By RAEGAN NEUFELD
Tiger Media Network
“Israel & Palestine in Context,” a two-part speaker series put on by several campus organizations and the Hays Public Library, started last Thursday with a presentation from University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professor Ari Kohen.
Event organizers with HPL and the campus organizations wanted to bring in an expert like Kohen to provide attendees with accurate information.
“Many folks are getting their information from television, news outlets, social media or non-experts on the region, its peoples and its complicated history,” FHSU Associate Professor of History Amber Nickell said. “This often results in sweeping and often harmful generalizations about Jews and Arabs.”
Kohen spoke specifically about the spike in antisemitic behavior following the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas that killed approximately 1,200 people and Israel’s subsequent retaliation. According to AP News, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since October.
According to Kohen, the resulting antisemitic behavior has shown up in several forms and in incidents both online and in person. These include people tearing down posters of Israeli hostages and choosing to protest outside of synagogues or Jewish schools.
“If you have a problem with the Israeli government and you decide to show that by protesting outside of a synagogue, you should be asking yourself a very, very serious question, which is why did you choose that location?” Kohen said. “What does a synagogue in the United States have to do with Benjamin Netanyahu? Because the answer is nothing.”
Kohen further discussed places of protest being problematic, stating that issues arise when location decisions are targeted.
“People get together and they support the Palestinian cause and state and it’s terrific,” he said. “It’s not terrific if you do it across the street from a Jewish school because that’s a specific target and it’s designed. It’s chosen because it’s the Jewish one.”
One main point from the presentation was that it’s possible to be critical of Israel without being antisemitic. Kohen voiced his own criticisms of Netanyahu and what he called ‘toxic’ goals for the state by the prime minister.
“He and especially his current coalition now are probably the worst possible collection of politicians that you could have. . . I just said all of that, and none of that would be characterized by anybody as antisemitic,” he said.
Moreover, Kohen explained that antisemitism doesn’t result in an end to the violence or independence for Palestine. It doesn’t affect any of the policies related to the issues.
“It’s a problem that has got to be resolved politically,” he said. “These sorts of claims, the double standards, delegitimizing the state and protesting outside of synagogues, none of it is moving us any closer.”
Kohen’s presentation will be posted on the Department of History’s YouTube page later this week. The next presentation in the series is at 6 p.m. on March 28 at the Hays Public Library. A Zoom link is available by registering for the event.
Jonathan Sciarcon, an associate professor at Denver University, will speak about Arab-Jewish relations and Muslim-Jewish relations and how they relate to current conflicts.