Last week, I gave a lecture at the University of California at San Diego about politics and social justice.
Afterward, as I was signing books, a young Black woman approached my table and whispered a question, asking me what I thought about the horrors playing out in Gaza.
Almost all of them described themselves as anti-Zionist, but in our conversations, all of them also condemned antisemitism.
When I talked to the pro-Palestinian activists and scholars, I posed a simple question that is often asked: Do you believe that Israel has a right to exist?
When I told Greenblatt that none of my interviewees gave a direct “yes” to the right-to-exist question, he said that was “almost indescribably offensive” because he connects any hesitation on the question to historical antisemitism and a denial of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.
Persons:
Jonathan Greenblatt, Defamation League —, ”, I’m, Marc Lamont Hill, “, Hill, Greenblatt, “ There’s, ” Greenblatt, Israel
Organizations:
University of California, Palestinian, Defamation League, Amnesty, West Bank
Locations:
San Diego, Gaza, Israel, America, Palestine, East Jerusalem