Defining antisemitism has become contentious. Advocates and opponents of contending definitions confront one another in the printed press, online, and in social media. The working definition adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016 was endorsed widely but also became the subject of controversy. In November 2020, 122 Palestinian and Arab academics, journalists and intellectuals issued a statement that declared their opposition to antisemitism and to the IHRA’s working definition thereof, which purportedly promotes the suppression of Palestinian rights. In March 2021, the IHRA definition confronted a new challenge in the form of two alternative definitions: the Nexus Document, ‘Understanding Antisemitism at its Nexus with Israel and Zionism’, and the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA).
This workshop will provide a space for scholars from different disciplines to examine the current debate over definitions of antisemitism and to explore what is at stake. It will give historical and theoretical depth to a heated political debate.
The full programme can be accessed here.
This workshop is by invitation only. Keynote lectures and roundtables are open to the public:
30 May 2022
Keynote Lectures – Opening Session
The Discourse on Antisemitism, its uses and abuses, Professor Moshe Halbertal, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and New York University
An Exponential Increase in Antisemitism Accusations in three Cultural Shifts: The German Case, Professor Esra Özyürek, University of Cambridge
Chair: Professor Alon Confino, University of Massachusetts Amherst
31 May 2022
Roundtable
Reflections From and on the Field, Dr Seth Anziska, University College London; Saba-Nur Cheema, Frankfurt University; Professor (Emeritus) Moshe Zimmermann, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Advisor Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Former Member of Knesset
Chair: Professor David Feldman, Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, University of London
1 June 2022
Keynote Lecture
Understanding Antisemitism: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis and Religion, Professor Bruno Chaouat, Univeristy of Minnesota
Roundtable
Antisemitisms: A Variety of Meanings?, Dr Danny Trom, CNRS France; Professor Karma Ben Johanan, The Humboldt University of Berlin; Professor Adi M. Ophir, Tel Aviv University; Dr Raef Zreik, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Chair: Professor Shai Lavi, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and Tel Aviv University
Academic Committee:
Professor Alon Confino, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Professor Manuela Consonni, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Professor David Feldman, Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, University of London
Professor Amos Goldberg, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Professor Shai Lavi, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and Tel Aviv University
Professor Amos Morris-Reich, Tel Aviv University
Dr Dafna Schreiber, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute