Prof. Uriya Shavit was appointed the new head of the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry. He succeeds Prof. Dina Porat, who founded the Center and made it an internationally acclaimed authority on European Jewry and antisemitism.
Prof. Shavit, Full Professor at Tel Aviv University, specializes in Jewish-Muslim relations in Europe, among other fields. He is the author of nine academic books and several dozen academic articles, as well three novels and six books for young readers.
Prof. Porat will continue her work with the Center as its Founding Head, advising its activities and serving as chief author of its annual reports.
Proposals selected will be awarded grants of up to 20,000 Shekels.
Priority will be given to high-risk and policy-oriented proposals and to submissions by scholars who have completed their PhDs but have not begun their post-doctoral studies.
Submissions should comprise a short description of the planned research (up to 1,750 words), including methodology, research questions, hypotheses, timeline and state of the art, and the candidate’s curriculum vitae.
Proposals should focus on one of the following themes:
Jews in European Military Forces
Strategies for Addressing antisemitism on Campuses
Young Jewish Culture in Europe
Jewish-Muslim Relations
Projects should involve approximately a one-year study and should conclude with the publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal in English.
Research proposals should be submitted by November 1, 2021, to the Center’s project manager, Dr. Giovanni Quer: giovanniquer@tauex.tau.ac.il
Defining Antisemitism – The Debate
On June 16, 2021, the Center organized the Zoom conference, “Who is an antisemite? The Polemic and its Significance”, in which participants discussed the IHRA’s (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism.
Prof. Yehuda Bauer gave the keynote speech, which was followed by a roundtable discussion with Rabbi Andrew Baker (Director of International Jewish Affairs at the American Jewish Committee), Prof. Alvin Rosenfeld (Director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary antisemitism at Indiana University), Ms. Katharina von Schnurbein (EU Coordinator on Combating antisemitism), and Mr. Mark Weitzman (Director of Government Affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Center).
During the conference’s final session, Tel Aviv University’s Prof. Dina Porat and Prof. Moshe Zuckermann engaged in a passionate debate about the implications of the IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism. The recording of the conference, held on Zoom, is available here.
Center’s Study Presented at the Supreme Court
On June 27, 2021, Prof. Dina Porat, Founding Head of the Center, Prof. Yoram Dinstein, former President of Tel Aviv University, and Adv. Talia Naamat met with Justice Esther Hayut, President of the Supreme Court of Israel, to discuss the Center’s legal research. The three presented Justice Hayut with the Center’s four-volume study on human rights and equality, “Legislating for Equality – A Multinational Collection of Non-Discrimination Norms”.
Brill published the four volumes containing studies and analyses edited by Adv. Naamat and Prof. Porat along with Nina Osin, Elena Pesina, and Giovanni Quer. For the first time, the volumes collate the 195 UN Member States’ constitutional provisions and laws pertaining to non-discrimination. They provide a basis for research and comparative analysis on the issues of equality and protection of minority rights, and provide access to legal sources hitherto unavailable in the English language. Prof. Porat thanked the President of the Supreme Court Justice Hayut for hosting the event and said: “We hope that these volumes will contribute, even modestly, to the fight against discrimination in the world.”
Prof. Uriya Shavit was appointed the new head of the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry. He succeeds Prof. Dina Porat, who founded the Center and made it an internationally acclaimed authority on European Jewry and antisemitism.
