Hannah Rosenthal | |
---|---|
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom | |
Commissioner | |
In office June 17, 2014 –2015 | |
Appointed by | Nancy Pelosi |
Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism | |
U.S. Special Envoy | |
In office November 23,2009 –October 5,2012 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Gregg Rickman |
Succeeded by | Michael Kozak (acting) |
Personal details | |
Born | 1951 (age 72–73) |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
Hannah Rosenthal (born 1951) is an American Democratic Party political official and Jewish non-profit executive who served as the U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism from 2009 until 2012 during the Obama administration. [1] [2]
Rosenthal was previously head of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA),during which she was named as one of the 50 most influential Jews in America. [3]
After serving as Special Envoy,Rosenthal was later appointed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to serve as a commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom from 2014 to 2016. [4] Rosenthal served as president and CEO of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation until her retirement in 2018. [5] [6]
Rosenthal's father was a Holocaust survivor,a former prisoner at the Buchenwald concentration camp,and a Reform rabbi. [7] She attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley,Massachusetts through her sophomore year and then transferred to and graduated from the University of Wisconsin. She then studied for the rabbinate at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and Los Angeles,but dropped out in 1975. [8]
Rosenthal served as the founding executive director of the Wisconsin Women's Council from 1985 to 1992. [9] She is featured in the Council's 25th Anniversary Tribute video. [10]
In 1995,Rosenthal was appointed by the Clinton administration to serve as Midwest regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [11] In 2005,she was named one of the Forward 50,a list of the 50 most influential Jews selected by The Forward newspaper.
From August 2000 to 2005,Rosenthal headed the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA). [12] She was the vice president for community relations for the not-for-profit WPS Health Insurance Corporation. Rosenthal served on the advisory council of J Street and J Street PAC.
During the 2008 presidential election,she supported and contributed to Hillary Clinton. [13] She served on the board of Americans for Peace Now.
According to Jewish Standard ,Rosenthal reportedly did not want to become Special Envoy and "was advocating for someone else in the role",but then State U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,Human Rights,and Labor (DRL) Michael Posner "was very insistent.” [14]
Together with Farah Pandith,U.S. Special Representative to Muslim Communities,Rosenthal launched the Acceptance,Respect and Tolerance Initiative to promote inter-faith and inter-ethnic understanding. [15] The initiative was criticized by Gregg Rickman,her predecessor as Special Envoy in the George W. Bush administration. [16]
In December 2009 Rosenthal criticized Israel's ambassador to the United States Michael Oren for his "most unfortunate" remarks regarding J Street. [17] In response,the Israeli Embassy in Washington requested clarification from the Obama administration. [18] Alan Solow,chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations,was also critical of Rosenthal. [19]
Rosenthal met with a number of foreign officials regarding antisemitism,including Ilmar Reepalu then mayor of Malmö,Sweden. [20] Reepalu has been criticized for his comments about antisemitism and Jews but he has responded by saying that "antisemitism is an abomination" and that Jews in Malmöhave nothing to do with Israel's actions and should not be called to account for that. [21] After the meeting,Rosenthal described Reepalu's language as antisemitic. [21] Rosenthal also met with the Swedish Minister for Integration,Erik Ullenhag. Ullenhag released a statement after the meeting,saying that Reepalu's comments "obstructs the fight against antisemitism". [21]
Rosenthal also confronted Saudi officials regarding antisemitism in their textbooks and requested that Jordanian officials teach about the Holocaust in their schools. [2]
During her tenure,Rosenthal and her staff established a mandatory 90-minute course on antisemitism at the Foreign Service Institute,which is the training school for diplomats,along with a 341-word definition of antisemitism,which includes newer forms of antisemitism,including Holocaust denial. The United States State Department human rights reports have been reporting anti-Semitism with more frequency,which Rosenthal has been praised,and she said that "our reporting has improved many times over —300 percent in the three years I've been here." [2]
Rosenthal was criticized by ADL president Abraham Foxman in an open letter for saying that the speakers of the Israel solidarity rally "espoused narrow,ultra-conservative views of what it means to be pro-Israel". [22] The list of speakers included Harry Reid,Dick Gephardt,and Natan Sharansky. [23] In response to Foxman's letter,Rosenthal said in an interview to Tablet :"I have worked with Abe in the past and I consider Abe a friend of mine. ... we mostly agree." [24] Foxman was supportive of Rosenthal's appointment;in a statement issued by the Anti-Defamation League,Foxman wrote:"We look forward to working with Hannah Rosenthal ... ." [25]
Foxman has also criticized Rosenthal for organizing and accompanying a trip by eight American imams and Muslim leaders to the Dachau and Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps,saying that the involvement of the State Department in an intercommunal affair was unwarranted. He explained that "having Muslims speaking out about anti-Semitism,that's our job" and not that of the State Department. However,since then,Foxman and Rosenthal settled their differences,and Foxman has praised Rosenthal for her work,as well as for establishing a mandatory course on antisemitism for diplomats. [2]
Rosenthal is open about how she survived uterine cancer. [26]
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to,prejudice towards,or discrimination against,Jews. This sentiment is a form of racism,and a person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Primarily,antisemitic tendencies may be motivated by negative sentiment towards Jews as a people or by negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism. In the former case,usually presented as racial antisemitism,a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to the preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case,known as religious antisemitism,a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism,typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's successor faith—this is a common theme within the other Abrahamic religions. The development of racial and religious antisemitism has historically been encouraged by the concept of anti-Judaism,which is distinct from antisemitism itself.
