Anti-Semitism as a Smokescreen: Effects of Pseudo Anti-semitism on Women

Under the guise of condemning anti-semitism, the current U.S. presidential administration has weaponized and distorted the true meaning of antisemitic philosophy and actions. Countering anti-semitism has become a bullying tactic on U.S. college campuses and is being used as a means to discredit or demonize supporters of Palestinian rights.

This brand of anti-semitism has become a smokescreen for punishing institutions and activists and can be seen as “pseudo anti-semitism”, a false interpretation and deliberate twisting of the concept used to confuse and further polarize the U.S. electorate.

Speakers will address how “pseudo anti-semitism” affects women in the U.S. and in Palestine, contributing to the dangerous rhetoric of the ongoing war taking place there.

Alice Rothchild, MD is a retired obstetrician-gynecologist who worked in the health care reform and women’s movements for many years. She directed a documentary film Voices Across the Divide, an oral history project sharing the stories of Palestinians, which premiered at the Boston Palestine Film Festival, 2013.

Since 1997, she has focused much of her energy on understanding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict from a progressive perspective. Her books on this topic include Condition Critical: Life and Death in Israel/Palestine, Extraordinary Rendition: (American) Writers on Palestine, On the Brink: Israel and Palestine on the Eve of the 2014 Gaza Invasion, Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation, and Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience.

Lubna Alzaroo, PhD grew up in Hebron, Palestine before moving to the U.S. for graduate school on a Fulbright Scholarship. Her upbringing in Palestine shaped her interest in Environmental Justice issues. She has master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Washington with a focus on the Environmental Humanities. Her research is on the representation of settler-colonial infrastructure, and the environment in both U.S and Palestinian Literature. She is a lecturer in the Program on the Environment and the Comparative History of Ideas department at The University of Washington and also teaches Environmental Science at South Seattle College. Her courses focus on environmental justice and Settler Colonial Infrastructures.

Sponsored by the Women’s Health Subteam of Fund Healthcare Not Warfare, MAPA Education Fund.  Register to attend.