NEVER AGAIN IS NOW Podcast: Recent Episodes
PERSPECTIVES ON GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM
LEARN FROM YESTERDAY • SPEAK UP TODAY! In this podcast about global antisemitism: co-hosts Evelyn Markus and Phyllis Zimbler Miller interview guests about the rising global antisemitism and the lessons we can learn from the Holocaust. Guests hail from: the U.S., U.K., European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Israel, Venezuela, Argentina.
Dexter Van Zile, investigative journalist and managing editor of the Focus on Western Islamism for the Middle East Forum, visited the campus protests and explains what motivates students to join these. He also discusses the underlying ideology being taught in schools and how to stop this. See www.meforum.org and https://claritycoalition.org/
Investigative journalist Asra Nomani discusses the activists that drive today's protests and opinions against Israel's policies and existence. Her book WOKE ARMY: THE RED-GREEN ALLIANCE THAT IS DESTROYING AMERICA'S FREEDOM is a wake-up call for all of us. Learn more at https://asranomani.com/
Undergraduate student Elisha Baker discusses the open letter titled "In Our Name" co-written by him and three other Columbia Jewish students and signed by hundreds of other Columbia Jewish students. The letter, which quickly went viral, discusses the Jewish students' position on the antisemitism occurring on Columbia's campus.
Clinical and neuropsychologist Orli Peter discusses her team's innovative work in Israel with treating the trauma of Oct. 7 survivors and others. Learn more at her website https://www.israelhealinginitiative.org/
Orly Beigel from Mexico City and Evelyn Markus from the Netherlands share the Holocaust memories of their mothers. Both their mothers were Jewish prisoners in Bergen Belsen. They were liberated from the "death" train near Magdeburg, Germany on April 13, 1945, by the 30th Division of the 9th American Army. The photo in the YouTube image is of Orly's mother, Jetta Halpern, after she was liberated.
Selina Robinson discusses how she was forced to resign as minister of post-secondary education in Canada’s British Columbia. The sequence of events leading to this undeserved firing was fueled by her remark about the legitimacy of the State of Israel.
Tulane University senior Yasmeen Ohebsion testified with other Jewish college students at a special session of the House of Representatives Committee on Education & the Workforce. Hear directly from her on the continuing and dangerous climate that Jewish college students are facing. And sign up at https://www.campusfairness.org/ to find out what is going on at your alma mater.
Mary Kluk and Karen Milner of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies discuss the antisemitism of the government toward Israel and the betrayal of the South African Jewish community.
Yoni Michanie, research and data manager of CAM -- Combat Antisemitism Movement, discusses why it is important for all of us to share the big or small antisemitic incidents we experience. https://combatantisemitism.org/
Raheel Raza, president of The Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow, discusses the hate ideology fueling Hamas' brutal Oct. 7th attack and the need for all of us to create bridges between Jews and non-radical Muslims. The Council of Muslims Against Antisemitism: https://stopglobalantisemitism.com/ Recent articles by Raheel Raza: https://nypost.com/2024/03/16/opinion/ramadan-is-a-season-for-peace-not-jihad/ and https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/israels-unexpected-allies-same-enemy-same-values
Esther Voet, editor-in-chief of the Netherlands' main Jewish weekly NIW -- Nieuw Israelitisch Weekblad -- describes what happened on March 10 at the inauguration of the National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam. Anti-Jewish protests were allowed quite close to the participants -- shocking Jews and non-Jews in the Netherlands with the virulence allowed to take place.
Eli Marelus, rabbi of the Orthodox Chabad movement in Kanton Bern, reports on the state of antisemitism in Switzerland after October 7th as well as the actions of the Swiss during the Holocaust.
Ruth Wasserman-Lande, an Israeli politician, diplomat and activist, discusses Israel's military and diplomatic actions as well as the radical theology behind Hamas' brutal attack on Israel.
Daniel Aghion, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, discusses the antisemitic incidents in Australia since October 7th and a proposed remarkable new law against it.
Rebecca Schgallis -- Senior Education Strategist for the CAMERA Education Institute and the founder of the advocacy organization United Against Antisemitism -- discusses strategies for breaking DEI's stonewalling of antisemitism in K-12 schools. Here is a list of legal resources compiled from previous podcast interviews:https://www.millermosaicllc.com/organizations-combating-antisemitism-in-educational-institutions/
Dov Forman is the author with his 100-year-old Hungarian-born great-grandmother Lily Ebert of the book "Lily's Promise: Holding On to Hope Through Auschwitz and Beyond." Through their efforts to use social media for Holocaust education, the duo has become an international media sensation, especially on TikTok.
Mike Freer is a Member of Parliament at the House of Commons and Minister at the Department for Justice. He represents an area with a large Jewish population and has been an outspoken defender of Israel -- placing him in the thick of antisemitic threats.
Marcus J. Freed is an actor, writer, filmmaker, author, Jewish educator and business marketing consultant who founded the Jewish Filmmakers Network. In this podcast interview he describes how professional and amateur Jewish filmmakers and their allies can create online content to promote positive Jewish and Israel opinions. Mentioned in this podcast episode are these links:https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishfilmmakersnetwork andhttps://www.jewishfilmmakersnetwork.org and https://www.marcusjfreed.com and https://www.instagram.com/marcusjfreed/
Eitan Naeh, Israel's ambassador to Bahrain, discusses Israeli and Arab countries' reactions to the brutal Hamas attack. He also discusses the question of UNRWA -- United Nations Relief & Works Agency -- and its ties to terrorist organizations.
