YIVO Presents: Leftists on Left-Wing Antisemitism

New York, NY) – The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is pleased to announce its upcoming program, Leftists on Left-Wing Antisemitism, featuring a unique panel of four scholars, journalists, and activists on the Left. The event, which takes place on Zoom on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, 1:00pm (ET) will be moderated by Spencer Sunshine, with panelists Sina Arnold, Shane Burley, Keith Kahn-Harris, and Joshua Leifer.

YIVO is hosting this conversation to facilitate a robust and historically informed discussion within the Left about antisemitism in its own ranks. This discussion will not just address questions related to Israel and Zionism, but also look at the role of conspiracy theories and critiques of financial capital—as well as how to deal with openly antisemitic actors on the Left.

Arnold, Burley, Kahn-Harris, and Leifer, who have a range of different views, will discuss what antisemitism on the Left consists of, where different parts of the Left stand in relation to the issues, how is it addressed or ignored, and constructive ways the Left can better deal with antisemitism.

When:            Tuesday, May 4, 2021, 1:00pm (ET)
Where:          Taking place on Zoom
Reservations Available at:  yivo.org/Leftists

For more information contact:
Alex Weiser
Director of Public Programs

THE PARTICIPANTS

Sina Arnold is a post-doctoral lecturer and researcher at the Center for Research on Antisemitism at Technische Universität Berlin. A social anthropologist by training, her current work focuses on contemporary antisemitism in Europe, memory politics and racism, left movements in Germany and the United States, as well as on (post-) national identities. She is the author of Das unsichtbare Vorurteil. Antisemitismusdiskurse in der US-amerikanischen Linken (2016) and From Occupation to Occupy: An Empirical Study of Antisemitism Discourses in the Contemporary US Left (forthcoming from Indiana University Press). Arnold also has twenty years of experience working in social movements against antisemitism and racism.

Shane Burley is a writer and filmmaker based in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End (AK Press, 2017) and Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse (AK Press, 2021). His work has been featured in places such as NBC News, The Daily Beast, Truthout, Al Jazeera, Jacobin, Haaretz, and The Baffler. He recently edited a special issue of the Journal for Social Justice on “Antisemitism in the 21st Century.”

Keith Kahn-Harris is a sociologist and writer, based in London. He is the author of six books, including most recently Strange Hate: Antisemitism, Racism and the Limits of Diversity (Repeater, 2019) and Denial: The Unspeakable Truth (Notting Hill Editions, 2018). Kahn-Harris is a Senior Lecturer at Leo Baeck College, Project Director of the European Jewish Archive at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and holds visiting fellowships at the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism at Birkbeck College, and the Centre for the Study of Jewish Culture, Society and Politics at Durham University.

Joshua Leifer is an assistant editor at Jewish Currents. Previously, he was an associate editor at Dissent, and before that, at +972 Magazine. His work has appeared in The Guardian, The Nation, Jacobin, n+1, Haaretz and elsewhere.

Moderator Spencer Sunshine is a researcher, writer, and activist regarding the Far Right as well as antisemitic currents on the Left. He has been part of several actions to help drive out Holocaust Deniers and other antisemites from left-wing circles. Sunshine is the author of the guide 40 Ways to Fight Fascists: Street-Legal Tactics for Community Activists (PopMob, 2020), and is currently working on a book about the origins of James Mason’s book Siege and its influence on today’s advocates of neo-Nazi terrorism.

YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story