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The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism
Newsletter
Volume 1 No. 25
12 September 2007

Message from the Director

As the new academic year starts, I would like to welcome everyone back to a New Year. The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA) will hold more seminars and events then ever before. Our events are open to all members of the Yale University community as well as to the general public.   

Now that the academic year is underway we will start sending our weekly newsletter again.  If you wish to subscribe or do not wish to receive this newsletter in the future, or if you have any questions about YIISA, please contact the YIISA Coordinator at yiisa.program@yale.edu. Also, comments and suggestions on the newsletter or YIISA itself are always welcome and appreciated. 

It is with a great sense of pleasure that I would like to welcome Cindy Mindell as the new YIISA Coordinator. Cindy is scheduled to start Monday, September 17. Cindy, who is local to Connecticut, brings exceptional work experience to the post, as well as her passion and interest in the subject matter. It is the first time that the Coordinator will be a full-time post, and is reflective of YIISA's continued growth. Cindy will be replacing Tory Bilski, YIISA's first Coordinator. Tory will continue working within ISPS. I would like to wish Tory much success in her new post and thank her very much for her efforts in helping to coordinate and develop YIISA. She played an important role in helping to get YIISA off the ground at Yale University. 

Please refer below to this Semester's schedule for our seminar series. As you can see we are once again hosting some of the leading scholars in the field.  We look forward to seeing you at the seminars. Our first seminar is on the 20th September with David Hirsh, University of London, a leading expert on the British boycott movement. On the 11th October Professor Alan Dershowitz, Harvard University, will be giving us a special seminar on the rise of antisemitism and anti-Israeli politics. For those not in the New Haven, CT area, please remember that all of our events are videotaped and are available on-line on our website at www.yale.edu/yiisa

Charles Asher Small
Director, YIISA


SEMINAR SERIES
 
The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism currently runs a seminar series that is open to all. The Antisemitism in Comparative Perspective seminar series meets mostly on Thursdays from 4:15-5:45 p.m. at ISPS, 77 Prospect Street, Room A002 OR in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street. Please check the YIISA website for the exact location of each seminar. Times and locations can change.

Seminar Series - Fall Semester
September 20 David Hirsh, Goldsmiths College, University of London, “The Academic Boycott and the New Antisemitism”
October 11 Professor Alan Dershowitz, Harvard University, “Incitement to Violence in the Absence of a Marketplace of Idea”
October 18 Professor Walter Reich, George Washington University, “Never Again? When Holocaust Memory becomes Empty Rhetoric”
November 1 Hillel Neuer, Director, UN Watch, Geneva, “The United Nations Anti-Israel Bias and its Reaction to Antisemitism”
November 8 Professor Kenneth Levin, Harvard University, “Varieties of Jewish Antisemitism”
November 15 Professor David Menashri, Tel Aviv University, “The Place of the Iranian Jewish Community in the Contemporary Islamic World”
November 29 Professor Shalom Lappin, Kings College, University of London, “This Green and Pleasant Land: Britain and the Jews”
December 6 Matt Levitt, Washington Insitute, “Anti-Semitic Themes in Terrorist Propaganda: The Case of Hamas”
 

UPCOMING EVENTS
 
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 @ 12pm (ISPS, 77 Prospect Street, Room A001)
Luncheon Lecture: The Struggle of Democracy against Terrorism: The Israeli Legal and Moral View
With Emanual Gross, Faculty of Law, Haifa University
Hosted by Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Council on Middle East Studies at the MacMillan Center
Lunch will be provided. For more information, contact cmes@yale.edu

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 @ 7PM (Whitney Humanities Center Auditorium, 53 Hillhouse Ave)
CMES CINEMA: THE KITE RUNNER
"There is a way to be good again."
Directed by Marc Forster, US, 2007
Hosted by the Council on Middle East Studies at the MacMillan Center and the Film Studies Program with special thanks to Paramount Vantage.
For more information, contact Greta.Scharnweber@yale.edu

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 @ 7PM (Luce Hall Auditorium, 34 Hillhouse Ave)
CMES CINEMA: LES INDIGENES (DAYS OF GLORY)
The true story of WW II's Forgotten Heroes and an academy award nominee for best foreign language film in 2006
Directed by Rachid Bouchareb, Algeria/France, 2006
Hosted by the Council on Middle East Studies at the MacMillan Center
After-film Discussion with Adel Allouche, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale University
For more information, contact Greta.Scharnweber@yale
 