Mordecai Paldiel, former director of the Department of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, describes his own personal Holocaust survivor story of being saved by a Catholic priest. This early experience led to his life's work recognizing righteous non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust. Mentioned in this episode is Paldiel's book "Poland, the Jews and the Holocaust: Promised Beginnings and Troubled Past." He is also a member of the board of directors of the https://sousamendesfoundation.org/
Lawyers Sergio Zigelbaum and Luis Pastoriza (https://www.paz-abogados.com/) talk about how, along with lawyer Ignacio Palazuelos, they succeeded in preventing mega rockstar Roger Waters from expressing his usual antisemitism on stage in his recent concerts in Argentina. Listen to this very important interview to learn about the strategy employed by these Argentinian lawyers.
Katrina Lantos Swett, president of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, shares her father's Hungarian Holocaust survival story including the role of Swedish rescuer Raoul Wallenberg. She also discusses the foundation's current activities to fight the rise in antisemitism around the world today. See https://www.lantosfoundation.org/ for more information.
Sara Bloom, Vice-Chair of The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, describes her recent trip to Israel to view the situation and to volunteer. She also talks about her ideas for building Jewish pride outside Israel to withstand antisemitism on college campuses. Mentioned in this episode is https://www.shomercollective.org
Psychiatrist and historian Kenneth Levin explains how a population chronically besieged, such as Israel and the Jewish people, may embrace some of their enemy's indictments. He is the author of the book "The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege."
The scholar and bestselling author Robert Spencer dives into what radical groups such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood think about Jews and what inspires these groups. He describes what concepts such as ceasefire and interfaith bridge building mean to such groups. He also explains the meaning of the chants we hear in pro-Palestinian rallies.
Dr. Michael Berenbaum returns to the show to provide his up-to-the minute analysis of Israel at war as well as the impact around the world.
Distinguished guest Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of the world's most important thought leaders. She shares her perspective on Muslim and woke antisemitism.
A Dutch Jewish community leader, Allon Kijl, describes the hostility in the Netherlands against the Jews and Israel after Oct. 7th. Mentioned in this podcast is the interview of Daniel Libeskind -- see https://b.link/Ep107NeverAgainIsNowPodcast
Relationships between Blacks and Jews in the U.S. have varied depending on the era. Jewish leaders marched side by side with Martin Luther King Jr. for civil rights in the 1960s. What about today, though, when Black Lives Matter proponents may target Jews as “white oppressors”? In this episode our guest Kenry Allan Hutchinson II, a Black Jew, shares with us his perspective.
Canadian author and human rights advocate Yasmine Mohammed -- founder of www.FreeHeartsFreeMinds.com -- discusses the beloved Gaza homeland of her father and its oppression by Hamas. She also discusses that many Muslims are taught to hate Jews and how she found the courage to overcome this indoctrination.
Yael Lerman, Founding Director of the StandWithUs.com Saidoff Legal Department, discusses the free legal resources offered for confronting antisemitism and anti-Israel activity.
Rabbi Joshua Kalev discusses the verbal anti-Jewish attacks on four 11-year-old girls in a Manhattan Beach, California middle school. He also discusses the school's inadequate response to the attacks.
On Day 24 Dr. Michael Berenbaum returns for an up-to-the-minute update on Hamas’ war against Israel.
Jacob Howland, Provost and Director of the Intellectual Foundations Program at the University of Austin, discusses what is happening in top American universities including Harvard after Hamas' brutal attack on Israel.
Scholar Wolf Gruner talks about his new book RESISTERS: HOW ORDINARY JEWS FOUGHT PERSECUTION IN HITLER'S GERMANY. He upends the common notion of passive Jews in Hitler's Germany and expands the concept of resistance. He is the Shapell-Guerin Chair in Jewish Studies and a professor of history at the University of Southern California, where he is also the founding director of the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research.
University of Pennsylvania senior Eyal Yakoby discusses the antisemitic speakers at the recent Penn Palestinian literature festival. He also shares some of the reactions on campus since Hamas brutally attacked Israel. For a resource guide on the war, see www.millermosaicllc.com/guest-post-israel-at-war-resource-guide/
On Day 3 -- scholars Rabbi Michael Berenbaum and Rick Richman discuss how this war on Israel impacts us emotionally, how it could happen, and what should be done. This attack was an unprovoked savage and murderous attack on Israel's citizens including grandmothers and babies.
Andrew Goretsky, regional director of ADL Philadelphia, and Jason Holtzman, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, discuss their online training program to help parents address antisemitic incidents at their children's schools.
Polish-American architect, artist, professor and set designer Daniel Libeskind shares his deep and inspiring philosophy of monuments in public spaces including the Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names in Amsterdam.
Scholars Michael Berenbaum and Rick Richman discuss the Yom Kippur War in 1973 -- 50 years ago -- and what it means today. And for those of you who have seen the recent film GOLDA, this is an especially insightful podcast.
Laura Ellsworth and Charles Moellenberg of EradicateHateSummit.org discuss how this project grew out of an immediate response in real time to the massacre. The third annual summit will be held Sept. 27-29, 2023, in Pittsburgh and is open to the public.
John Pollick, descendant of victims of the mass shootings by the Nazis in Eastern Europe, discusses this little-known Holocaust history and the motivation for his short documentary. You can watch his documentary "Beyond Babi Yar" at https://vimeo.com/837062110. A map of the "Holocaust by Bullets" can be viewed at http://www.yahadinunum.orgwww.yahadmap.org/#map/ and Yad Vashem's database of Holocaust victims' names can be found at https://yvng.yadvashem.org/
High school digital media instructor Brian Erlich discusses his successful summer internship program that engaged non-Jewish students in learning and speaking up about antisemitism by having them make short documentaries featuring antisemitism activists.
