According the Italian La Stampa, Robert Wistrich, who was due to address the Italian Senate on the rise of antisemitism in Europe, has died of a heart attack in Rome.
Robert Wistrich was in Jerusalem, Israel, on November 8, 2011, when The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, along with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, sponsored a conference entitled “Incitement to Terror and Violence-New Challenges, New Responses.” I still remember the talk.
Wistrich, the head of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said at that time, the claim that Israel is the “stealing of indigenous people’s land by the colonial whites” is becoming respectable. The liberal center and moderate left in Britain find it “legitimate to be anti-Israel” using this narrative. His work on antisemitism was important.
As a lecturer Wistrich’s moderated voice prompted one audience member at a recent Jerusalem event to ask how his students managed to stay awake in class.
In April, Wistrich spoke about antisemitism on an Al-Jazzera program Head to Head, on Al-Jazzera. You can listen to that show HERE, as he carefully selects each word and phrase. Warning: the anti-Israel bias that Wistrich faced is enough to elevate blood pressure.
May his memory be a blessing.
