Dov Waxman, Professor of Israel Studies at the University of California, will discuss the long-lasting debate over whether anti-Zionism is antisemitic. In recent months, this debate has become particularly intense and often acrimonious. In an effort to tackle this contentious and timely question in a nuanced manner, Professor Dov Waxman will reframe the question from “is anti-Zionism antisemitic?” to “when is anti-Zionism antisemitic?” He will argue that anti-Zionism is not necessarily or inherently antisemitic, but this does not mean that it is never antisemitic or that it never has antisemitic consequences. Sometimes anti-Zionism is antisemitic, but not always. It is important, therefore, not to conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism, and also to understand how, in practice, anti-Zionism has sometimes been antisemitic, both historically and recently.

Dov Waxman is the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Israel Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the director of the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. He is the author of four books: The Pursuit of Peace and The Crisis of Israeli Identity: Defending / Defining the Nation (2006), Israel’s Palestinians: The Conflict Within (2011), Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict over Israel (2016), and most recently, The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know (2019). He is currently working on a book about contemporary antisemitism and the politics surrounding it.