Tammi Rossman-Benjamin
"Denying Jewish Self-Definition: The Latest Trend in Campus Antisemitism in America and What Can Be Done About It?"
August 17, 2020
Description: Challenges to the IHRA definition’s identification of anti-Zionism with antisemitism have risen dramatically on campuses across the country. Heated debates are taking place over the question of whether anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism and should be treated as such. Also debated are the related questions of whether Zionism is an implicit part of Jewish identity and who gets to define antisemitism and represent Jewishness. This presentation explored how the controversy surrounding the IHRA definition has changed the face of campus antisemitism in recent years and suggest a comprehensive approach to addressing the problem.
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin is co-founder and director of AMCHA Initiative, a non-profit organization that investigates, documents, and combats antisemitism at institutions of higher education in America. She has written numerous articles about academic anti-Zionism and antisemitism and has lectured widely on these developments and the growing threat they pose to the safety of Jewish students on university campuses. She was a faculty member in Hebrew and Jewish Studies at the University of California Santa Cruz from 1996-2016.
The College of Arts