Miriam F. Elman
Left Antisemitism in the United States: How Jewish Groups Give Cover to the anti-Zionist Movement
October 25, Noon, Eastern Time (US and Canada)
The video of the talk will be available soom
In effectively combating contemporary antisemitism in the United States, it is important to understand the role and function that virulently anti-Zionist Jewish groups play in the delegitimization and demonization of Israel and in the demoralization of its supporters. As the self-identified Jewish wing of the US-based BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) and Palestinian solidarity movement, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is the most prominent of these groups. Through its activism, JVP provides “cover” and legitimacy “as Jews” for antisemitic coalition partners and campaigns. More recently, JVP has also increasingly become a purveyor of antisemitism for non-Jewish allies and partners. Both on and off American campuses today, JVP’s brand of antisemitic anti-Zionism poses a challenge that must be better understood and addressed.
Miriam F. Elman is the Executive Director of the Academic Engagement Network and an Associate Professor of Political Science. She is the Inaugural Robert D. McClure Professor of Teaching Excellence at the Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Syracuse University, where she served as a research director in the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC) for nearly a decade. An award-winning scholar and teacher, Elman holds degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (B.A.) and Columbia University (M.Phil., Ph.D.) Elman is the editor and co-editor of six books and author or co-author of over 65 journal articles and book chapters on topics related to international security, the Middle East conflict, the interface between religion and politics. She frequently writes and speaks on the issues of antisemitism and the anti-Israel movement in academia, as well as on academic freedom and campus free speech, and has featured in Haaretz, Inside Higher Ed, Jewish Insider, Jewish Journal, JNS, JWeekly, Legal Insurrection, The Algemeiner, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Forward, The Jerusalem Post, and The New York Times, among other major media outlets. Recently she co-edited Word Crimes: Reclaiming the Language of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, a special issue of the journal Israel Studies. In 2018, to recognize her impactful work on behalf of the Jewish people and the State of Israel, she was listed by the Algemeiner among the top 100 people worldwide positively influencing Jewish life.
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