The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) held a “Day of Action” webinar on February 17 with actor Josh Malina and Rabbi Shira Stutman explaining how people can lobby their senators to confirm Emory University Professor Deborah Lipstadt as the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt began the webinar by noting that there was 114% increase in antisemitic incidents across the United States from 2015-20, and that there was a “shocking” increase in antisemitism in Britain following the Israel-Hamas conflict in May 2021. “There’s no question that global antisemitism is a problem, and a pervasive one,” he said. Greenblatt argued that “advocacy can play a significant role” in fighting global antisemitism and the envoy is the most important figure who can lead such a fight. The envoy was first established under the Bush administration in 2004, and in 2021 the Biden administration elevated the position to an ambassador-level role requiring Senate confirmation.
“Professor Lipstadt’s scholarship is without dispute incredibly impressive,” Greenblatt said. Lipstadt, 74, is particularly known for her Holocaust scholarship and for successfully fighting against a libel lawsuit from Holocaust denier David Irving.
Some of Lipstadt’s agenda items as envoy would include going after those who attempt to promulgate antisemitism disguised under the “criticism of Israel” line. “Our view at ADLis that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. Whether or not it’s intended that way, that ultimately tends to be how it plays out,” Greenblatt said. Additionally, Lipstadt’s also interested in calling out the rise of fascism and Holocaust denial in eastern European countries as well as any hate that happens in the U.S., according to Greenblatt. The ADL CEO also touted his organization’s work with prior envoys Ira Forman and Elan Carr in promoting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism and fighting cyberhate, respectively. “I think you’ll see Professor Lipstadt build on that and do even more,” Greenblatt said.
Malina said during the webinar that he is annoyed that in his line of work, antisemites like Mel Gibson continue to be “uplifted, glorified and employed.”
Malina said during the webinar that he is annoyed that in his line of work, antisemites like Mel Gibson continue to be “uplifted, glorified and employed.” “This is a bad time for prominent antisemites like Mel Gibson to be in the headlines everyday,” Malina said. He added that while he is “not accomplished” in the field of activism, he knows that activism requires you “to act.” “You have to pick up the phone, be willing to call your senator [and] you have to be willing to write an email,” Malina said.
The actor later recalled when he attended a rally held by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles in 2001 supporting Israel’s right to exist and was told that most Jewish celebrities don’t attend Israel rallies. “I was really struck by that, and it made real to me the truism that showing up can be an act of defiance it can be a statement of values,” he said. Malina added that he engages in conversations with friends and colleagues about antisemitism and warns them early on that such conversations can be difficult, particularly when it comes to Israel, as sometimes anti-Israel rhetoric is antisemitism but not all of criticism of Israel is antisemitic.
Stutman, who co-hosts the “Chutzpod!” podcast, said that “Judaism to a certain extent is an activist tradition” and that “activism is just as much a part of what it means to be Jewish as any of these other rituals,” such as observing Shabbat and keeping kosher. “We can think that Jewish ideas are the beginning and end of what it means to be Jewishly involved but Jewish ideas are the beginning,” she said. “We’re supposed to have the ideas have the conversations and then do something about them. Doing something about them is actually what can sort bend the arc in a whole new direction.” She later added that “for every senator that you call you will actually feel better rather than worse about the world.”
The webinar ended with viewers being shown that they can text “ENVOY” to 52886, which will allow them to get a text back with a link to contact their senator and urge them to confirm Lipstadt.
