The IHRA Definition & the Fight Against Antisemitism Part 6: Implications and Impacts of the IHRA Definition on Palestinians

The Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and Palestine Legal invite you to attend 

The IHRA Definition & the Fight Against Antisemitism

Part 6: Implications and Impacts of the IHRA Definition on Palestinians

Friday, February 19th, 2021

You can listen to this conversation as a podcast here.

FMEP is proud to host a webinar featuring Palestinian scholars and activists discussing the implications and impact of the IHRA definition of antisemitism for Palestinians. Join us as we host Ahmad Daraldik, Florida State University student and former Student Senate President, Dima Khalidi, Founder and Director of Palestine Legal, and Dr. Sherene Seikaly, professor and historian of the modern Middle East — all in discussion with FMEP President Lara Friedman. 

For the list of resources shared during this webinar, please scroll down. 

To find past recordings and future events and resources in this series, click here

——-

The IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) “working definition of antisemitism” — including its examples — is on its way to being adopted and used across the globe, where it poses a serious threat to free speech. From the State Department to English Premier League soccer teams, from universities to social media platforms, concerted campaigns to label criticism of Israeli policies and challenges to Zionism as antisemitism — and to impose formal/legal consequences — continue to gain momentum. 

In this webinar, we will explore the unique and urgent impacts on Palestinians of the IHRA definition, which Palestinian and Arab scholars describe as “a stratagem to delegitimise the fight against the oppression of the Palestinians, the denial of their rights and the continued occupation of their land.” Palestinians are especially targeted by the implementation of the IHRA definition, from attacking their activism and advocacy on their own behalf to labeling expressions of their identities, their lived experiences, and their history and experiences antisemitic. This impossible dynamic is especially visible on college campuses, where students and faculty face campaigns that undermine their rights to constitutionally-protected freedom of speech. 

Panelists

Ahmad Omar Daraldik is a third year student majoring in International Affairs at Florida State University where he serves as a Student Senator. He is a 1st Generation Palestinian Muslim American and was the first with this background to serve FSU as the Student Senate President. His university education is supported by the Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement (CARE), which assists students who are traditionally underrepresented for socioeconomic and educational reasons. His instagram is https://www.instagram.com/deeko_the_palestinian/.  

Dima Khalidi is the founder and director of Palestine Legal and Cooperating Counsel with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). She oversees Palestine Legal’s array of legal and advocacy work to protect people speaking out for Palestinian rights from attacks on their civil and constitutional rights. Prior to founding Palestine Legal in 2012, Dima worked with CCR as a cooperating attorney on the Mamilla Cemetery Campaign, submitting a Petition to United Nations officials to stop the desecration of an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, and advocating on behalf of Palestinian descendants of individuals interred in the cemetery. Dima has a JD from DePaul University College of Law, an MA in International and Comparative Legal Studies from the University of London – SOAS, and a BA in History and Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan. 

Sherene Seikaly is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Seikaly’s Men of Capital: Scarcity and Economy in Mandate Palestine (Stanford University Press, 2016) explores how Palestinian capitalists and British colonial officials used economy to shape territory, nationalism, the home, and the body. Her second book, From Baltimore to Beirut: On the Question of Palestine focuses on a Palestinian man who was at once a colonial officer and a colonized subject, an enslaver and a refugee. His trajectory from nineteenth century mobility across Baltimore and Sudan to twentieth century immobility in Lebanon places the question of Palestine in a global history of race, capital, slavery, and dispossession. Seikaly is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Academic Senate, the University of California, Santa Barbara; the Harold J. Plous Award at UCSB; and the UC President’s Faculty Research Fellowship. She currently serves as co-editor of Journal of Palestine Studies and co-founder and co-editor of Jadaliyya.

Moderator

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). She tweets at @LaraFriedmanDC.