Stacy Gallin, founding director of https://ferenczinstitute.org/, talks about her program "Athletes Against Antisemitism and Discrimination" that trains sports teams and student athletes on how to use their platforms to speak up against antisemitism. She also tells about the college student athletes' trip to Auschwitz in 2018 that spawned this innovative program.
Jerusalem-based journalist Benjamin Weinthal analyzes the work against antisemitism done by governments and discusses what is missing in this work, especially against antisemitism sponsored by Iran.
Brooke Goldstein, executive director of The Lawfare Project, discusses for our 100th podcast that now is the time Jews should start a civil rights movement like BlackLivesMatter to end Jew hatred. She also discusses her upcoming book "End Jew Hatred: A Manual for Mobilization."
Rabbi Erez Sherman of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles discusses the synagogue's Israel Center Rabbinical School Fellowship created to engage rabbinical students across the religious spectrum in learning about Zionism.
Award-winning journalist Ron Kampeas of www.jta.org discusses the recently released White House National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism and how this first-time strategy came about.
Avi D. Gordon, executive director of Alums for Campus Fairness (campusfairness.org), speaks about the unified actions of college alums to push back against antisemitism on college campuses.
Letty Cottin Pogrebin called out antisemitism in the feminist movement in a 1982 article in Ms. magazine. She is still calling out hatred of Jews today and distinguishing it from legitimate criticism of Israel.
Alex Benjamin of the European Jewish Association discusses how he educates European governments on Jewish interests and how to take on antisemitism.
Adam Glass, executive producer/co-showrunner of the CBS series THE EQUALIZER, talks about how he has used his individual platform to educate about antisemitism and how we can use our own individual platforms.
Check out why and how Holocaust survivor Gidon Lev and his life partner Julie Gray create TikTok videos to educate about the Holocaust and to counter antisemitism at https://www.tiktok.com/@thetrueadventures
Sarah Stern, founder and president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), explains why the passage of this bill is so important for protecting Jewish college students. Learn more at https://emetonline.org/
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, co-founder and director of the AMCHA Initiative, discusses college administrations that protect certain student identity groups more than others. Jewish students and other students deserve equal protection.
While the hit CBS series THE EQUALIZER recently had an episode titled "Never Again" dealing with antisemitic incidents, actor Adam Goldberg shares his own take on antisemitism in the past and today.
As the new (and first) director of high school affairs for the American Jewish Committee, Aaron Bregman has as his mission to empower Jewish teens to be leaders in the fight against antisemitism and involve their parents as well. Applications are now open for AJC’s Leadership Program for High School Students https://www.ajc.org/lft
Episode #72 and Episode #73 of our podcast are also about helping high school teens speak up against antisemitism.
The former head of the National Socialist Movement takes us behind the scenes of neo-Nazi groups in the U.S. Then he shares why he left the movement and is now working to counter and prevent extremism through his nonprofit https://beyondbarriersusa.org/
Are the stories of the Holocaust still alive now that most survivors are no longer with us? Two children of Holocaust survivors share their families' Holocaust history and how this still impacts their lives.
Should young Austrians feel responsible for the Holocaust? Nineteen-year-old Viktor Zlabinger -- an intern at the USC Shoah Foundation -- explains why he thinks he and his generation are responsible for the future.
If there is bias in U.S. media against Israel, how does this manifest itself? In this episode we talk with an investigative journalist who looked into this.
A tenured college professor went public with allegations of sexual misconduct and antisemitic remarks made by the university's president. The result? The professor -- not the president -- was fired.
Nowadays the media is filled with accounts of American universities boycotting Israel and Zionism. To fight this insidious trend, the Academic Engagement Network educates and empowers U.S. academic faculty and staff to stand up against these boycotts. See www.academicengagement.org/
More and more cities around the globe are having to work against the rise of antisemitism. The storied city of Beverly Hills, California, is at the forefront of this effort. And the mayor also has a personal reason for combating antisemitism.
Have you ever been faced with an antisemitic remark at a public event and not known how to respond? Being prepared with educational polite answers can help in these situations. And this podcast interview can assist with that preparation.
What are some of the forces fueling the growing anti-Israel sentiment and anti-Zionism in American universities? And what can be done to promote a more objective outlook on Israel and Zionism in American universities?
A 19-year-old German learns lessons from his Nazi family history and speaks up against Holocaust deniers. As a volunteer at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, he is committed to reconciling different groups impacted by WWII.
Are American values the same as Jewish values? Our guest Barry Wolfe, who has studied both value systems, provides his insights in connection with antisemitism today.
The news is filled with accounts of antisemitism on U.S. college campuses. Today listen to what legal actions the Louis D. Brandeis Center is taking to protect Jewish college students. Also check out https://brandeiscenter.com/
Auschwitz didn’t start with the Nazis – hundreds of years of antisemitism in Europe led to the “Final Solution.” Now the innovative traveling exhibit Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far is circumventing the globe with its unique perspective. The exhibit utilizes original objects accompanied by personal accounts to showcase the relevant history leading up to Auschwitz and the “Final Solution” itself. See https://auschwitz.net/
What are the main issues and challenges that U.S. public school teachers face today when teaching the Holocaust? A pioneering U.S. Holocaust educator discusses this and other areas of Holocaust education in today's public schools.
