Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism and the Critique of Israel: Towards a Constructive Debate

International conference, June 29-30, 2022

Content

Is a detached sociological view of antisemitism possible, or even desirable? Any attempt to answer the question needs to clarify the concept or definition of antisemitism, be it only in terms of a heuristic working definition. Can we debate this issue beyond political self-positioning and external attributions? This international conference wants to discuss these questions.

From a political point of view, antisemites are always “the others”, and the accusation of antisemitism often serves as a political and ideological lightning rod. So how do we understand antisemitism if we do not want to constantly sound all our alarm bells (however justified alertedness may be in many circumstances), nor naively believe that hatred of Jews is decreasing and all fears are exaggerated?

The conference also wants to reflect on how the foundation of the State of Israel as a manifestation of Jewish political sovereignty and its place in world politics have deeply affected the evolution of antisemitism. There can be no doubt that this state’s mere existence, its definition as a Jewish state and its ideological foundation in Zionism do not make it any easier for us to think about antisemitism. Why is there so much criticism of Israel? Is this criticism justified? Can we assume that anti-Zionism is antisemitic under all circumstances?

The working definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance very clearly links criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. An alternative stand has recently been taken by the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism.

This conference will bring all three discussions (on antisemitism, on criticism against Zionism and against the State of Israel) together by combining the socio-political debate on antisemitism with the analytical and definitional controversies. Doing so, we strive for both academic clarity and sensitivity to localized political contexts, as there can be no doubt that more recent societal developments, such as new configurations of national societies due to migration, multiculturalism, and a global health crisis that has fueled conspiracy theories have added considerable complexity to the problems at issue.

Program

Wednesday, June 29

		Coffee available upon arrival
10:00 – 10.30		Welcome and Introduction
		Dorothea Lüddeckens, Dean of the Faculty of Theology
		Christoph Uehlinger, Sarah Werren

Session A: Theorizing Antisemitism

10:30–11:15		Elad Lapidot (University of Lille): The Birth of Zionist Postcolonialism from Decolonial Anti-Zionism
11:15 – 12:00		Burkhard Liebsch (Ruhr-University Bochum): Aktuelle Lehren aus Antisemitismen und Anti-Antisemitismen. Überlegungen im Anschluss an Chaouats “Is Theory Good for the Jews?”
12:00 – 12:30		Discussion
12:30 – 14:00		Lunch

Session B: Key Concepts and How They Relate to Each Other: Antisemitism, Antizionism, Anti-Israel Criticism

14:00–14:45		Christina Späti (University of Fribourg): Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: Analytical and Definitional Controversies
14:45 – 15:30		Balacz Berkovits (Tel Aviv University): The Critique of “White Jews” and Anti- Zionism
15:30 –16:00		Break
16:00 – 16:45		Moshe Zimmermann (The Hebrew University, Jerusalem): Israel-Bezogenheit und Antisemitismus
16:45 – 17:15		Discussion
17:15 – 17:30		Break

Session C: Keynote Lecture (via Zoom)

17:30–18:30

Zoom link will be made available upon request.

Omer Bartov (Brown University, Providence): Antisemitism in History and Politics

19:30

Conference Dinner (by invitation)

Thursday, June 30

Session D: Antisemitism in the Light of Critical Research on Conspiracy Theories and Hate Speech

9:00–9:45		Stefanie Mahrer (University of Berne): Anti-Jewish Conspiracy Theories in Switzerland. Transnational Narratives and Local Specifics
9:45 – 10:30		Marina Chernivsky (Kompetenzzentrum Prävention und Empowerment, Berlin): Zu Wirkung von Verschwörungsmythen auf Betroffene von Antisemitismus: Empirische Einblicke und Praxisüberlegungen
10:30 – 11:00		Break
11:00 – 11:45		Batya Ungar-Sargon (Newsweek, New York, via Zoom): Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Wokeness in the Media and Beyond
11:45 – 12:30		Discussion
12:30 – 14:00		Lunch

Session E: (Dis)Entanglements: “Migrant Antisemitism” and the Postcolonial Critique

14:00–14:45		Brian Klug (University of Oxford): Why is the Jewish Question Different from all Similar Questions? Problems with a Post-Colonialist Critique of Zionism
14:45 – 15:30		Annemarike Stremmelaar (National Police, Woerden, NL): Migrants, Minorities, Muslims and Jews – Shifting Categories of Race and Religion and the Postcolonial Turn
15:30 – 16:00		Discussion
16:00 – 16:30		Break
16:30 – 17:30		Sa’ed Atshan (Emory University, Atlanta) und Katharina Galor (Brown University, Providence, via Zoom): Under the Radar: Civil Society and the Limits of Discourse in Germany

Session G: Final Discussion

17:30–18:30

All active participants

18:30

Farewell

Apéro riche

Friday, July 1

Students’ Seminar on IHRA and Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism

9:00 – 12:00

Brian Klug, Christoph Uehlinger, Sarah Werren

The conference is open to the public; no registration required.

Organisation

Sigi Feigel Visiting Professorship for Jewish Studies and Department of Religious Studies, University of Zurich (Prof. Dr. Christoph Uehlinger, Dr. des. Sarah Werren)

Supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Sigi Feigel Visiting Professorship for Jewish Studies (via Stiftung gegen Rassismus und Antisemitismus)

Contact

University of Zurich

Religionswissenschaftliches Seminar

Sarah Werren
Kantonsschulstrasse 1
8001 Zurich
sarah.werren[at]uzh.ch
+41 44 634 09 33

Registration

The conference is open to the public on June 29—30; no registration required. July 1 for students only.

Venues

Room RAA-G-01
University of Zurich
Rämistrasse 59
8001 Zurich