Resources shared during this webinar: 

Palestine Legal: 

Two interviews with Dima Khalidi: 

Statement from Palestinian and Arab academics, journalists, and intellectuals, “Palestinian rights and the IHRA definition of antisemitism” → https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/nov/29/palestinian-rights-and-the-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism?fbclid=IwAR1j_NOutmYAC6sduOE4GP4DgUp1M037x-3sO4cO0Hk4HhvQrrdOhkgkMok

Sherene Seikaly’s New York Times essay: “Anti-Zionism Can and Should Be Anti-Racism,” part of their “Is Anti-Zionism Merely Anti-Semitism in Disguise?” debate → https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/04/04/is-anti-zionism-anti-semitism/anti-zionism-can-and-should-be-anti-racism

For more on the University College London IHRA decision, which Dima Khalidi referenced —> https://www.palestinecampaign.org/press-release-ucls-academic-board-finds-the-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism-not-fit-for-purpose/

Resources from Lara Friedman: 

The Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) invites you to attend 

The IHRA Definition & the Fight Against Antisemitism

Part 5: Opportunities and Struggles for Progressive Jews

Thursday, February 11th, 2021

FMEP is proud to host a webinar featuring progressive Jews exploring the challenges and opportunities embodied in the ongoing debate over how to define antisemitism. Join us as we host Corey Balsam, National Coordinator for Canada’s Independent Jewish Voices, writer and filmmaker Rebecca Pierce, and Dr. Barry Trachtenberg, professor and scholar of modern European and American Jewry — all in discussion with FMEP President Lara Friedman. 

To find past recordings and future webinars and resources in this series, click here

See below for the resources we shared in this webinar. 

——-

The IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) “working definition of antisemitism” — including its examples — is on its way to being adopted and used across the globe, where it poses a serious threat to free speech. From the State Department to English Premier League soccer teams, from universities to social media platforms, concerted campaigns to label criticism of Israeli policies and challenges to Zionism as antisemitism — and to impose formal/legal consequences — continue to gain momentum.

Over the past couple of months, disagreements over the IHRA definition among organizations representing Jewish Americans have surfaced in Jewish media outlets on a weekly if not daily basis. Groups that have long been more conservative in terms of resisting criticizing Israeli policies have publicly urged the Biden Administration to adopt the IHRA definition, while more liberal organizations* have increasingly voiced their opposition, based on concerns for free speech. This battle is taking place against the backdrop of a petition campaign led by Jewish Voice for Peace and supported by dozens of organizations,** urging Facebook to resist pressure to use the label of antisemitism as a pretext to silence critics of Israel; that petition has (so far) attracted more than 36,000 signers. 

Panelists 

Corey Balsam is the national coordinator of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, and among the lead organizers of its No IHRA campaign. Previously, Corey worked for Oxfam and at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank. He has a master’s in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education from the University of Toronto, where he studied the historic appeal of Israel and Zionism for Ashkenazi Jews, and a Bachelor’s in Public Affairs and Policy Management from Carleton University. He currently lives in Montreal, Quebec, with his wife and two sons. 

Rebecca Pierce is a writer and filmmaker based in San Francisco, California. Her multimedia storytelling covers a diverse range of topics including race, religion, global conflict, and human rights. Her work as a filmmaker has taken her around the world with projects shot in the Middle East, Asia Pacific region, Europe, and the United States. Her editorial writing and public speaking on racial justice issues affecting African American and Jewish communities has been featured by The Nation, The New Republic, Jewish Currents, The Forward, and NPR’s All Things Considered. She tweets at @aptly_engineerd.

Barry Trachtenberg teaches Jewish History at Wake Forest University and is the author, most recently, of The Revolutionary Roots of Modern Yiddish, 1903-1917 (Syracuse University Press) and The United States and the Nazi Holocaust: Race, Refuge, and Remembrance (Bloomsbury). His book on the Holocaust and Yiddish intellectual culture is under contract with Rutgers University Press. In 2017, Trachtenberg testified to the House Judiciary Committee on the “Anti-Semitism Awareness Act.” He also writes occasional pieces and lectures on the topics of Zionism, antisemitism, and US support for Israel. These have appeared in forums such as the Forward, Tablet, Electronic Intifada, Mondoweiss, Die Tageszeitung (German), A2larm (Czech), and La Razón (Spanish). He is member of the Academic Advisory Board of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Moderator

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). She tweets at @LaraFriedmanDC.

* Including FMEP grantees Americans for Peace Now, New Israel Fund, and T’ruah.

