Israel Blog

This week's post includes links to Israeli films and an overview and links to sessions from the Summit on Combating Anti-Semitism, with one of particular interest if you or your children are in or are getting ready for college. 

Israeli films

Check out these links for Israeli made or directed films playing now in Manhattan and coming soon to HBO:

• Mike Wallace Is Here
• Tel Aviv on Fire
• Skin
• Our Boys (on HBO)

Summit on Combating Anti-Semitism

The Summit on Combating Anti-Semitism held a couple of weeks ago consisted of three sessions focused on:

• Anti-Semitism on Campus
• Combatting Anti-Semitism While Respecting the First Amendment
• Prosecuting Hate Crimes

If you or your children are in or getting ready for college, the session on Anti-Semitism on Campus will be of particular interest. The panel spoke about anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, intersectionality, BDS, the billions of dollars in funding flowing to American universities from countries and organizations with links to terrorism, and the resulting vilification and isolation of Jewish students and student groups.

The panelists were:

• Charles Asher Small, founder and director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy
• Jonathan Tobin of the Jewish News Syndicate and well known contributor to many publications
• Alyza Lewin, litigation attorney with a focus on advancing the rights of the Jewish people
• William Jacobson, Cornell Law Professor and contributor to Times of Israel

You can watch the session at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU7n7LEA39w. Jump ahead to the six minute mark if you’d prefer to skip the opening remarks.

The session on Combatting Anti-Semitism While Respecting the First Amendment was moderated by Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake. The panelists were:

• Elliot Zweig of Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
• Jason Isaacson of the American Jewish Committee
• Professor Eugene Kontorovich of George Mason University

This session is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2d7aaL-vr4. Jump ahead to the 26 minute mark if you’d prefer to skip the opening remarks.

The session on Prosecuting Hate crimes was moderated by Josh Rogin of the Washington Post. The panelists were:

• Eric Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights
• Calvin Shivers of the Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI
• Jessie Lu, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia

This session is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIB9VB_1SMo.