Far right groups in Germany -- with their antisemitic beliefs -- are growing in Germany today. What can we elsewhere in the world learn from this discussion with the director of the American Jewish Committee in Berlin that can help us speak up against antisemitism? Check out https://www.ajc.org/translatehate
Jewish teens are being told by their teachers that Israel has no historic right to exist instead of Israel being acknowledged as the ancestral homeland of Jews. Naya Lekht of ClubZ.org talks in this podcast about educating Jewish teens to be proud of their history and how to speak up to defend it.
Imagine you're a teen and you face antisemitism or Israel-hate at at your high school? Do you do nothing? Or do you speak up and encourage other teens to do the same?
Have you ever been confronted by antisemitic flyers, banners or graffiti and not reported it, figuring why would reporting matter? Listen to these co-founders of the Austin, Texas grassroots organization ATXKind -- https://www.atxkind.org -- explain why it is so important to report all antisemitic incidents.
How can American Muslims combat the dominance in their communities of theocratic Islam -- the same Islamism that spreads antisemitism? And how can Jewish communities help with this? American Muslim reform leader Zudhi Jasser answers these questions in this interview. He co-founded the Muslim Reform Movement with the goal of defeating Islamism. In addition, he wrote the book "A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot's Fight to Save His Faith." His Muslim reform movement organizations include: https://aifdemocracy.org/ -- https://muslimreformmovement.org/ -- https://claritycoalition.org/
What does the Islamic religion say about Jews and how does this affect peace prospects with Israel? Ofir Winter, author of the book PEACE IN THE NAME OF ALLAH: ISLAMIC DISCOURSES ON TREATIES WITH ISRAEL, discusses this topic. He draws on his experience as a senior researcher at the Institute for National Securities Studies in Israel and a lecturer at the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Tel Aviv University. He is also the co-author of the book ZIONISM IN ARAB DISCOURSES.
Raheel Raza is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist and author as well as an activist for Muslim reform. She is the president of Muslims Facing Tomorrow and the co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement and of the Clarity Coalition. All three organizations stand for advancing Western values of liberty in Muslim communities and defeating Islamism. She also chairs the steering committee of the non-profit Council of Muslims Against Antisemitism -- https://stopglobalantisemitism.com -- and she regularly speaks up against antisemitism in various media outlets. Raheel Raza is recipient of Canada’s Sesquicentennial commemorative medal for "exceptional contributions to Canada," the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for service to Canada, and the Museum of Tolerance Medal of Valor.
Dexter Van Zile is an investigative journalist based in Boston, Massachusetts. He has researched and written extensively about Christian anti-Zionism. Since March of 2022 he has bee the managing editor of the website and online newsletter Focus on Western Islamism (FWI) established by the Middle East Forum -- https://www.meforum.org/ He also recommended https://islamism.news/
FWI educates its readers about the threat posed by Islamism (and the efforts to counter it) in Western democracies. FWI serves as a hub for counter-Islamist research and analysis and seeks to give voice to anti-Islamist Muslims.
Winston Marshall is a British musician, songwriter, and podcaster. He was the former banjoist and lead guitarist of the British folk rock band Mumford & Sons. With Mumford & Sons he has won multiple awards, including a Grammy. He has been credited as the father of the nu-folk scene in Britain. He left the band after he started to openly express his opinion about current affairs in society. In his podcast Marshall Matters -- for the renowned British political magazine The Spectator -- he explores "the taboo and totemic issues within the creative industries in a series of interviews with artists, musicians, actors, comedians, and more." See https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/marshall-matters/
Brooke Ruttenberg is a senior at Windward School, a private high school in Los Angeles. She has been volunteering for several years at the Holocaust Museum Los Angeles. When she noticed a lack of education on antisemitism at her school, she decided to write a middle school curriculum herself --see https://sites.google.com/windwardschool.org/history-into-action/home
Nicholas Melvoin is the vice president of the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District – LAUSD – and he represents District 4. First elected in 2017, his work is focused on increasing parent and community engagement, transparency and accountability; directing more resources to schools; protecting the most vulnerable students; and bringing a new spirit of partnership and collaboration to LA’s public schools. Prior to his election, he worked as a teacher, public interest attorney, nonprofit director, and an active board member of a number of community and political organizations. He has also worked in the Obama White House and the US Attorney’s office. He is a graduate of Harvard College, NYU School of Law, and Loyola Marymount University’s School of Education.
Verena Meier is a doctoral student at the research center on antigypsyism at the University of Heidelberg with research focusing on historical antigypsyism and antisemitism, National Socialism, minority history as well as the history of ideas. She has worked for the Documentation and Cultural Center of German Sinti and Roma, the Topography of Terror and the Saxony-Anhalt State archives, and volunteered for the Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem. Learn more at www.sintiundroma.org/en/
Joanne Nihom is a Jewish journalist and author who emigrated from the Netherlands to Israel in 2005. Her book "Over Grenzen" -- Beyond Borders -- was published in the Netherlands and is now being translated into English. In her book she describes her own journey of developing friendly relationships with Arab people in Israel. The book includes her interviews with Arabs and Jews who succeeded in doing the same, sometimes spontaneously, sometimes in projects.
Akiva van Koningsveld lives in Israel and is editor at HonestReporting.com -- an organization that monitors the media’s coverage of Israel and then exposes and responds to inaccuracies and bias about Israel or Jews. When he still lived in the Netherlands, he was policy officer at The Center for Information and Documentation Israel, the Netherlands' leading organization in combating antisemitism and spreading awareness of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Mark Weitzman is Chief Operating Officer for the World Jewish Restitution Organization, where he plays a leading role in the organization’s advocacy and negotiations efforts to recover Jewish properties in Europe in pursuit of a measure of justice for Holocaust survivors, their families, and Jewish communities.