** Including FMEP grantees 7amleh, Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, and Palestine Legal. 

 

Resources shared in this webinar: 

Follow our panelists’ work: 

Lara Friedman’s Databases: 

JVP-led Facebook campaign → https://facebookweneedtotalk.org/

Barry Trachtenberg’s 2017 testimony before Congress on the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act → https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20171107/106610/HHRG-115-JU00-Wstate-TrachtenbergB-20171107.pdf

Articles by Rebecca Pierce: 

Jewish Currents has covered the controversies around Ethnic Studies in California repeatedly:

Rabbi Alissa Wise, “Facebook Might Censor Criticism of Zionists. That’s Dangerous.”  → https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/11/facebook-might-censor-criticism-of-zionists-thats-dangerous

The Israeli government’s brand new report on hate and social media —> https://4il.org.il/2480/

Independent Jewish Voices Canada: 

Corey Balsam’s Times of Israel blog, “Who’s against adopting the IHRA antisemitism definition? → https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/whos-against-adopting-the-ihra-antisemitism-definition/

The 2018 EKOS Poll: Jewish Canadians sharply divided on Israel-Palestine —> https://www.ijvcanada.org/new-ekos-poll-jewish-canadians-sharply-divided-on-israel-palestine/

The Ugandan Jews whom the Israeli government has determined are not eligible to immigrate to Israel as Jews → https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-ugandan-jews-not-eligible-to-immigrate-to-israel-state-informs-high-court-1.9474081

Jewish Voice for Labour’s definition of antisemitism –> https://m.facebook.com/jvoicelabour/posts/310332092990679

Marc Lamont Hill & Mitchell Plitnick’s new book, Except for Palestine: the Limits of Progressive Politics → https://thenewpress.com/books/except-for-palestine

FMEP podcast: Marc Lamont Hill, Mitchell Plitnick, and Peter Beinart → https://fmep.org/resource/occupied-thoughts-with-peter-beinart-except-for-palestine-the-limits-of-progressive-politics-with-marc-lamont-hill-mitchell-plitnick/

Jewish Council on Urban Affairs Opposes Government Use of IHRA Definition of Antisemitism → https://jcua-online.medium.com/jewish-council-on-urban-affairs-opposes-government-use-of-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism-94efdc4b54ce

Progressive Israel Network Groups Oppose Codification of IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, Citing Strong Potential for Misuse → https://www.progressiveisraelnetwork.org/progressive-israel-network-groups-oppose-codification-of-ihra-working-definition-of-antisemitism-citing-strong-potential-for-misuse/

  • Members of the Progressive Israel Network: Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, Habonim Dror North America, Hashomer Hatzair World Movement, Jewish Labor Committee, J Street, New Israel Fund, Partners for Progressive Israel, Reconstructing Judaism, and T’ruah 

Bend the Arc Opposes Government Use of IHRA Definition of Antisemitism → https://www.bendthearc.us/bend_the_arc_opposes_government_use_of_ihra_definition_of_antisemitism

Reform Jewish Institutions Affirm IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism → https://urj.org/press-room/reform-jewish-institutions-affirm-ihra-working-definition-antisemitism

Conference of Presidents Member Organizations Adopt IHRA Definition → https://www.conferenceofpresidents.org/news/press/2021/jan26/conference-presidents-member-organizations-adopt-ihra-definition

  • Conference of Presidents Member Organizations that adopted the IHRA include Ameinu, AIPAC, American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League (ADL), HIAS, Hillel International, Jewish Federations of North America, Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) 

 

“President Joe Biden campaigned on the idea that he’d bring the country back to ‘normal.’ But that message has raised some eyebrows, as many have pointed out that America’s “normal” doesn’t necessarily mean good, or right.  In this episode of Unsettled, producer Ilana Levinson interviews Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, about what is considered normal U.S. foreign policy on Israel-Palestine, the relationships with Israeli and Palestinian leaders that Biden inherits from former President Donald Trump, and what we can expect from Biden given his record as Vice President in the Obama administration. Unsettled is produced by Emily Bell, Asaf Calderon, Max Freedman, and Ilana Levinson. Original music by Nat Rosenzweig. Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions.”

Listen to the podcast here:

Podcast host Yousef Munayyer and guest Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, discuss the expected Israel/Palestine policy of the incoming Biden Administration and the damage caused by the Trump Administration to Middle East peace (recorded 8 Dec 2020).

The Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) invites you to attend 

The IHRA Definition & the Fight Against Antisemitism: A webinar series examining how a problematic definition of antisemitism is being used to quash criticism of Israel and threaten freedom of speech 

Part 1: Views on IHRA from Around the Globe 

 Recorded on Monday, December 14th 

Featuring Seth Anziska, Associate Professor of Jewish-Muslim Relations at University College London; Ryvka Barnard, Head of Civic Space at UK-based anti-poverty and human rights charity War on Want; and Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director of Human Rights Watch; in conversation with FMEP’s Lara Friedman. 

To find past recordings and future webinars and resources in this series, click here

Resources the panelists and moderator referred to during the webinar: 

The IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism — and its examples — is on its way to being adopted and used across the globe to restrict free speech. From the State Department to English Premier League soccer teams, from universities to social media platforms, concerted campaigns to label criticism of Israeli policies and challenges to Zionism as antisemitism — and to impose formal/legal consequences — continue to gain momentum. In state legislatures and Congress in the United States, across Europe and in Latin America, the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and its examples is being used to quash criticism of Israel, to delegitimize advocates for Palestinian rights, and to undermine civil society organizations — including human rights and humanitarian groups — for their work with or support for Palestinians. This politicization and weaponization of the fight against antisemitism has grave implications, not just for Israel-Palestine activism but for free speech and civil society writ large, as well as for the battle against real and rising antisemitism around the world. 

FMEP is proud to announce an ongoing webinar series exploring these efforts to redefine antisemitism in this problematic manner, as well as arguments and efforts to oppose it. 

Participants 

Seth Anziska is the Mohamed S. Farsi-Polonsky Associate Professor of Jewish-Muslim Relations at University College London. His research and teaching focuses on Israeli and Palestinian society and culture, modern Middle Eastern history, and contemporary Arab and Jewish politics. He is the author of Preventing Palestine: A Political History from Camp David to Oslo (Princeton University Press, 2018), which was awarded the British Association for Jewish Studies Book Prize in 2019. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and Foreign Policy. Seth received his PhD in International and Global History from Columbia University, his M. Phil. in Modern Middle Eastern Studies from St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and his BA in history from Columbia University. 

Ryvka Barnard is the Head of Civic Space at UK-based anti-poverty and human rights charity War on Want. She campaigns against human rights abuses associated with the growing power of the military and security industry, with a special focus on the UK-Israel arms trade. She writes frequently on the topic in the Independent, Middle East Eye and has appeared on the BBC and other broadcast channels discussing these issues. Ryvka has a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from New York University where she specialized in the politics of tourism development in the occupied West Bank.

Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Prior to his current role, he was a Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he focused on US counterterrorism policies, including legal representation of Guantanamo detainees. As the 2013-14 Arthur R. and Barbara D. Finberg Fellow at Human Rights Watch, he investigated human rights violations in Egypt, including the Rab’a massacre, one of the largest killings of protesters in a single day. A former Fulbright Scholar in Syria, Omar holds a JD from Stanford Law School, where he co-authored a report on the civilian consequences of US drone strikes in Pakistan as a part of the International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic, an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Affairs, and a BA in International Relations from Stanford.

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP).

The Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) invites you to attend 

The View from Europe: Israel, Palestine, Biden, & Antisemitism

Recorded on Thursday, December 10th

As the United States prepares for the end of one presidential administration and the beginning of another, FMEP is taking stock of the opportunities, burdens, and dynamics facing the European Union as it engages with Israel and Palestine. As the EU looks to the new Biden Administration, what are its expectations around cooperation with the United States and the EU’s roles in the region? How does the EU assess and address Israel’s new alliances in the Gulf or internal Palestinian and Israeli politics? And what are the impacts of the redefinition of antisemitism to include criticism of Israel and anti-Zionism? To discuss these issues, FMEP is proud to host a panel of European experts and advocates in conversation with FMEP President Lara Friedman. 

featuring 

Dr. Muriel Asseburg (Senior Fellow in the Middle East and Africa Division of Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin) 

Dr. Dimitris Bouris (Assistant Professor/Senior Lecturer of EU Security/European External Relations at the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam)

Alexandra Gerasimčiková (Policy advisor for ACT Alliance EU, Brussels) and 

Dr. Anders Persson (Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Linnaeus University)

In conversation with 

Lara Friedman (President of FMEP)

Panelists 

Dr. Muriel Asseburg is Senior Fellow in the Middle East and Africa Division of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. Her current research is focused on conflict dynamics and peace-making in the Levant (Israel/Palestine and Syria, in particular); German, European and US Middle East policies; as well as questions of state building, political reform and security in the Eastern Mediterranean.  Asseburg studied political science, international law and economics at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich where in 2000 she obtained a Ph.D. with a thesis on “Palestinian State and Nation Building in the Interim Period”. She has also lived, studied, and worked in the USA, Israel/Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon. For more on Dr. Asseburg’s work, visit her webpage.

