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The Rise of Antisemitism From the Left and the Right

Jointly offered by American Public Square at Jewell, JCRB | AJC Kansas City and Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City
6:30 PM
Union Station Kansas City | Regnier Extreme Screen
02
Sep

The Rise of Antisemitism From the Left and the Right

6:30 PM
Union Station Kansas City | Regnier Extreme Screen

American Public Square at Jewell, JCRB | AJC Kansas City and Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City were pleased to present: “The Rise of Antisemitism From the Left and the Right” which highlighted the increasing presence of Antisemitism in the U.S. and its unexpected sources.

The event was moderated by:   Dr. Ethan Katz, associate professor, Department of History and the Center for Jewish Studies, UC Berkeley

Distinguished panelists included:

    • Ted Deutch, U.S. Representative (FL-22)
    • Jonathan Judaken, Wilson Chair in Humanities at Rhodes College
    • Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor, Newsweek
    • Eric K. Ward, senior fellow, Southern Poverty Law Center

The following program highlight video was produced our partners at Flatland KC:

Event Moderator

Ethan Katz was educated at Amherst College (B.A., History & French, 2002) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (M.A., History, 2005; PhD, History, 2009). Since the fall of 2018, he has been associate professor of History and Jewish Studies at the University of California-Berkeley, where he is also the chair of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Jewish Life and Campus Climate.

Since the spring of 2019, he has been the co-founder and co-director of the Antisemitism Education Initiative at Berkeley. This effort, which has received national attention, brings together administrators, faculty, and leaders of the campus Jewish community to create a sustained program to combat antisemitism.

As part of the initiative, Katz and his colleagues created a training film, “Antisemitism in Our Midst: Past and Present,” which has been widely acclaimed and is being adopted by educators across the country. Katz is also currently the co-chair of a Task Force of the Association for Jewish Studies on Antisemitism and Academic Freedom.

Event Panelists

Congressman Ted Deutch represents Florida’s 22nd district, home to communities in northern Broward County and southeastern Palm Beach County in South Florida. Now serving his seventh term in the 117th Congress, he is the Chairman of the House Ethics Committee, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, and a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on which he serves as the Chairman of the Middle East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism Subcommittee.

Ted’s priorities in the 117th Congress include promoting economic opportunity in South Florida, reducing the influence of big money in our elections, gun violence prevention, fighting for full equality for all, and advancing the security interests of the United States, Israel, and our allies.

Jonathan Judaken is the Spence L. Wilson Chair in the Humanities at Rhodes College. He has published more than 60 academic articles on the history of existentialism, anti-Semitism, racism, and post-Holocaust French Jewish thought. He has written, edited, or co-edited 6 books. He is the author of Jean-Paul Sartre and the Jewish Question (2006) and most recently co-editor of The Albert Memmi Reader (2020). He also curated two important recent academic discussions of anti-Semitism, a special issue of Jewish History (with Ethan Katz) on “Jews and Muslims in France Before and After Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher” (September 2018) and the roundtable in the American Historical Review titled, “Rethinking Anti-Semitism” (October 2018). He is currently completing a monograph entitled, Critical Theories of Anti-Semitism: Confronting Modernity and Modern Judeophobia. He has published journalistic and op-ed articles on these issues in Ha’aretz, Inside Higher Ed, the Huffington Post, Tablet, Tikkun and the Forward.

Batya Ungar-Sargon is an award-winning journalist. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Foreign Policy. She has served as the opinion editor of the Forward, and is now the deputy opinion editor of Newsweek, as well as the co-host of Newsweek’s podcast, “The Debate.” She has a PhD from Berkeley.
Eric Ward is a nationally-recognized expert on the relationship between authoritarian movements, hate violence, and preserving inclusive democracy. Eric brings over 30 years of leadership in community organizing and philanthropy to his roles as Western States Center’s Executive Director and Senior Fellow with Southern Poverty Law Center and Race Forward. Since Eric took the helm in 2017, Western States Center has become a national hub for innovative responses to white nationalism, antisemitism, and structural inequality, towards a world where everyone can live, love, work, and worship free from bigotry and fear.  In his 30+ year civil rights career, Eric has worked with community groups, government and business leaders, human rights advocates, and  philanthropy as an organizer, director, program officer, consultant, and board member.

Event Sponsors

Ann and Ken Baum

Stanley J. Bushman and Ann Canfield

Nancy Cohn and Allan Katz

Beth and Steven Cole

Hall Family Foundation

Donna and Ward Katz

Ogletree Deakins

Plexpod

Karen and Steve Pack and family

Sue Seidler and Lewis Nerman

Mike and Kathy Rainen Trust

Marny and John Sherman

Earl J. and Leona K. Tranin Special Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation

William Jewell College

Ellice and David Vittor

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