Contemporary Antisemitism

by Penslar, Derek J.

• ISBN13: 9780802039316
• ISBN10: 0802039316
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-02-11
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr

Summary

Antisemitism is reappearing in disturbing new ways and in unexpected strength. This resurgence is of deep concern to politicians, practitioners of law, the academic community, and to informed citizens everywhere. To address this, a scholarly conference was assembled at the University of Toronto in 2003. Contemporary Antisemitismis the result of that meeting. Editors Derek J. Penslar, Michael R. Marrus, and Janice Gross Stein, and the contributors to this volume address the following questions: is contemporary antisemitism an eerie echo of the past, or is it driven by new combinations of political, economic, and religious forces? How powerful are the anti-Jewish trends that so many have detected? And how should liberal democratic societies respond to this new threat against them? The essays map the terrain of antisemitic thought and practice, make important distinctions between expressions of antisemitism across time and space, and put various strategies of response into critical perspective. With its combination of voices from both scholarship and leadership ? including Chief Justice of Ontario R. Roy McMurtry and former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney ? and its unique assessment of antisemitism in Canada and the struggle against it, Contemporary Antisemitismoffers new perspectives on one of the world's most ancient and diffuse hatreds.

Author Biography

Derek J. Penslar is the Samuel Zacks Professor of Jewish History and the director of the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Toronto. Michael R. Marrus is the Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies and the former dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto. Janice Gross Stein is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management and the director of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction	3	(10)
Derek J. Penslar
Part I Canadian Leaders on Antisemitism	13	(20)
Antisemitism: An Enduring Reality	15	(11)
Brian Mulroney
Law and Antisemitism: The Role for the State in Responding to Hatred	26	(7)
R. Roy McMurtry
Part II Scholars on Antisemitism, New and Old	33	(88)
The Changing Dimensions of Contemporary Canadian Antisemitism	35	(17)
Morton Weinfeld
Historical Reflections on Contemporary Antisemitism	52	(12)
Steven J. Zipperstein
Antisemitism in Western Europe Today	64	(16)
Todd M. Endelman
Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism: A Historical Approach	80	(16)
Derek J. Penslar
The Nature and Determinants of Arab Attitudes towards Israel	96	(25)
Mark Tessler
Contributors	121