معاداة السامية لدى المستوطنين، والعنف الجماعي الإسرائيلي، وأزمة الهولوكوست ودراسات الإبادة الجماعية

*JOIN US ON ZOOM ON MONDAY DECEMBER 2 AT 11AM ET / 6PM PALESTINE*

This event is a conversation between Journal of Palestine Studies Editor Sherene Seikaly and Holocaust and Genocide Studies Scholar Raz Segal. It is centered on Dr. Segal's recently published article in JPS, "Settler Antisemitism, Israeli Mass Violence, and the Crisis of Holocaust and Genocide Studies," in which he explores the depiction of Israel as a nation-state like any other as a mechanism of disavowing Israeli settler colonialism. It is a depiction that also brings into focus the antisemitic marginalization and violence against Jews in nation-states.

In this framework, the article shows that since modern antisemitism emerged at the intersection of the nation-state system and European imperialism and colonialism, Israel as a settler nation-state also functions according to the logic of what the Dr. Segal terms "settler antisemitism." While the racialization of Jews in the frame of White supremacy in other settler-colonial states could include Jews as immigrant settlers but never more, White supremacy in Israel has manifested itself as Jewish supremacy, which defined the project of creating a White Jewish settler society.

The article concludes with a discussion of the crisis in Holocaust and genocide studies that this situation has exposed, especially during the ongoing genocide in Gaza. If some Holocaust scholars engaged in the disavowal of Israeli settler colonialism before October 7, they now moved to the justification of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. The breakdown of Israel’s long-standing impunity in the international legal system is likely the reason that the Holocaust scholars who tried to justify Israel’s attack on Gaza early on have now gone silent. But their support of Jewish supremacy and Israel’s violations of international law, including genocide, will not be forgotten. By lending their voices to stand with an extremely violent state instead of the people it targets, they have betrayed the goal of struggling against mass violence and promoting “open and non-discriminatory societies,” as formulated by the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure.