Israeli Holocaust Scholar Omer Bartov on Campus Protests, Weaponized Antisemitism, Silencing Dissent

As Biden administration and U.S. college and university administrators increasingly accuse peaceful pro-Palestinian protesters on school campuses of antisemitism, we speak with Brown University professor of Holocaust and genocide studies Omer Bartov, who visited the student Gaza solidarity encampment at UPenn alongside fellow Israeli historian Raz Segal. "There was absolutely no sign of any violence, of any antisemitism at all," says Bartov, who warns antisemitism is being used to silence speech about Israel. "There's politics, and there's prejudice. And if we don't make a distinction between the two, then what we are actually doing is enforcing a kind of silence over the policies that have been conducted by the Israeli government for a long time that ultimately culminated now in the utter destruction of Gaza."

[Stop-and-listen]

“The biggest insult to the memory of the Holocaust is not denying it but using it as an excuse to commit genocide against the Palestinian people.” - Norman Finkelstein

[goldenwarrior]

We need to call for Blinken to step down

[lydiamilanovic]

Many thanks to Omer Bartov for distinguishing between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. As a non-Jewish person, I felt guilty about speaking up against Israeli right wing Zionist policies. I'm relieved that these two terms are now being separated and that being an anti-Zionist is not at all the same as being anti-Semitic.

[Lovewins]

"Being Anti Zionist is Not being Antisemitic."

[Motorfreek]

In 2008, Professor Norman Finkelstein, who comes from a family deeply impacted by the Holocaust, was deeply outraged by what he saw as feigned sorrow or "crocodile tears" from a student at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Finkelstein's father was an Auschwitz survivor, while his mother survived the Warsaw Ghetto and Majdanek concentration camp. Having experienced significant loss within his family during the Nazi Holocaust, he was infuriated when confronted by a Jewish student questioning his pro-Palestinian stance.

He said: "I don't respect the crocodile tears - if you had any heart in you, you would be crying for the Palestinians.

[Viper]

The irony of these campuses complaining about illegal encampments being set up while supporting a colony who does exactly that in Palestine.

[naziirani]

Respect to these Jewish scholars who stand up for humanity, defend Palestinian rights, and oppose genocide.

[jackintosh]

Thank you! Being against the genocidal actions of the government and military of Israel is not antisemitism.

[Lynn-iw]

I also visited twice as a citizen of Philadelphia and brought food to the protesters at UPenn. They were nice kids on the right side of history. These kids care about what is happening to Palestinians. Our politicians and donors are really being cruel slandering these kids.

[alvinmitchell]

Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.-Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere

[mdshamimshamim]

Stop genocide. Save the humanity 😢 Historical protest by students ❤

[sansoe]

people just forgot arabian is semitic too

[Jabira-yt]

Israel has violated three of the five acts listed under the UN Genocide Convention.
These acts Albanese said were “killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to the group’s members; and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

[normaalarcon]

The harsh responses from universities may well be influenced by the donors many of whom have to be investigated in respect to their funding of Israel itself. Over 200 CEO's visited Tel Aviv when the Israelis began to bomb GAZA. There are complicities here.

[adammsa]

Ban AIPAC. Keep money for American FAMILIES in Need

[howielisnoff]

What I find most shocking today is that the Gaza genocide continues as does suppression of dissent here.

[kaylee]

anti war and genocide is not antisemitic

[syedshah]

Exactly, a tool to silence any criticim of the worlds only apartheid regime...

[UTubeISphere]

Thank you, Prof. Bartov, for keeping it real, for speaking up for legitimate student and faculty concerns. And thanks for drawing attention to the abominable treatment of Hebrew University Professor, Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, and her (sexual and human rights) humiliation in an over-night jail.

[Antarctica]

Another matter is who gets to decide which groups is labeled terrorist! So many good Americans decry Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis without any understanding of the outrageous oppressive tactics used by Israel against the Palestinians!