Featuring Professor David Patterson, Hillel A. Feinberg Distinguished Chair in Holocaust Studies at the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, U.S.; Senior Research Fellow, ISGAP
This course begins by exploring the motifs that have defined antisemitism both over the centuries and into our own time. Moving then into the contemporary world, we will consider the three primary sources of the phenomenon of Jew hatred: the political right, the political left, and political Islam. Finally, the course will end with a discussion of how one might response to the rising tide of antisemitism and what might be done about it.
Session One: Historical Patterns and Modern Manifestations
In this class we identify three defining motifs in the history of antisemitism and its contemporary manifestations: (1) the claim to the word of Truth, (2) blood libel and bloodshed, and (3) the redeeming value of antisemitism. The redemptive aspect of antisemitism, it will be shown, most fundamentally defines the historical and contemporary essence of antisemitism in its various forms.
Will be held on 1 March 2023 at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time
Session Two: The Defining Case of National Socialist Antisemitism
This session will explore the essence of Nazi antisemitism as the phenomenon’s most extreme manifestation. The premise is that an examination of the extreme case reveals what underlies other instances of Jew hatred, as we make clear exactly what the Nazis set out to obliterate in the annihilation of European Jewry and therefore exactly what the antisemite is anti-. The presentation will end with a brief consideration of the Nazi influence on Jihadist antisemitism, to be examined more closely in the next class.
Will be held on 8 March 2023 at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time
Session Three: Political Islamist Antisemitism
In this class we shall trace the recent history of political Islam and Islamic Jihadism, their contemporary manifestations, and the centrality of antisemitism to their ideology. Of particular interest will be the Muslim Brotherhood and its widespread influence on organizations such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, Sudan, and throughout Europe and North America. This session will end by setting up the bonds at work in the Red-Green Alliance.
Will be held on 15 March 2023 at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time
Session Four: Red-Green Antisemitism
Here we consider antisemitism as it appears among left-wing intellectuals, largely on college campuses, in professional organizations, and in student movements. Central to this discussion will be the relation between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. The presentation will touch upon the left-wing affinity with Critical Race Theory, the Boycott Divest Sanction Movement, Students for Justice in Palestine, Black Lives Matter, and left-wing political movements.
Will be held on 22 March 2023 at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time