He is a member of the official U.S. delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), where he chaired the Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial and is the past chair of the Working Group on Holocaust Museums and Memorials. He is also the vice president of the Association of Holocaust Organizations.
Born in New York and resident in Munich, Terry Swartzberg is a leader in the commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust and the head of the Munich chapter of the Stolpersteine. Terry is also chair of Zikaron Holocaust Commemoration, the 501(c)(3) set up to enable Americans to support his commemoration work -- holocaustcommemoration.com
Danielle Greyman is a U.K. resident who, as a Leeds University senior, experienced blatant antisemitism targeting her academic work. There is now a lawsuit against Leeds University for this antisemitic occurrence
Rt. Hon Joan Ryan is the executive director of ELNET UK -- https://elnetwork.uk/ -- a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening relations between Europe and Israel based on shared democratic values and strategic interests. She was the UK Member of Parliament for Enfield North for 18 years. She resigned from the Labour Party in February 2019 citing the antisemitism crisis overwhelming the party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. In June 2019 she was appointed as the honorary president of Labour Friends of Israel, having been the organization’s chair since 2015.
Randy Fried is a Jewish communal professional and advocate for Holocaust education based in Los Angeles. He is the Director of Philanthropic Engagement & Communication at Tzedek America, an organization that seeks to strengthen Jewish identity. Randy is also active in the World Jewish Congress and is a senior educator for the Los Angeles teen delegation to the March of the Living.
Robert Williams, PhD, is Deputy Director for International Affairs at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. and a U.S. delegate to the 35-nation International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, for which he has chaired the committee on antisemitism and Holocaust denial, as well as several high-priority projects. He is a frequent speaker on genocide, antisemitism and the Holocaust.
Jonah Schwartz is from Framingham, Massachusetts, and graduated from Gann Academy, a Jewish day school, in 2020. In high school Jonah was a fellow with the Holocaust Legacy Foundation. Through this fellowship he traveled to Berlin and Poland, visiting concentration camps and other Holocaust sites. He is currently a rising junior at Dickinson College, where he is double majoring in environmental studies and political science. He is involved in Jewish life on campus and is on the board of Hillel as the Tikkun Olam chair.
Dr. Felix Klein is the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight Against Antisemitism. After studying law, Dr. Klein trained for the diplomatic service with the German Federal Foreign Office. Before he started in his current position, he served in the Federal Foreign Office as Special Representative for Relations with Jewish Organizations and Issues Relating to Antisemitism.
Jonah Cohen, PhD, is the communications director for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA -- https://www.camera.org/). He earned a PhD from the department of religions and philosophies at the University of London. His essays have appeared in both academic and popular news outlets, including the New Republic, the Hill, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, Real Clear Politics, the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post, and many other publications.
Michael Berenbaum, PhD and rabbi, is the Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust and a professor of Jewish Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He is the author of several nonfiction books about the Holocaust, and for those of you who watch documentaries about the Holocaust and antisemitism, he is a familiar interviewee, including in Evelyn's documentary NEVER AGAIN IS NOW.
Lori Lowenthal Marcus is a lawyer in private practice in a Philadelphia suburb. She is also the Legal Director of The Deborah Project -- https://deborahproject.org/ -- a public interest law firm that represents people who are discriminated against in educational settings because they are Jewish and/or pro-Israel.
Tomer Aldubi is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization FIGHTING ONLINE ANTISEMITISM -- https://foantisemitism.org/en/ -- established in 2020. The organization was founded as a solution to the prevalence of online hate speech targeting the Jewish communities worldwide.
Reporting antisemitic content on social media is easy and anonymous. The account/person who posted the content you reported won’t see who reported the content. See illustrated information on how to report antisemitic comments on different platforms at https://foantisemitism.org/en/monitoring/
Femmetje de Wind is an author, journalist, entrepreneur and marketing consultant in The Netherlands. She has written two novels in Dutch titled “Rivka” and “The Promised Life” in which the struggle with Jewish identity and with the Holocaust history of the family are central themes. She is on the board of Crescas, the leading Jewish educational organization in the Netherlands about Jewish culture.
Bari Weiss is a journalist and author and the editor of the newsletter Common Sense, which is at www.bariweiss.substack.com She is also the host of the podcast Honestly. From 2017 to 2020 Bari was an opinion writer and editor at The New York Times. Before that she was an op-ed editor and book review editor at The Wall Street Journal. For two years she was a senior editor at Tablet, the online magazine of Jewish news, politics, and culture. She regularly appears on shows such as The View, Morning Joe and Real Time with Bill Maher. A Pittsburgh native and a graduate of Columbia University, she wrote the 2019 book “How to Fight Anti-Semitism” that won the National Jewish Book Award. Bari was also the recipient of the Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism.
EJ Kimball is the Director of Christian Outreach and Engagement at the Combat Antisemitism Movement -- www.combatantisemitism.org -- a global grassroots movement of individuals and organizations across all religions and faiths, united to combat antisemitism. EJ is a foreign policy and national security consultant with 15 years experience working in Washington, DC. He is specialized in government relations and building strategic alliances and serves as the President of EJK Strategies.
Blake Flayton is the director of new media and a weekly columnist at the Jewish Journal in Los Angeles. He is also the founder and executive director of the New Zionist Congress.
Nikki Veltkamp studies politics, psychology, law and economics at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She recently wrote a paper about the vulnerability of Jewish women, and the paper is being considered for publication in the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism.
