Antisemitism in the Contemporary World

On 6-7 February 2005, the Australian Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation at Monash University will hold an international conference on Antisemitism in the Contemporary World at Monash University’s Caulfield campus.

The last international conference on antisemitism in Australia was held in 1984. Unfortunately, global trends indicate that the need for such a conference today is much greater.

The conference has several objectives:

• to provide the opportunity to probe the changing character and incidence of antisemitism;
• to bring leading scholars from overseas to inform Australian public debate;
• to involve community leaders in public discussion;
• to provide material for publications;
• to serve as a vital step in challenging the dominance of one-sided anti-Israeli criticism within the universities.

This event will bring to Australia leading international scholars, including Dr Daniel Pipes, Itamar Marcus, Professor Jack Jacobs, Dr Natan Kellerman, Professor Dina Porat, Dr Yitzhak Reiter, and Professor Stanley Waterman.

Given the number and quality of international speakers, it is expected that the mainstream media will show great interest in this conference. One of the highlights will be a panel comprising leading journalists. Leading members of the Government and Opposition have been invited to the opening event, and a number of community leaders will be involved in the proceedings. The conference will focus on the following themes:

• the incidence and impact of antisemitism in contemporary western societies;
• the language of antisemitism;
• left-wing attitudes to Jews and Zionism;
• radical Islamic antisemitism;
• standards applied in the critique of Israeli government policies;
• evaluation of Australian developments in an international context;
• conceptualisation of ‘the new antisemitism’.

A panel discussion featuring international speakers will be held on the evening of Sunday 6th February, at a major venue.

Conference convenors are Professor Andrew Markus , Director of the Australian Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation, Monash University and Dr Philip Mendes, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University.

For registration enquiries, phone Diana Wong on 99052172 or email diana.wong@arts.monash.edu.au