REPORTS
 
Understanding the U.S.-Israel Alliance: An Israeli Response to the Walt-Mearsheimer Claim
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Dore Gold writes, “Contrary to the assertions of Professors Stephen Walt of Harvard University and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, who claim that no compelling strategic argument can explain American support for Israel, which they argue has been promoted by "the unmatched power of the Israel lobby," the two countries have, in fact, developed strong strategic ties over the years that have evolved into a unique alliance.”
Click here to read
 

SPECIAL ARTICLES OF INTEREST

US Confirms Israeli Strikes Hit Syrian Target Last Week
(NY Times) According to a New York Times article, as reports surface that the Israeli Air Force possibly attacked a convey of Iranian weapon shipments intended for Hezbollah, some sources now suggest that Israel has been engaged in reconnaissance flights over Syria, taking pictures of possible nuclear installations.  Some now claim that these installations could have been the target of the IAF action.
Click here to read
 
Iranian Raises Possibility of an Intrusion Into Iraq
(NY Times) In a sharp escalation of a dispute over border fighting, an official Iranian delegation at a diplomatic conference here warned that if the Iraqi government could not stop militants from crossing into Iran and carrying out attacks, the Iranian authorities would respond militarily.
Click here to read
 
Sources Confirm Israeli Airstrike on Syria
(CNN) Israeli aircraft carried out an airstrike inside Syria last week, possibly targeting weapons that were destined for Hezbollah militants, according to sources in the region and in the United States. Syria reported that its aircraft fired on Israeli "enemy aircraft" that flew into northern Syria early Thursday. The Israel Defense Forces had no comment on the report, and have refused to comment further on the new revelations.
Click here to read
 

ARTICLES OF INTEREST
 
MIDDLE EAST
 
Iran Spy Post Heightens Gulf Tension with US
(Telegraph) A sophisticated spying operation masterminded by the country’s elite Revolutionary Guard, includes the construction of a high-tech spying post close to the point where Iranian forces kidnapped 15 British naval personnel in March. US commanders fear that one of the main purposes of the Iranian operation is to enable the Revolutionary Guard to intercept more coalition vessels moving through the disputed waters near the mouth of the Shatt al Arab waterway south of the Iraqi city of Basra.
Click here to read
 
Ahmadinejad to Host Palestinian Summit
(YNet) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to hold a summit with heads of the Palestinian terror organizations, reported Al-Khaleej newspaper, which is published in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The newspaper also said that it was possible that Farouk Kaddoumi, head of the political department in the PLO and secretary-general of Fatah, would also attend.
Click here to read
 
Middle East Transfer: The Continuing Iranian Persecution of its Ahwazi Arab Population
(Henry Jackson Society) In southern-east Iran, near the Iraqi border, according to Western and Arabic media, the government has been deporting tens of thousands of Arabs from their homes while building new settlements to fill with non-Arabs - all in an attempt to change the demographic composition of its region. Under the framework of an organized government plan, this country has been oppressing Arabs, violating basic human rights, detaining women and children, and expropriating farmlands for the newly constructed settlements.
Click here to read
 
IDF Thwarts Planned Tel Aviv Suicide Bombing
(YNet) A Palestinian teen detained by an IDF force at a checkpoint near Nablus was found to be carrying three pipe bombs meant to be used in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. An IDF investigation revealed that the youth was ordered to transfer the explosives from one side of the checkpoint to the other and hand them over to the would-be suicide bomber.
Click here to read
 
Rocket Blast Injures 50 Israeli Soldiers
(Washington Post) A Palestinian rocket exploded in an Israeli army base early Tuesday, wounding 50 soldiers and drawing calls for a major military operation against rocket squads in the Gaza Strip.
Click here to read
 
Gaza Under Hamas: Quiet, Cut Off and Digging In
(NY Times) Nearly three months after Hamas conquered the teeming streets of Gaza, a wary calm has taken hold. Because the Hamas charter calls for Israel’s destruction and Hamas is classified by Israel, the United States and the European Union as a terrorist group, Israel, along with much of the world, is squeezing Gaza, allowing only goods classified as humanitarian or essential to enter and no exports at all to leave. So an already faltering economy is collapsing.
Click here to read
 
