Author Deborah Lipstadt shares insight into efforts to fight anti-Semitism
Historian, professor and author Deborah Lipstadt had the chance to stand up for her beliefs — and she took it, fighting in court against a Holocaust denier.
The story of the libel lawsuit brought against Lipstadt by British writer David Irving in 1996 was later told on the silver screen in “Denial,” starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Wilkenson. The film follows the author’s battles in the British justice system.
Lipstadt, professor of Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, has taught about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism for 40 years. She is also the author of several books, inlcuding “Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory” and “Holocaust: An American Understanding.” Last year, she released “Antisemitism: Here and Now,” a fictional correspondence that delves into current issues of stereotypes and hatred for the Jewish people.
“Sadly, given the unending saga that is anti-Semitism, I feel comfortable predicting that by the time this book appears, there will have been new examples of anti-Semitism that should have been part of the narrative,” she wrote in the book’s introduction.
Lipstadt will give Houston further insights into antiSemitism in her appearance at 7 p.m. Monday at Congregation Beth Israel. The event is free and open to the public.
“An Evening with Professor Deborah Lipstadt” is the inaugural presentation of the synagogue’s Alfred and Paula Friedlander Forum, created to honor its late board presi
dent. It will include a question-and-answer session, moderated by Beth Israel’s Senior Rabbi David Lyon, as well as a book signing and reception.
“People are really concerned, and some are frightened, about the degree of anti-Semitism today,” said Lipstadt.
“The guardrails that kept people from saying and doing harmful things are down on both the right and the left.”
Lipstadt points to a rise in populism, which she distinguished from patriotism.
“Patriotism makes room for different points of view,” said Lipstadt, who believes disseminating anti-Semitic views has become easier with technology. “There’s now a delivery system, which is the internet.”
David M. Scott, executive director at Congregation Beth Israel and director of lifelong learning, said Lipstadt spent time at the synagogue in 2016 as a scholar-in-residence.
“She has a real sense of integrity,” Scott said. “She’s been in the trenches. She’s fought her own trial, and she’s inspiring for that reason.”
Lipstadt also speaks to everyone, regardless of their religion or background, on how they can join together to combat anti-Semitism, Scott said.
“She’s present and articulate in a way that’s meaningful,” he said.
Lipstadt’s talk at Beth Israel is especially pertinent right now, Scott said.
“We’re living in a time in which it’s no longer something kept under wraps or in the fringes,” he said. “It’s because it’s expressed and tolerated in our own media and our culture that people feel OK to act out their resentment.”
It’s time for all members of society to stand together to fight hatred, he said: “This is not tolerated by the vast majority of people.”
Lipstadt testified before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on Jan. 8.
She told them that the perpetrator, not the victim, of racial prejudice should be asked to solve the problem. Anti-Semitism is a problem for everyone, she explained.
“What then can we do about it? If it is irrational, must we simply throw up our hands in defeat? I think not,” she told the commission. “We must expose its conspiratorial, irrational, and delusional nature. We must challenge others who engage in it. We must familiarize ourselves with its history and understand the terrible consequences of ignoring it.”
There is no magic pill to fix the problem, she added.
“This fight might be one that can never result in total victory,” she said. “The roots of this hatred may be too deeply embedded to ever be fully eradicated. However, we must act as if we will be able to achieve that victory. The costs of not doing so are too great.”