The conflict over the conflict: the Israel/Palestine debate on US campuses, and the implications for free speech and academic freedom

Seminar Series: Antisemitism Now

Event Information and Booking

31st January, 2024
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Online - the joining link will be sent the day before the event
Kenneth S. Stern, Bard College
Free seminar for scholars. Click the link below or contact bisa@bbk.ac.uk for further information.
Antisemitism, BDS Movement, Boycotts, Genocide, Islamophobia, Politics, Race / Racism
Gaza, Israel, Palestine, USA
21st century
Academic freedom, Hamas, IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, Intifada, Nakba, Polarisation, Universities
David Duke, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Sam Friedman

Since the Hamas attacks of 7 October, some US campuses have been in the midst of controversy. College Presidents’ statements have been blasted as insufficiently condemning Hamas, or ignoring the Palestinians. Some pro-Palestinian student groups have been suspended. Jewish students have been threatened and attacked. A university President has resigned, and government officials are promoting laws and rules that would violate free speech rights, and worse, harm the ability of the campus to help students understand the moment. What’s going on, and what should be done? 

Kenneth S. Stern is the director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate. Previously he was director of the division on antisemitism and extremism at the American Jewish Committee, where he worked for 25 years. He was the lead drafter of the original “working definition” of antisemitism, first published in 2005 and now adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Mr. Stern’s writings have appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post, and he has appeared widely on television and radio programs in the United StatesHis most recent book is The Conflict Over the Conflict: The Israel/Palestine Campus Debate (New Jewish Press, 2020). 

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