2016 Annual Campaign: Speaker puts modern anti-Semitism into perspective

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More than 340 people filled Temple Beth-El to listen to Deborah Lipstadt  discuss anti-Semitism. /PHOTO | SIMON LICHTERMore than 340 people filled Temple Beth-El to listen to Deborah Lipstadt discuss anti-Semitism. /PHOTO | SIMON LICHTER

Are we obsessed with anti-Semitism?

That was one of the issues Dr. Deborah Lipstadt raised at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s 2016 Annual Campaign Community-Wide Event on Nov. 1. A celebration of all the benefits of giving, the event was highlighted by Lipstadt’s presentation on anti-Semitism.

Before a crowd of more than 340 people at Temple Beth-El, in Providence, Lipstadt said Jews tend to have a pessimistic outlook on the world. Nevertheless, she said we have reason to be concerned about anti-Semitism.

But, she pointed out, those who say today is like 1939 have it all wrong. In 1939, anti-Semitism was state-sponsored. Those states that were not sponsoring it were silent. “Today’s anti-Semitism is not state-sponsored and states are condemning it.” This, she said, is a critical difference.

Plus, today we have the advantage of memory – in the 1930s, Jews had no conception, no way of anticipating what was to come.

With personal stories and a dose of humor, Lipstadt kept the largest crowd at a campaign event in recent years interested in a detailed discussion of anti-Semitism in Europe, the United States and around the world.

She also discussed the sources of anti-Semitism, including extremists from the right and the left and other religions. She warned against condemning an entire group of people as anti-Semitic.

“It is wrong to brand all Muslims as extremists,” she said. “Don’t do to Muslims what has been done to Jews.” 

A discussion of the difference between anti-Semitism and attacks on Israel led to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which Lipstadt characterized as “very dangerous.” The movement is changing the perception of Israel on campuses, she said, leading students who couldn’t find Israel on a map to think its treatment of Palestinians is wrong.

Lipstadt, who is an expert on modern anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, in Atlanta. She spoke to the fear that BDS and anti-Semitism are making college campuses unsafe for Jews.

She warned the audience against scaring college students into hiding their Judaism. “Students have a choice and one choice is to disengage,” she said, adding that many campuses have a vibrant Jewish life and students should be encouraged to get involved.

In the end, she told the audience, we should embrace our Jewish heritage and support it, not as a reaction to negativity or anti-Semitism, but because of our long history.

After Lipstadt’s talk, event co-chairs Amanda and Jeremy Isenberg thanked Lipstadt, and Jeremy said, “the best answer to anti-Semitism is a strong Jewish community.”

FRAN OSTENDORF is editor of The Jewish Voice.