We will begin with an analysis of the term “genocide” and the intergenerational trauma experienced by Jews and the traumatic invalidation of Jews after October 7, 2023. We will then discuss the war that began on October 7, 2023, its current status, the repercussions on college campuses, Trump’s use of anti-Semitism against universities and demonstrations throughout the U.S., the geopolitical implications of it, and the rise of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism in America and around the world. We will confront accusations of Israel as an apartheid state and the Boycott, Divest and Sanction Movement, and how the stated aims of Hamas and Hezbollah differ from the goals of those movements.  We will also look the history of anti-Semitism from the Greco-Roman Period through the Middle Ages, and from Nazism to the contemporary world. We will link this history to Zionism and the growth of the modern State of Israel.

The class will be lecture and discussion, with some videos.  Preparation time will be approximately one hour each week.