Robert Ejnes is the Executive Director of CRIF, the umbrella organization of French Jewish institutions. He lives in a suburb of Paris where he is the president of the Jewish congregation there, and he is the president of the Zionist youth organization Bnei Akiva France. He is also a business consultant who holds an MBA from Northwestern University in the United States. He and his wife Genevieve have eight children, most of them living in Israel.
Leon Saltiel has a Ph.D. in contemporary European history from the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, and his book THE HOLOCAUST IN THESSALONIKI was the winner of the 2021 Yad Vashem International Book Prize for Holocaust Research. He is the World Jewish Congress representative at the UN Geneva and UNESCO and the coordinator on countering antisemitism.
The World Jewish Congress's site on the Holocaust is https://aboutholocaust.org/ and the IHRA definition of antisemitism including explaining anti-Zionism is at www.holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definitions-charters/working-definition-antisemitism
Jessica Durlacher is a literary critic, columnist and bestselling author from The Netherlands. Her father is the sociologist and writer Gerhard Durlacher, who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp. In 2005 she was a co-professor at University of California Berkeley of the course titled "Anne Frank and After." She and her husband Leon de Winter were approached by the Anne Frank Fund in Basel, Switzerland to write an authorized theater adaptation of the diary of Anne Frank. The play "Anne" premiered in 2014 and continues to be on stages around the globe.
Julie Brill lives in Bedford, Massachusetts, and is at work on a memoir that seeks to tell the story of her Serbian family in the context of the largely untold history of the Holocaust in Serbia. She volunteers in middle schools and high schools to share her family’s Holocaust story. In addition to Kveller, her work has been featured in Alma, the Forward, and the Globe Post. Julie is a lactation consultant, childbirth educator, doula, and author of the anthology “Round the Circle: Doulas Share their Experiences.”
Here is information from Julie on Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazi Jews in Belgrade:
"Sephardic Jews lived in Belgrade from the early 1500s. There was a thriving community with the world's first Ladino printing press. Later, a much smaller Ashkenazi population came from across the Danube River. The groups maintained separate synagogues, schools, and cemeteries and spoke different languages.. My grandfather's parents were a mixed marriage, he was Ashkenazi and she was Sephardic. This was quite unusual for its time: turn of the last century."
And if you would like to know more about Julie's efforts to remember the past -- here are some links that she provided:
https://www.juliebrill.com
https://www.3gny.org/
https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-why-is-serbia-so-reluctant-to-remember-the-holocaust-1.10567294
https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2022/01/27/holocaust-remembrance-day-julie-brill
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/on-holocaust-remembrance-day-im-thinking-of-the-grandfather-i-never-knew/
Johannes Houwink ten Cate was born in 1956 and is professor emeritus of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Amsterdam. He has published extensively oh the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and the persecution of the Jews. He is the author, co-author, editor and co-editor of more than 15 academic books and reports. His latest American book, "The Secret Diary of Arnold Douwes: Rescue in the Occupied Netherlands," co-edited with Professor Bob Moore, was published in Dutch and English. Yad Vashem will do a translation into Hebrew.
A special podcast for International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, 2022:
Evelyn Markus is a co-host of this podcast and an activist against antisemitism. In addition to being a psychologist, she is featured in the documentary NEVER AGAIN IS NOW. She is a Dutch Jew and the daughter of Holocaust survivors. In 2006 she immigrated to the U.S. because of the rising antisemitism in Europe. She is interviewed as a guest for this special podcast to share her family's Holocaust experiences as well as the making of her documentary NEVER AGAIN IS NOW, which can be viewed on Amazon and YouTube. Historical correction: Although in this podcast interview there is a mention of a gas chamber being built at Theresienstadt late in the war, there appears to be no evidence of this. WWII/Holocaust educator Matthew A. Rozell visited Theresienstadt and then wrote this blog post in July of 2014: https://teachinghistorymatters.com/2014/07/10/theresienstadt-spa-town-the-real-holocaust-hoax/
Michal Bilewicz is an Associate Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Center for Research on Prejudice at the University of Warsaw, Poland. His main research interests concern reconciliation, antisemitism, dehumanization, and linguistic social psychology. From 2005 to 2006 he was a Fulbright scholar at the New School for Social Research in New York. In 2015 he received the National Science Centre Award in the humanities, social sciences and the arts.
Elie Alyeshmerni was born and raised in a Jewish family in Iran. During his high school years he studied in the United States. After his degree in linguistics from University of Minnesota he made a career in the U.S. in education, as a co-author of a linguistic college textbook, as an award-winning head of various Jewish schools and as a college instructor in Hebrew language. Currently Elie is the owner of an investment company. He served on the board of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, which is a prominent Conservative synagogue with a large Iranian-Jewish membership.
Elie was part of a delegation from Sinai Temple in Los Angeles in 2015 that brought a new Torah to the Jewish community of Azerbaijan. Here are links to an article about this project in two different publications: https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/170003 and http://www.visions.az/en/news/660/6187f77c/ Here is the link to a video about the project: https://youtu.be/cI91Z4_tIxU
Dr. Shlomo Fischer is a sociologist and a senior staff member of the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI -- http://jppi.org.il/) in Jerusalem. He has taught in the Department of Education at Hebrew University and is a founder of Yesodot -- Center for Torah and Democracy (www.yesodot.org.il). His research is about religious groups, class and politics in Israel and the sociology of the Jewish people in the Diaspora.
Israeli-based Emily Schrader is an expert in digital activism and a columnist for the Jerusalem Post. She has written for numerous other publications, and she specializes in fighting antisemitism, misogyny and oppressive regimes.
