Antisemitism and Middle East Peace

Speaker: David Matas Affiliation: Senior Legal Counsel of B'nai Brith Canada; Canadian human rights and immigration lawyer Title: "Antisemitism and Middle East Peace" Location: McGill University, Montreal, Canada Date: February 12, 2013 Description: David Matas maintains that there is a link between antisemitism (and combating antisemitism) and peace in the Middle East. He states that while the majority of commentators focus on the list of issues dividing the Israelis and Palestinians, he asserts that if we combat antisemitism, the other issues will be resolved. Modern antisemitism has taken the form of the assault on the Jewish state and notions of Jewish peoplehood. In order to achieve peace in the Middle East, he says, it is essential to combat the antisemitism of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Israel's other adversaries.