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Michal Cotler-Wunsh (Israel’s 23rd Knesset)

"The Hamas Massacre of October 7 and Responses to It: A Chronology of Hate"

Sunday, April 14, 2024

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Description: In this talk, Michal Cotler-Wunsh discusses contemporary strains of antisemitism that fueled the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Hamas on 10/7 and how these strains have manifested in popular responses to the attack.

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Michal Cotler-Wunsh is a prominent public speaker, researcher, and independent policy and strategy advisor on intersecting issues of antisemitism, law, human rights, and Zionism. Informed by political, professional, and academic experience, Michal explores topics surrounding mutated and mainstreamed rising antisemitism; international law, human rights, and the harm of their weaponization; the threat of disinformation and conspiracy theories to democracies; Zionism as a millennia-old identity integral to the construction of a progressive national liberation movement; the relationship between Israel and global Jewry in collaborative nation-building; and the role of “Olim” as a “live bridge” to build resiliency, address growing internal gaps, and connect Israel to global communities, cultures, and countries. Michal’s focus on process, transparency, and accountability, continues to inform and guide her in the role of Israel’s Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism, engaging local and global partners around the shared responsibility to comprehensively identify and address the rise and mainstreaming of ever-mutating antisemitic hate.

Michal was a Member of Israel’s 23rd Knesset. Drawing on areas of expertise and commitments, she served as Chair of the Special Committee on Drug and Alcohol Use, Chair of the Subcommittee on Israel-Diaspora Relations, and as active member of several prestigious committees including the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and the Children’s Rights, Women’s Status, and Immigration and Integration Committees. Michal served as the first Knesset Liaison to the Issue of the International Criminal Court (ICC), was co-chair of the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Friendship Group, was a member of several interparliamentary working groups, and Chair of the Caucus for Ethiopians in Israel. She initiated and led multiple Knesset hearings on the topic of online antisemitism, engaging social media platforms, civil society organizations, and technology experts. Recognizing the inherent connection between online hate and real-world violence, Michal co-founded the Interparliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism, together with multi-partisan elected officials from Canada, Australia, the US, and the UK. She remains at the forefront of this and other initiatives, committed to identifying, exposing, and combatting the mutation and permeation of antisemitism in the online and real-world space.

Equipped with extensive experience, academic expertise and multi-lingual communication skills, Michal is regularly interviewed and featured as a speaker at diverse events in Israel and abroad. She is a prolific author published on multiple platforms, utilizing her hybrid identity and competencies to transcend and bridge geographic, cultural, religious, and linguistic divides. Michal serves as a trustee in The Rabbi Sacks Legacy and is a member of several not-for-profit boards, focused on governance and strategy. She is a legal advisor to the Goldin family, dedicated to the return of deceased Israeli soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, and Israeli civilians Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, held captive for 9 years in standing violation of international law and human rights. In this as in other engagements, Michal is committed to underscoring shared responsibility for equal and consistent application of international law and human rights, critical to the sustainability of the infrastructure created to uphold, promote, and protect foundational principles.

Michal was born in Israel and grew up in Canada. She received her LL.B. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her LL.M. from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her PhD research focused on freedom of speech on university campuses, tracking the effects of (attempted) regulation of rights. She previously served as a scholar-in-residence for the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA); Strategy & Policy advisor to Nefesh B’Nefesh; Director of International External Relations at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya; PhD candidate in the Human Rights under Pressure - Ethics, Law and Politics program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Freie Universität of Berlin; and research fellow at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at IDC Herzliya.

Michal lives in Ra’anana, Israel with her husband and their four children.