Daniel Varnagy, the son of Holocaust survivors, is a full professor at the Department of Economic and Administrative Sciences at the Social Sciences and Humanities Division of the Simon Bolivar University in Caracas, Venezuela. His research is in political culture, social capital, ethics, and strategic and financial planning.
Rabbi Shimon Kutnovsky-Liak was born and raised in Israel in a traditional Zionist family from the Soviet Union. He has a college degree in international relations and Judaism, and since 2006 he has worked with Jewish communities in the U.S. and Russia. In 2018 he moved to Latvia to rebuild the Jewish community in Jurmala. He is the chairman of this community and a board member of the Council of Jewish Communities of Latvia.
Sergio Zigelbaum js an attorney and associate professor of law at the Argentine University of Enterprise (UADE), University of Buenos Aires, and the Palermo University, Argentina. He is a board member at Argentina’s biggest Jewish organization, Sociedad Hebraica Argentina, that promotes the continuity of Judaism and the love for Israel through social, sports and cultural activities. Sergio developed his life-long love for Israel as a student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he got his BA degree in International Relations and Sociology.
Manya Brachear Pashman hosts PEOPLE OF THE POD -- an AJC podcast about global affairs through a Jewish lens. As a longtime religion reporter for the Chicago Tribune, she helped chronicle two papal transitions from Rome, progress and pitfalls of interfaith dialogue, and the emerging role of religion in American politics. She also served as president of the Religion News Association. Manya earned a bachelor's degree from Appalachian State University and masters' degrees in journalism and religious studies from Columbia University. in addition to occasionally contributing to the Chicago Tribune, she also now writes about antisemitism and being Jewish for Religion News Service, The Times of Israel, and Moment Magazine. Check out PEOPLE OF THE POD at www.ajc.org/peopleofthepod
NOTE: The one edit in the recording is due to the internet connection temporarily going out.
Lela Casey is a mother of three children living in Bucks County, PA. Being raised by a fiery Israeli mother and a gentle farmer in the middle of nowhere lent her a unique perspective on Judaism. Besides contributing to Kveller, she is the editor of WisdomDaily.com -- a division of Clal.org (founded by Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel.) She holds degrees from both Penn State University and Rhode Island College.
Attorney Kenneth Marcus is the founder and chairman of the LOUIS D. BRANDEIS CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER LAW, a national organization begun in 2011 to fight antisemitism on college campuses in America utilizing law and public policy. He has served as staff director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights and as the head of the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. He is also the author of the two books THE DEFINITION OF ANTI-SEMITISM and JEWISH IDENTITY AND CIVIL RIGHTS IN AMERICA.
David Hirsh is a senior lecturer in sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, and the author of the book CONTEMPORARY LEFT ANTISEMITISM, published in 2017, in which he provides a sociological understanding of contemporary antisemitism.
Hungarian-born Rabbi Zsolt Balla was appointed in June 2021 as the first Jewish chaplain to the German armed forces since World War I, when nearly 100,000 Jews fought for Germany in the conflict between 1914 and 1918. He is also a community rabbi of Leipzig and a state rabbi of Saxony.
Rich Brownstein is a lecturer on Holocaust film at Yad Vashem’s International School for Education in Jerusalem and the author of the new book HOLOCAUST CINEMA COMPLETE: A HISTORY AND ANALYSIS OF 400 FILMS, WITH A TEACHING GUIDE. His website is at www.holocaustfilms.com/
Katharina von Schnurbein was appointed as the first European Commission Coordinator on Combatting Antisemitism in December 2015. The European Commission is the highest executive body of the European Union. As coordinator, Katharina Von Schnurbein acts as the contact point for Jewish communities and relevant organizations while contributing to the development of the European Commission's strategy to prevent antisemitism in Europe. She liaises with the EU member states, the European Parliament, civil society organizations and academia with a view to strengthening policies against antisemitism.
Lenny Giteck has more than 30 years’ experience as a writer and editor for magazines and newspapers. He is the founder of Project Star of David -- a Jewish communications organization -- and the publisher and editor of its three websites: AntisemitismExposed.org, AmazingJews.org, AmazingIsraelis.org
Lesley Kleiff is a law and human rights professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK and Haifa University in Israel. She is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism -- https://www.jcajournal.com/ -- and has editorial roles at other academic journals on antisemitism. She is also an advisory board member at the Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law. In addition to teaching, editing and advising, she writes herself about contemporary antisemitism.
Moshe Dann is a historian, writer and journalist who is originally from New York and moved to Israel in the 1980s. There he is a research associate at the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies, a policy center devoted to promoting the shared values of Israel and the United States including Zionism. Moshe Dann is also a freelance columnist for the Jerusalem Post and writes op-eds in various Jewish online magazines. Here is the Oct. 6, 2021, Jerusalem Post opinion piece to which he refers in this interview -- www.jpost.com/opinion/eu-and-plo-to-what-end-681226 -- "EU & PLO – to what end?"
Rabbi Andrew Baker is the director of international Jewish affairs for the American Jewish Committee. In this position he engages with Jewish communities throughout the Diaspora and with their concerns. Rabbi Baker is also the personal representative of the chair-in-office on combating antisemitism of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. In these roles, Rabbi Baker has been a prominent figure in international efforts to combat antisemitism and in addressing Holocaust-era issues in Europe. In the United States, among other things, he served as president of the Washington Board of Rabbis and as president of the Interfaith Conference of Washington.
