the contemporary Muslim world. In this podcast, Dr. Charles Asher Small of the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy joins Jonathan Silver to discuss Wistrich's article and its relevance today. They explore how Jew-hatred's justifications have shifted from the religious to the scientific to the national and discuss why modern intellectuals in America and Europe seem persistently to misunderstand the true nature of anti-Semitism's threat. In an environment where hostility to Jews and the Jewish state has a home on both the Left and Right, Silver and Small make the case that anti-Semitism is not just a problem for Jews; for the forces of reaction and bigotry that target the Jewish people today will inevitably target others tomorrow. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

Speaker: Professor Robert Wistrich (z"l) Affiliation: Director, The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism (SICSA) Title: “A Lethal Obsession: Antisemitism From Antiquity to the Global Jihad” Date: January 22, 2010 YIISA/ISGAP Antisemitism in Comparative Perspective Seminar Series

Is Anti-Semitism a Factor? - Prof. Robert Wistrich Head of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Europe and Israel: a New Paradigm March 24, 2014

In this briefing, analysis is made of the "contributions" to anti-Semitism of intellectuals from antiquity through the Middle Ages to 18th century enlightenment. The conservative, right-wing and fascist intellectuals in developing modern racist anti-Semitism between the mid-19th century and 1945 will be examined. The contribution of left-wing intellectuals and liberal intellectuals, especially in the last forty years to a new kind of anti-Semitism sailing under the flag of hatred for Israel will be explored. Professor Robert S. Wistrich has been the Neuberger Chair for Modern European and Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem since 1989. He is the author and editor of more than 20 books. His latest book is entitled A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad (Random House, 2010). Professor Wistrich has headed the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Hebrew University since 2002. He was the only Israeli on the Vatican-appointed Historical Commission of six scholars examining the record of Pope Pius XII during the Shoah.

Pope Pius XII was the most controversial pope in modern times. Pope Benedict XVI's 2009 visit to the Middle East raised new interest in the attitude of the wartime pope toward the Jews. This becomes even more important in light of the possible advancement of his beatification. The issue remains highly problematic, the more so as the Vatican has not yet opened all its archives on Pius XII. A major reassessment of Pius XII's attitude toward the Shoah took place after his death in 1958. Initially various tributes had flowed to the Vatican, including from some Jews. Perhaps the most important event that damaged his image was the tendentious play The Deputy (Der Stellvertreter). It was written by the German Protestant playwright Rolf Hochhuth and staged -- from 1963 onwards -- all over the world. A judgment on Pius XII's attitude during and after the war should not be limited to his silence on the genocide of the Jews. The pope remained largely neutral about the German atrocities against the Polish people. Nor did he condemn the genocidal Catholic Croatian fascist state and its leader Ante Pavelić. This state massacred 350,000 non-Catholics, including thirty thousand Croatian Jews. There is compelling evidence that the Vatican was instrumental in permitting Pavelić to escape from Italy to Argentina in 1947. Pius XII was neither "Hitler's pope" nor a "righteous Gentile." The polished diplomat ultimately won out over the voice of conscience in facing the formidable trial of the Holocaust. The result has been to leave a dark cloud over Christian attitudes toward the Jews, Judaism, and Israel that it has taken decades of patient work to overcome.

The late Dr. Robert Wistrich, head of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at Hebrew University in Jerusalem discusses incitement against Jews in the U.K. A session of the November 8 2011 conference co-sponsored by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung on Incitement to Terror and Violence--New Challenges , New Responses

Robert Wistrich holds the Neuberger chair for Modern European History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author and editor of two dozen books.

What are the most salient and significant features of the current offensive directed against the State of Israel and Jewish communities around the world? Robert Wistrich, Director of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, examined key facets of the challenge and danger that emanates from the new anti-Semitism, including its connections with the global Jihad. He also explored some possible responses and strategies in dealing with this threat. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 16029]

What are the most salient and significant features of the current offensive directed against the State of Israel and Jewish communities around the world? Robert Wistrich, Director of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, examined key facets of the challenge and danger that emanates from the new anti-Semitism, including its connections with the global Jihad. He also explored some possible responses and strategies in dealing with this threat. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 16029]

What are the most salient and significant features of the current offensive directed against the State of Israel and Jewish communities around the world? Robert Wistrich, Director of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, examined key facets of the challenge and danger that emanates from the new anti-Semitism, including its connections with the global Jihad. He also explored some possible responses and strategies in dealing with this threat. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 16029]