Dr. Dimitris Bouris is Assistant Professor (Senior Lecturer) of EU Security/European External Relations at the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam and also a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Natolin). He is also the leader and coordinator of EUMENIA – a Jean Monnet Network on EU-Middle East relations. Dr. Bouris is the author of “The European Union and Occupied Palestinian Territories: State-building without a state” (Routledge 2014), the co-editor (with Tobias Schumacher) of the “Revised European Neighbourhood Policy: Continuity and Change in EU Foreign Policy” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) and also the co-editor (with Daniela Huber and Michelle Pace) of the “Routledge Handbook on EU-Middle East Relations” (forthcoming 2021). He has published a number of scholarly articles in peer-reviewed academic journals as well as policy briefs and op-eds for major news and policy outlets such as Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Al Jazeera and EU Observer. His research focus lies at the intersection of International Relations (IR theory, peacebuilding, state-building, security sector reform, conflict resolution), EU Studies (EU External Relations, EU Common Security and Defence Policy) and Middle East and North Africa Studies (with a particular focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict).

Alexandra Gerasimčiková is a Brussels-based policy advisor for ACT Alliance EU, an advocacy network of European development agencies supporting over 100 local partners in the West Bank and Gaza. She is advising the agencies on EU policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and leading their European advocacy cooperation. Alexandra also contributes to publications on EU foreign policy in its neighbourhood. Her most recent analysis for Responsible Statecraft covered the EU’s sanctions policy. Alexandra holds a Master’s degree in Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia Security from University of St Andrews. Twitter: @alexandra_grsm. For more on Alexandra Gerasimčiková’s work, go to this link.

Anders Persson is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Linnaeus University. He researches the role of the European Union in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has written four books about this topic, including EU Diplomacy and the Israeli-Arab Conflict, 1967–2019 (Edinburgh University Press, Aug 2020) and The EU and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 1971-2013: In Pursuit of a Just Peace (Lanham, Lexington Books: 2015). He has published peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Journal of Common Market Studies, Mediterranean Politics, Journal of European Integration, Middle East Critique, Journal of Conflict Transformation and Security and New Middle Eastern Studies. He serves as expert commentator for Swedish TV/radio/press on Israel-Palestine and contributes regularly to Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, Al Jazeera English, Politico EU and EU Observer.

Moderator

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP).

The IHRA Definition & the Fight Against Antisemitism: A webinar series examining how a problematic definition of antisemitism is being used to quash criticism of Israel and threaten freedom of speech 

Part 4: Antisemitism, Free Speech, Social Media, and Corporate Accountability 

Co-sponsored with 7amleh

Thursday, December 17th

Featuring Alison Carmel, International Relations Manager at 7amleh; Marwa Fatafta, MENA Policy Manager at Access Now; Lara Friedman, President of FMEP; and Brian Hauss, staff attorney at the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project; in conversation with Peter Beinart, Non-Resident Fellow at FMEP.

To find past recordings and future webinars in this series, click here

The IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism — and its examples — is on its way to being adopted and used across the globe to restrict free speech. From the State Department to English Premier League soccer teams, from universities to social media platforms, concerted campaigns to label criticism of Israeli policies and challenges to Zionism as antisemitism — and to impose formal/legal consequences — continue to gain momentum. In state legislatures and Congress in the United States, across Europe and in Latin America, the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and its examples is being used to quash criticism of Israel, to delegitimize advocates for Palestinian rights, and to undermine civil society organizations — including human rights and humanitarian groups — for their work with or support for Palestinians. This politicization and weaponization of the fight against antisemitism has grave implications, not just for Israel-Palestine activism but for free speech and civil society writ large, as well as for the battle against real and rising antisemitism around the world.