Aaron Webman, now the head of business development at a software company in Austin, Texas, is organizing individuals against antisemitism on the internet. He is a driving force behind the podcast JOE LONSDALE: AMERICAN OPTIMIST at www.americanoptimist.com
Alexa Smith gives presentations to high school students on how to speak up against antisemitism on college campuses inspired by her own antisemitic experiences at the University of Michigan and her efforts to speak up there. Contact Alexa Smith at alsmich@umich.edu
From Alexa Smith as background information for the discussion of this podcast:
The title of the mandatory talk was PENNY STAMPS SPEAKER SERIES: Emory Douglas: Designing Justice -- see https://stamps.umich.edu/events/emory-douglas
In October of 2018, my senior year at University of Michigan, I was forced to sit through an overtly antisemitic lecture as part of the Penny Stamps Speaker Series, which is a required course for all art students at the University of Michigan. The lecturer, Emory Douglas, projected an image of Adolf Hitler and the Prime Minister of Israel together with the caption “Guilty of Genocide” across their foreheads. In what world is it okay for a mandatory course to host a speaker who compares Adolf Hitler to the Prime Minister of Israel?
As a Wolverine, I sat through this lecture horrified at the hatred and intolerance being spewed on our campus. As a Jew who is proud of my people and my homeland, I sat through this lecture feeling targeted and smeared to be as evil as the man who perpetuated the Holocaust and systematically murdered six million Jews.
This experience was not unique. Two years prior I was forced to sit through another mandatory Stamps lecture in which the speaker, Joe Sacco, made references to Israel being a terrorist state and explicitly claimed that Israeli soldiers were unworthy of being represented as actual human beings in his artwork.
This time in 2018 I decided I would no longer sit quietly and allow others to dehumanize my people and my community. I credit my brother Dan Smith with his tremendous help and guidance in my calling for actionable change from the university. I simply could not have done anything that I did without him.
Unfortunately, three years later and the University of Michigan administration is repeatedly failing to forcefully respond to antisemitism, and so it comes back worse and worse each time. A line needs to be drawn and it needs to be drawn now.
Dr. Orli Peter, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and a clinical and neuropsychologist in Los Angeles, is a therapist, researcher and educator with trauma as one of her specialties.
Zachary Singerman is an 11th grader at a Jewish high school in Bethesda, Maryland, and the founder of the nonprofit Gen Z Jews: Fighting Anti-Semitism. https://www.genzjews.com/
Rachel de Vries, a Dutch Jew now living in Curacao in the Caribbean, is a personal fitness trainer in yoga, pilates, kickboxing and running. She uses social media to speak up against antisemitism.
Ben Freeman is a gay Jewish educator and the author of the 2021 book JEWISH PRIDE: REBUILDING A PEOPLE.
David Drimer is the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Ulster County, New York, and the co-founder of the National Holocaust Awareness Initiative -- www.nhaionline.org -- a nonprofit established to address the ignorance of the Holocaust among younger generations.
Malina Saval, features editor at Variety, covers film, TV, music & theater. Her article "Too Jewish for Hollywood: As Antisemitism Soars, Hollywood Should Address Its Enduring Hypocrisy in Hyperbolic Caricatures of Jews" (https://b.link/MalinaSaval) is a must-read.
Nina Meyerhof is the co-founder of One Humanity Institute as introduced at https://onehumanity.institute/ --
One Humanity Institute, to be located in Auschwitz-Oswiecim, Poland, encompasses the vision of building a “City of Hope,” a destination where long or short-term visitors can experience the stark realities of the past alongside opportunities and models of transformation for a culture of sustainable peace and the uniting of humanity. Visiting One Humanity Institute will be a great reminder of a promise “Never Again”, so fully experienced at the Auschwitz Museum, to seeing themselves as part of the solutions needed for fostering a better world for all."
Luke Berryman is the founder of The Ninth Candle (http://www.theninthcandle.com) whose mission is to end antisemitism by sharing knowledge. (Programs are free of charge for teachers and students.) Luke shares his wisdom in this podcast on how to handle antisemitic comments.
Ruggero Gabbai is an award-winning international film director who has directed over 25 documentaries on a range of topics including the Holocaust.
Andrei Kovacs, who is based in Cologne, Germany, is the managing director of the 2021 year-long festival "1700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany."
Nikki Veltkamp is a Dutch Jew, University of Amsterdam student, and the great-granddaughter of Holocaust survivors who is now with her mother organizing informal discussions in Amsterdam about what is antisemitism.
Jeremy Wootliff is the CEO of the subscription streaming platform Jewzy.tv that offers a wide range of programming.
Arno Rosenfeld is a reporter for The Forward; he covers antisemitism and American Jewish institutions.
Jacob Millner is the Associate Director, Department of Regional Offices, and the Director, Minneapolis-St. Paul of the American Jewish Committee.
Liza Wiemer is the author of the award-winning YA novel THE ASSIGNMENT, which is inspired by a real-life antisemitic high school assignment.
Natan Pakman is the Senior Associate Regional Director of ADL Los Angeles for which among other responsibilities he manages the LA region’s Words to Action program that trains the Jewish community on how to respond to antisemitism in their schools and communities. Born in Argentina, he came to the U.S. as a young child. In this NEVER AGAIN IS NOW podcast he provides recommendations of how to respond to antisemitic comments.
Karen Jungblut is the Director of Global Initiatives for the USC Shoah Foundation and she is based in Frankfurt, Germany. In this NEVER AGAIN IS NOW podcast she discusses the rise of antisemitism in Europe that she has observed since returning to work in Germany four years ago after a long career working in the U.S.