EVENT: Susan Neiman to deliver the 59th Annual Simon Rawidowicz Memorial Lecture, "Racism, Antisemitism, and Rethinking Historical Reckoning" on March 9

Could someone from the Tauber Institute, Brandeis University provide background on the decision to invite Susan Neiman to deliver this memorial lecture? As noted in the invitation, Neiman "has written extensively on the Enlightenment, moral philosophy, metaphysics, and politics" but it appears to me that with respect to antisemitism, her ideological activism in a specific German political context stands out. She has echoed and avoided confronting the East German regime’s legacy of universalizing the Holocaust (largely erasing the genocide of the Jewish people) as well as the DDR’s demonization of Israel and support for Palestinian terror under the label of “antifascist" global solidarity. Neiman has been active in legitimizing the BDS movement in Germany, and most recently, her activist ideology was highlighted in the highly problematic "Hijacking Memory" event. Neiman (via the Einstein Forum that she heads) was among the organizers, along with Stefanie Schüler-Springorum and Emily Dische-Becker. The ostensible objective was to “combat right-wing appropriation of Holocaust memory,” again highlighting the narrow agenda. One of the main speakers, Tareq Baconi — a Palestinian —repeated the tendentious claim that European Holocaust guilt is behind support for Israel, and therefore responsible for denying Palestinians freedom and equality. Baconi also launched a fierce attack on the IHRA-WDA. Jan Grabowski and Konstanty Gebert posted a strong criticism of these expressions of antisemitism at a conference ostensibly on “Holocaust memory” and the “thunderous applause” from the German audience.

Could someone from the Tauber Institute, Brandeis University provide background on the decision to invite Susan Neiman to deliver this memorial lecture? As noted in the invitation, Neiman "has written extensively on the Enlightenment, moral philosophy, metaphysics, and politics" but it appears to me that with respect to antisemitism, her ideological activism in a specific German political context stands out. She has avoided confronting the East German regime’s version of Holocaust distortion (largely erasing the genocide of the Jewish people) and the DDR’s demonization of Israel and support for Palestinian terror under the label of “antifascism". Neiman has been active in legitimizing the BDS movement in Germany, and most recently, her activist ideology was highlighted in the highly problematic "Hijacking Memory" event. Neiman (via the Einstein Forum that she heads) was among the organizers, along with Stefanie Schüler-Springorum and Emily Dische-Becker. The ostensible objective was to “combat right-wing appropriation of Holocaust memory,” again highlighting the narrow agenda. One of the main speakers, Tareq Baconi — a Palestinian —repeated the tendentious claim that European Holocaust guilt is behind support for Israel, and therefore responsible for denying Palestinians freedom and equality. Baconi also launched a fierce attack on the IHRA-WDA. Jan Grabowski and Konstanty Gebert posted a strong criticism of these expressions of antisemitism at a conference ostensibly on “Holocaust memory” and the “thunderous applause” from the German audience.