Resources shared/mentioned during this webinar include:

The IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism — and its examples — is on its way to being adopted and used across the globe to restrict free speech. From the State Department to English Premier League soccer teams, from universities to social media platforms, concerted campaigns to label criticism of Israeli policies and challenges to Zionism as antisemitism — and to impose formal/legal consequences — continue to gain momentum. In state legislatures and Congress in the United States, across Europe and in Latin America, the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and its examples is being used to quash criticism of Israel, to delegitimize advocates for Palestinian rights, and to undermine civil society organizations — including human rights and humanitarian groups — for their work with or support for Palestinians. This politicization and weaponization of the fight against antisemitism has grave implications, not just for Israel-Palestine activism but for free speech and civil society writ large, as well as for the battle against real and rising antisemitism around the world.

Participants 

Alison Carmel is the International Relations Manager at 7amleh is a digital rights defender, writer, researcher and activist. For the past ten years she has supported building the capacity of human rights defenders and civil society organizations to advocate for their rights utilizing digital technologies and the Internet.

Marwa Fatafta is a Palestinian writer, researcher and policy analyst based in Berlin. She leads Access Now’s work on digital rights in the Middle East and North Africa region as the MENA Policy Manager. She is also an advisory board member of the Palestinian digital rights organization 7amleh. Previously, she worked as the MENA Regional Advisor for Transparency International Secretariat. Marwa was a Fulbright scholar to the US, and holds an MA in International Relations from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. She holds a second MA in Development and Governance from University of Duisburg-Essen.

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP).

Brian Hauss is a staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. Brian was previously a staff attorney with the ACLU Center for Liberty, where he focused on combating religious refusals to comply with anti-discrimination laws. He also spent two years as the ACLU’s William J. Brennan First Amendment Fellow. Brian is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. He served as a law clerk to the Hon. Marsha S. Berzon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Peter Beinart is Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York. He is also a Contributing Opinion Writer at The New York Times, a CNN Political Commentator, Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He writes the Beinart Notebook newsletter on substack.com.

In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” host Peter Beinart is joined by Palestinian academics Rashid Khalidi and Nadia Abu El-Haj to discuss a recent statement on the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, signed by 122 Palestinian and Arab thought leaders.

You can subscribe to “Occupied Thoughts” on iTunes | Soundcloud | TuneIn 

Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and a CNN Political Commentator.

Nadia Abu El-Haj is Ann Olin Whitney Professor in the Departments of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University, Co-Director of the Center for Palestine Studies, and Chair of the Board of Directors, The Society of Fellows/Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia. The recipient of numerous awards, including from the Social Science Research Council, the Wenner Gren Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Harvard Academy for Area and International Studies, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, she is the author of numerous articles and essays published on topics ranging from the history of archaeology in Palestine to the question of race and genomics today. Abu El-Haj has published two books: Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society (2001), which won the Albert Hourani Annual Book Award from the Middle East Studies Association in 2002, and The Genealogical Science: The Search for Jewish Origins and the Politics of Epistemology (2012). While Abu El-Haj’s two books to date have focused on historical sciences (archaeology, and genetic history), her third book, forthcoming from Verso, considers the post 9/11 wars and contemporary U.S. militarism through an exploration of the complex ethical and political implications of shifting psychiatric and public understandings of the trauma of American soldiers.

Rashid Khalidi is Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. He received a B.A. from Yale University in 1970 and a D. Phil. from Oxford University in 1974, and has taught at the Lebanese University, the American University of Beirut, and the University of Chicago. He was President of the Middle East Studies Asociation, is co-editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies. He served as an advisor to the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid and Washington Arab-Israeli peace negotiations from October 1991 until June 1993. Khalidi is author of eight books, including The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 (2020), and Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness (rev. ed. 2010), and has co-edited three other books and published over 110 academic articles. He has written op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post, and many other newspapers, and has appeared widely on TV and radio in the US and abroad.

The IHRA Definition & the Fight Against Antisemitism: A webinar series examining how a problematic definition of antisemitism is being used to quash criticism of Israel and threaten freedom of speech 

Part 1: Views on IHRA from Around the Globe 

 Recorded Monday, December 14, 2020

Featuring Seth Anziska, Associate Professor of Jewish-Muslim Relations at University College London; Ryvka Barnard, Head of Civic Space at UK-based anti-poverty and human rights charity War on Want; and Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director of Human Rights Watch; in conversation with FMEP’s Lara Friedman.

