JEWISH WORLD

12 JEWISH WORLD • AUGUST 11-17, 2023 Antisemitism Today - A Primer On Jew hatred, especially as manifested by anti-Zionists By ALYZA D. LEWIN The following remarks were delivered by Alyza D. Lewin, president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, to the Knesset Committee on Immigration,Absorp- tion and Diaspora Affairs on July 25. M y name is Alyza Lewin. I am an attorney based in Washington, D.C. Much of my professional career has been devoted to pursuing legal initiatives on behalf of the Jewish people. My father and law partner Na- than Lewin and I brought the first lawsuit in the United States on be- half of Jewish victims of terror seeking damages from groups in the U.S. that were providing mate- rial support to Hamas. My father and I were also re- sponsible for a lawsuit that reached the U.S. Supreme Court twice and paved the way for American citi- zens born in Jerusalem to list their place of birth on their U.S. pass- ports as “Israel.” Most recently, I led the team that represented Avi Zinger, the Israeli manufacturer and distributor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in his law- suit against his parent company, which prevented an unlawful boy- cott of Israel. In my capacity as presi- dent of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Hu- man Rights Under Law, I speak nearly every day to students who experience antisemitism. The stories they tell me share some common themes. First, administrators and the general public do not understand an- tisemitism. Many can recognize Jew-hatred when it comes from white supremacists, suchasswastikasspray-paint- ed on a wall or overt denial of the Holocaust. But often, adminis- trators are unable or unwilling to rec- ognize other forms. They do not un- derstand that antisemitism shows up differently in every generation. One constant about antisemitism, however, is that no matter the centu- ry, Jews are always the scapegoat. Another is that the world would be a better place without the Jews. Today, we have a Jewish collec- tive—the Jewish nation-state of Is- rael. So, today, it is not only indi- vidual Jews that are scapegoated. It is often the Jewish state that is la- beled the villain. For example, there are those who accuse Israel of being the world’s worst violator of human rights, while being stun- ningly indifferent to human-rights abuses in countries such as North Korea, Syria, China and Iran. Antisemitism has always sought to “other” the Jew, to treat the Jew as unacceptable company, to deny Jews their place in society. Today, antisemitism seeks to do the same to the Jewish collective. It seeks to deny the one and only Jewish homeland its place in the society of nations. Israel is the only country in the world that is told it has no right to exist. That is contemporary an- tisemitism, but most of the world fails to recognize it as such. Second, most administrators and the general public do not un- derstand Zionism and Jewish identity. They do not appreciate that Ju- daism is an ethno-religion—a be- lief system inextricably connected to cultural heritage, traditions, history and land. The connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel permeates the Jewish calendar, Jewish lifecycle events, Jewish law, Jewish prayer and Jewish history. It is impossi- ble to separate our Jewish ances- try from this land. The Jews are indigenous to Judea. Today, to be a Zionist means you recognize and celebrate the Jewish people’s connection to one another and our deep-rooted ties to the Land of Israel. It means you believe the Jewish people have a right to self-determination in some borders in our ancestral homeland. It does not mean that you have no criticisms of Israel’s policies. You can criticize the Israeli gov- ernment and still be a Zionist. For most Jews, our Zionism is an integral component of our Jewish identity. Today, Jewish Zionist students are increasingly vilified, harassed and shunned. University admin- istrators are failing to protect these students because they mis- takenly think that what they are witnessing on campus is a politi- cal debate. But make no mistake, ostraciz- ing, marginalizing or excluding Jews on the basis of the Zionist component of their Jewish identi- ty is not “speech.” It is discrimi- natory and unlawful conduct. It must be recognized and con- demned as such. Third, campus antisemitism is not about Israel’s policies. It is about Israel’s right to exist. The surge in antisemitism on campuses that we are witnessing today is the result of an organized, well-funded campaign to delegiti- mize and destroy the Jewish state. It is not about 1967 borders, settle- ments or even “occupation.” Those T HE S AG H ARBOR I NN 631-725-2949 RIGHT IN THE HEART OF THE HAMPTONS WEST WATER STREET SAG HARBOR, NEW YORK ___________ SAGHARBORINN.COM continued on page 20 The constants of antisemitism are that Jews are always the scapegoat, and that the world would be better off without the Jews. An anti-Israel protest in London in June 2021. This is a modern form of antisemitism. ANALYSIS