A number of organizations and academics consider the Nation of Islam (NOI) to be antisemitic. The NOI has engaged in Holocaust denial,and exaggerates the role of Jews in the African slave trade;mainstream historians,such as Saul S. Friedman,have said Jews had a negligible role. The NOI has repeatedly rejected charges made against it as false and politically motivated.
Deborah Esther Lipstadt is an American historian and diplomat,best known as author of the books Denying the Holocaust (1993),History on Trial:My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier (2005),The Eichmann Trial (2011),and Antisemitism:Here and Now (2019). She has served as the United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism since May 3,2022. Since 1993 she has been the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta,Georgia,US.
New antisemitism is the concept that a new form of antisemitism developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries,typically manifesting itself as anti-Zionism. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism,such as the working definition of antisemitism and the 3D test of antisemitism. The concept dates to the early 1970s.
Abraham Henry Foxman is an American lawyer and activist. He served as the national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) from 1987 to 2015,and is currently the League's national director emeritus. From 2016 to 2021 he served as vice chair of the board of trustees at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City in order to lead its efforts on antisemitism.
The history of Jews in Sweden can be traced from the 17th century,when their presence is verified in the baptism records of the Stockholm Cathedral. Several Jewish families were baptised into the Lutheran Church,a requirement for permission to settle in Sweden. In 1681,for example,28 members of the families of Israel Mandel and Moses Jacob were baptised in the Stockholm German Church in the presence of King Charles XI of Sweden,the dowager queen Hedvig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp,and several other high state officials.
Antisemitic tropes or antisemitic canards are "sensational reports,misrepresentations,or fabrications" that are defamatory towards Judaism as a religion or defamatory towards Jews as an ethnic or religious group. Since as early as the 2nd century,libels or allegations of Jewish guilt and cruelty emerged as a recurring motif along with antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Antisemitism has long existed in the United States. Most Jewish community relations agencies in the United States draw distinctions between antisemitism,which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors,and the security and status of American Jews,which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents.
Antisemitic incidents escalated worldwide in frequency and intensity during the Gaza War,and were widely considered to be a wave of reprisal attacks in response to the conflict.
The Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism is an office of the Under Secretary for Civilian Security,Democracy,and Human Rights at the United States Department of State. The office "advances U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism" by developing and implementing policies and projects to support efforts to combat antisemitism.
Defamation is a 2009 documentary film by Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir. It examines antisemitism,the way perceptions of antisemitism affect Israeli and U.S. politics,and explores the suggestion that claims of antisemitism are exaggerated or weaponized to stifle dissent against Israel. A major focus of the film is the Anti-Defamation League. Defamation won Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2009 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL),formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith,is a New York–based international non-governmental organization that was founded to combat antisemitism,bigotry and discrimination.
Criticism of Israel is a subject of journalistic and scholarly commentary and research within the scope of international relations theory,expressed in terms of political science. Israel has faced international criticism since its establishment in 1948 relating to a variety of issues,many of which are centered around human rights violations in its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Ilmar Reepalu is a Swedish Social Democrat politician who was the 17th chairman of the municipal board in Malmöfrom 1994 to 2013.
Antisemitism in France has become heightened since the late 20th century and into the 21st century. In the early 21st century,most Jews in France,like most Muslims in France,are of North African origin. France has the largest population of Jews in the diaspora after the United States—an estimated 500,000–600,000 persons. Paris has the highest population,followed by Marseilles,which has 70,000 Jews. Expressions of antisemitism were seen to rise during the Six-Day War of 1967 and the French anti-Zionist campaign of the 1970s and 1980s. Following the electoral successes achieved by the extreme right-wing National Front and an increasing denial of the Holocaust among some persons in the 1990s,surveys showed an increase in stereotypical antisemitic beliefs among the general French population.
The "three Ds" or the "3D test" of antisemitism is a set of criteria formulated by Israeli human rights advocate and politician Natan Sharansky in order to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from antisemitism. The three Ds stand for delegitimization,demonization,and double standards,each of which,according to the test,indicates antisemitism.
Since World War II,antisemitic prejudice in Italy has seldom taken on aggressive forms.
Antisemitism in Greece manifests itself in religious,political and media discourse. The 2009–2018 Greek government-debt crisis has facilitated the rise of far right groups in Greece,most notably the formerly obscure Golden Dawn.
Ellie Cohanim is an American broadcast journalist who served as Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the United States Department of State during the Donald Trump administration.
Gregg J. Rickman is an American former Congressional staffer and lobbyist who also served as the inaugural U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism from 2006 to 2009. Prior to his appointment,he was Director of Congressional Affairs at the Republican Jewish Coalition. Later he was the Deputy Director of Policy and Government Affairs at AIPAC. He also served as staffer for Republican U.S. Senators Alphonse D'Amato and Mike Rounds. In the late 1990s,he was the lead staff member of the U.S. Senate's Swiss bank inquiry.