To find past recordings and future events in this series, click here.

Resources shared/mentioned during this webinar include:

  • Twitter handles for our panelists:

Lara Friedman – https://twitter.com/LaraFriedmanDC

Seth Anziska – https://twitter.com/SethAnziska

Ryvka Barnard – https://twitter.com/WarOnWant

Omar Shakir – https://twitter.com/OmarSShakir

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The IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism — and its examples — is on its way to being adopted and used across the globe to restrict free speech. From the State Department to English Premier League soccer teams, from universities to social media platforms, concerted campaigns to label criticism of Israeli policies and challenges to Zionism as antisemitism — and to impose formal/legal consequences — continue to gain momentum. In state legislatures and Congress in the United States, across Europe and in Latin America, the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and its examples is being used to quash criticism of Israel, to delegitimize advocates for Palestinian rights, and to undermine civil society organizations — including human rights and humanitarian groups — for their work with or support for Palestinians. This politicization and weaponization of the fight against antisemitism has grave implications, not just for Israel-Palestine activism but for free speech and civil society writ large, as well as for the battle against real and rising antisemitism around the world.

FMEP is proud to announce an ongoing series exploring these efforts to redefine antisemitism in this problematic manner, as well as arguments and efforts to oppose it.

Participants 

Seth Anziska is the Mohamed S. Farsi-Polonsky Associate Professor of Jewish-Muslim Relations at University College London. His research and teaching focuses on Israeli and Palestinian society and culture, modern Middle Eastern history, and contemporary Arab and Jewish politics. He is the author of Preventing Palestine: A Political History from Camp David to Oslo (Princeton University Press, 2018), which was awarded the British Association for Jewish Studies Book Prize in 2019. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and Foreign Policy. Seth received his PhD in International and Global History from Columbia University, his M. Phil. in Modern Middle Eastern Studies from St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and his BA in history from Columbia University.

Ryvka Barnard is the Head of Civic Space at UK-based anti-poverty and human rights charity War on Want. She campaigns against human rights abuses associated with the growing power of the military and security industry, with a special focus on the UK-Israel arms trade. She writes frequently on the topic in the Independent, Middle East Eye and has appeared on the BBC and other broadcast channels discussing these issues. Ryvka has a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from New York University where she specialized in the politics of tourism development in the occupied West Bank.

Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Prior to his current role, he was a Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he focused on US counterterrorism policies, including legal representation of Guantanamo detainees. As the 2013-14 Arthur R. and Barbara D. Finberg Fellow at Human Rights Watch, he investigated human rights violations in Egypt, including the Rab’a massacre, one of the largest killings of protesters in a single day. A former Fulbright Scholar in Syria, Omar holds a JD from Stanford Law School, where he co-authored a report on the civilian consequences of US drone strikes in Pakistan as a part of the International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic, an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Affairs, and a BA in International Relations from Stanford.

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) and a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Lara is a Contributing Writer at Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP).

The Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) invites you to attend 

The IHRA Definition & the Fight Against Antisemitism

A series examining how a problematic definition of antisemitism is being used to quash criticism of Israel and threaten freedom of speech

 

The IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism — and its examples — is on its way to being adopted and used across the globe to restrict free speech. From the State Department to English Premier League soccer teams, from universities to social media platforms, concerted campaigns to label criticism of Israeli policies and challenges to Zionism as antisemitism — and to impose formal/legal consequences — continue to gain momentum. In state legislatures and Congress in the United States, across Europe and in Latin America, the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and its examples is being used to quash criticism of Israel, to delegitimize advocates for Palestinian rights, and to undermine civil society organizations — including human rights and humanitarian groups — for their work with or support for Palestinians. This politicization and weaponization of the fight against antisemitism has grave implications, not just for Israel-Palestine activism but for free speech and civil society writ large, as well as for the battle against real and rising antisemitism around the world. 

FMEP is proud to announce an ongoing webinar series exploring these efforts to redefine antisemitism in this problematic manner, as well as arguments and efforts to oppose it. Please use the links below to register for each webinar and to learn more about the expert panelists.