'Time for Offense in Gaza'
(YNet) The IDF must stop responding defensively to the daily rocket attacks terrorizing Sderot, and take up an offensive posture, former Mossad chief and Chairman of the International Institute for Counter-terrorism (ICT) Shabtai Shavit said.
Click here to read
 
Close to the Edge
(Times) Philip Jacobson writes a feature on the psychological price paid by the people of Sderot. Feeling abandoned by their countrymen, the residents of the Israeli town have endured over 2,000 rocket attacks.
Click here to read
 
Russia Strongly Critical of Rocket Attacks against Israel
(ITAR TASS) Moscow condemns and categorically rejects rocket attacks against Israeli territory, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s first deputy spokesman, Boris Malakhov, said on Tuesday in connection with soaring tensions over Palestinian territories.
Click here to read
 
Al-Aqsa Brigades Announce Start of Pperation "roaring sea waves"
(Ma’an News) The "Buraq army" unit of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah warned on Tuesday that if Israel deprives the Gaza Strip of water and electricity, the Israeli power generating station at Ashkelon will be bombarded.
Click here to read
 
Hamas Bans Fatah Friday Prayers in Gaza
(Washington Post) Hamas banned open-air prayers organized by the rival Fatah faction in the Gaza Strip, gatherings that have turned into weekly protests against the territory's Islamist rulers. Backed by a ruling by the pro-Hamas Palestine Clerics Federation, Hamas's Gaza-based government said it had "decided to prevent any gatherings under the pretext of Friday (Muslim) prayers."
Click here to read
 
Palestinian Moderates Need Help; The Time is Now
(Newsday) David Makovsky writes, “For the past several years, Palestinian moderates often have been on the defensive amid the growth of Hamas (the Islamist Resistance Movement). The re-emergence of Palestinian moderates is key, as Israel and the Palestinians now try to restore their shattered partnership and head toward a Middle East peace meeting in November in Washington.”
Click here to read
 
Hamas is Not the IRA
(International Herald Tribune) As Israel’s ambassador to Ireland, Zion Evrony has heard time after time that Israelis and Palestinians should learn from Northern Ireland's peace process and apply some of its principles to be an end to the conflict. He writes, “it is a dangerous exercise to conclude that [these two conflicts] are the same because of their largely different historical, geopolitical and cultural circumstances.”
Click here to read
 
Israel to Grant Citizenship to Hundreds of Darfur Refugees
(Haaretz) Israel intends to grant citizenship to several hundred refugees from Darfur who are currently in the country, Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit. According to the minister, Israel cannot ignore the refugees' fate because of the history of the Jewish people.
Click here to read
 
The 'Israel Lobby' Myth
(US News) Israel is a free, democratic, open, and relentlessly self-analytical place. To hear harsh criticism of Israel's policies and leaders, listen to the Israelis. So questioning Israel for its actions is legitimate, but lies are something else. Throughout human history, they have been used not only to vilify but to establish a basis for cruel and inhuman acts. The catalog of lies about Jews is long and astonishingly crude, matched only by the suffering that has followed their promulgation.
Click here to read
 
'You Have Liberated a People'
(Wall Street Journal) Fouad Ajami writes a commentary on Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Reisha, who Ajami describes as “the dashing tribal leader who has emerged as the face of the new Sunni accommodation with American power.”
Click here to read
 
Police Break Up Israeli Neo-Nazi Ring
(AP) Police said they have broken up a cell of young Israeli neo-Nazis accused of a string of brutal racist and anti-Semitic attacks, videos of which were played on television to a stunned national audience.
Click here to read
 

NORTH AMERICA
 
Iran Must Pay $2.6 Billion for '83 Attack
(Washington Post) A federal judge yesterday ordered Iran to pay more than $2.6 billion to nearly 1,000 family members and a handful of survivors of a 1983 bombing of a Marine barracks in Lebanon that killed 241 soldiers. The ruling brought cheers and tears from survivors but faces long odds of being fulfilled.
Click here to read
 
U.S. May Cut Off Aid to UN Rights Group
(AP) The United States would cut off funding to the U.N. Human Rights Council under a bill passed by the Senate, the latest action by Washington to target an agency it has harshly criticized since its creation last year. The council was created in March 2006 to replace the widely discredited and highly politicized Human Rights Commission, but it has been criticized for failing to change many of the commission's practices, including putting more emphasis on Israel than on any other country.
Click here to read
 
Sanctioning Human Wrongs
(National Review) Anne Bayefsky asks, "What is the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights doing in Iran?” - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, traveled to Iran this week to take a front row seat and listen attentively to Holocaust-denier Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The occasion was billed as a human-rights meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), currently chaired by Cuba.
Click here to read
 
Study: US Jews Distance Themselves from Israel
(YNet) A recent study finds that feelings of attachment to Israel are declining among non-Orthodox American Jews and are replaced by indifference and even alienation. Only 48% think Israel's destruction would be a personal tragedy for them, only 54% 'comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state.'
Click here to read
 
Debating anti-Semitism in the Shadow of Walt, Mearsheimer... and Borat
(Jerusalem Post) As Abraham Foxman spoke about modern day anti-Semitism, following the publication of his new book, The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control, protesters were there to demand that Foxman do more to recognize the Armenian genocide. Some Jews and many Armenians say Foxman didn't go far enough, and accused him of trying to play both sides of the coin.
Click here to read
 
Engel ‘Disappointed' by Ford Forum for Mearsheimer
(NY Sun) The Ford Foundation, which came under congressional scrutiny in 2003 for supporting groups committed to destroying Israel, is again drawing censure from elected officials and watchdog groups, this time for funding a panel at Columbia University highlighting a professor who blames Israel and its American supporters for the Iraq War and for Al Qaeda terrorism against America.
Click here to read
 
EUROPE

The New Anti-Semitism
(Washington Post) Denis MacShane, a Labor member of the British House of Commons, writes about his experience chairing a blue-ribbon committee of British parliamentarians that examined the problem of anti-Semitism in Britain. Their report found a pattern of fear among a small number of British citizens that is not acceptable in a modern democracy.
Click here to read
 
Polish Cardinal Condemns Priest Accused of Anti-Semitism on Radio
(Voice of America) The late Pope John Paul II's private secretary - Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz - is urging fellow Roman Catholic church leaders to take immediate action against a popular priest accused of spreading anti-Semitism and nationalist politics by Catholic radio.
Click here to read
 
French Minister to Jews: 'France needs you'
(European Jewish Press) French Interior and Worship Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie told representatives of the French Jewish community that France “needs you,” stressing that religions transmit “values and landmarks which contribute to the unity of the Republic.”
Click here to read
 
Germany Says Foiled Attacks on U.S. Sites
(Reuters) German security services foiled a plan by Islamist militants to carry out "massive bomb attacks" against U.S. installations in Germany and arrested three suspects.
Click here to read
 
Brown Shirts March in Budapest as Gyurcsany Condemns `Fascists'
(Bloomberg) The first recruits of the Magyar Garda took oaths under the red-and-white striped flag of Arpad, evoking images of the Hungarian fascists who flew the same banner in the 1930s. Another group, in brown shirts, cheers. The government and Jewish organizations say the group is the most visible symbol of the rise of ``fascists'' in Hungary.
Click here to read
 
Greek Right Wing Could Profit from Fires
(AP) A right-wing Greek party that has been denounced as anti-Semitic and racist could be benefiting from a popular backlash against the country's main political parties fueled by wildfires that have killed 67 people. With a general election just over a week away, polls suggest Giorgos Karatzaferis' Popular Orthodox Alarm, a right-wing nationalist party that supports closer ties with the Orthodox Church and opposes Turkey joining the European Union, is gaining ground.
Click here to read
 
Such Tolerance of anti-Semitism Raises a Modern Jewish Question
(Sydney Morning Herald) Michael Duffy writes, “I had to try to explain to a young person how the Holocaust could have occurred. For me it involves not just what was unique about Nazi Germany, but what was not unique about it. It seems to me that unless you realise just how widespread anti-Semitism once was around the world, it's almost impossible to comprehend the road to the death camps.”
Click here to read
 
Cricket Player Banned for anti-Semitism
(JTA) A Melbourne cricket player who created a Web page encouraging anti-Semitic slurs has been banned from the sport for eight years and expelled from his club.
Click here to read