Institute for study of global antisemitism seeks answers

NEW HAVEN-When Dr. Charles Small decided to make aliyah from London, he was surprised to find that some of his academic colleagues had stopped speaking to him.

Equally disturbing, those he remained in contact with were completely unsympathetic as the intifada's cycle of violence spiraled out of control; some went so far as to describe cafe bombings and other acts of terror as "legitimate responses" to aggression. These experiences were the underpinning for what would later become the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy (ISGAP), a nascent institution in New Haven. Small was driven by a conviction that intellectuals, human rights activists and professors were the very people that ought to be condemning forms of dehumanization, not advocating it.

"This has been an undercurrent of British and West-European academic discourse for decades," says Small in conversation in New Haven.

Small, who is director of urban studies at SCSU, has a history of advocacy for marginalized groups, including chairing the ANC Solidarity Committee of the Canadian anti-apartheid movement, creating documentary films on racism and immigration and doing advocacy work on the behalf of the Roma (gypsy) population in Lithuania. He wrote his dissertation at Oxford, writing about notions of belonging and otherness in Enlightenment thought, focusing on racism, segregation and policy. When he moved to Israel, Small was active in peace and reconciliation programs in Jerusalem. However, when the second intifada broke out, "living under the siege of terrorism had a profound impact" on him, especially when accompanied by the torrent of criticism that he received from his former colleagues in England.

"As a scholar, I wanted to understand why this was happening," explains Small. Since then, Small's scholarly work has focused on the ways in which globalization contributes to the reemergence of racism and anti-Semitism.

According to their mission statement, ISGAP is an "organization dedicated to the scholarly research of processes and manifestations associated with anti-Semitism globally, as well as other forms of racism, and policy related issues, in the age of globalization." Small says that the organization is trying to create an interdisciplinary, high caliber, non-partisan, scholarly institute. There are two such institutes in Israel and one in Germany, but so far none have been established in the United States. When the State Department recently began including anti-Semitism as part of its human rights report, Small and a number of colleagues decided that the time was ripe for the creation of such an institute. "We're arguing that contemporary anti-Semitism is taking place in a world that is changing rapidly. Organizations like the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the American Anti-Defamation League ask what is happening. We want to ask why it's happening, through scholarship," says Small.

ISGAP was established on three pillars, the creation of an international network of scholars, the expansion of an endowment, and an institutional affiliation with a reputed university. Ideally, Small hopes to raise funds and recruit post-doctoral students from hot spots like the Middle East, France, Russia, supporting their research and having it disseminated. Natan Sharansky, ex-Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, has endorsed ISGAP, writing: "I welcome ISGAP into the international network of scholars and experts engaged in the analysis of contemporary anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. The fact that no other major U.S. research university has yet seen fit to establish such an institute makes ISGAP that much more significant."

The creative vision of ISGAP was furthered by a strategic partnership with Rabbi Jim Ponet, the Howard M. Holtzmann Chaplain for Jewish Life at Yale. Other members of the New Haven community, such as David Schaefer, Laurence Schiffres, Hubert Ngatcha Njila, Allon Canaan and Michael Tal also lent their support to the project. All ISGAP events have been hosted at Joseph Slifka Center; the flagship lecture "Making Sense of European anti-Semitism" by Oxford Professor Emanuele Ottolenghi drew an impressive crowd. Most recently, Simonas Dovidavicius, the Executive Director of the Sugihara House in Kaunus Lithuania, spoke on "The Jewish Community of Lithuania: Sugihara and Helping the Other in the Face of Evil."

The next six months will be a time of great expansion for ISGAP. Next year, Small will coordinate a seminar series at the Institute for the Study of Social and Policy Studies entitled, "Anti-Semitism in Comparative Perspective."

"We want to build upon the momentum that has been loosely established by a recent series of international anti-Semitism conferences culminating at the UN conference of June 2004," says Small. He hopes that ISGAP will eventually host one of these conferences and perhaps even create a journal to discuss issues relevant to the scholarly study of anti-Semitism, racism, and social marginality.

"Ultimately, the goal is to be a presence on campuses that will empower students and faculty to engage these issues while promoting discussion and dialogue," says Small.

In the meantime, Small has kept himself busy, editing a book with colleague Olufemi Vaughan entitled, "Globalization and Marginality, Essays on the Paradoxes of Local and Global Forces" and doing research on anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

"The reaction at Yale to this institute has been overwhelmingly positive," says Small. "There are 20 Yale professors on our board of advisors; given what is happening at Columbia and at other campuses across the country, it is a breath of fresh air that professors at Yale are so open in their discussion of these issues."