Thursday, April 14, 2016: 4:00 PM-5:45 PM
Assembly C (DoubleTree by Hilton Philadelphia Center City)
One of the key registers of Europe's resilence as a civil society concerns the ability of Jews to live there. Often considered the "canary in the mineshaft," the condition of Jews often predicts future threats to the polity. In the Middle Ages, attacks on Jews often preceded attacks on Christians (heretics). In modern times, forces bent on war and world domination have targeted the Jews first, often accusing them of precisely what they planned. In today's Europe, one of the most important threats to the fabric of civil society comes from the triumphalist strain in Islam of Muslims who want to spread Sharia law there. These same circles generate (and feed off of) a great deal of hostility to the Jews. Their attacks on the Jewish community, especially in the wake of reporting from Gaza in the summer of 2014, have led to a situation where many European Jews see no long-term future for themselves on the continent where they have lived for over a millennium, prompting Manuel Valls to assert that "without Jews, France would not be France," and David Cameron to express similar feelings about England. This panel explores both the dynamics of anti-Jewish sentiments in Europe, and the implications of these dynamics for the future of the continent.
Organizer:
Richard A Landes
Chair:
Richard A Landes
Discussant :
Jeff Weintraub
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