Antisemitism in the Pro-Palestinian Movement: What's Real, What's Not, and Why it Matters

Please join the Middle East Studies program, the Jewish Studies & Social Justice program and USF Politics Department for this special talk.

From the USF campus to the White House, there have been widespread charges of antisemitism against those in the pro-Palestinian movement, particularly since the upsurge in student activism in response to Israel’s war on Gaza. While such charges have frequently been used in a McCarthyistic fashion to suppress legitimate protests against Israeli war crimes and other violations of international legal norms, antisemitism—like racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression—is nevertheless ubiquitous in contemporary society and has indeed infected some segments of the struggle for peace, human rights, and justice in Israel/Palestine. Professor Zunes critically examines charges of antisemitism in regard to anti-Zionism, popular slogans and tactics, assumptions about U.S. policy, the BDS campaign, and related issues.

Stephen Zunes is a professor of Politics at USF and founding director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program.