Gerald Steinberg
NGOs, Antisemitism, and the IHRA Working Definition
February 28, 2021, Noon, Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Many of the NGOs that claim to promote human rights and similar ethical norms have been notably reticent to include antisemitism on their agendas, reports and campaigns. In many cases, these groups have actively contributed to anti-Zionism (rejection of the legitimacy of a Jewish nation-state), and to demonization of Israel and its Jewish supporters. In addition, a number of influential NGOs, including many funded by the EU, individual European governments and the United Nations, are actively campaigning to delegitimize the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. In this webinar, we will describe and analyze these processes, the underlying factors that explain this behavior, and the contradictions between the declaratory positions of the funders endorsing the IHRA definition, and the funding processes.
Prof. Gerald Steinberg is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Cornell University, and has lived in Israel since 1982. He is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Bar Ilan University, and founder of NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based research institute. His research focuses on Middle East diplomacy and strategy, the politics of international law and NGOs, and Israeli politics. Recent publications include: Menachem Begin and the Israel-Egypt Peace Process: Between Ideology and Realism (Indiana University Press), “NGOs, Human Rights, and Political Warfare in the Arab-Israel Conflict” and "The Role of International Legal and Justice Discourse in Promoting the New Antisemitism."
The College of Arts