Michal-Cotler Wunsh

Combating Antisemitism in the Digital Age

In the premiere of our new series 30 Minute Mensches, Jonah Platt sits down with Michal Cotler-Wunsh — former Knesset member and Israel’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism — for a long-overdue conversation about the eighth front of war: the battle for public opinion. Jonah and Michal discuss how antisemitism has manifested itself today, particularly through using anti-Zionist rhetoric, and how Israelis may feel a disconnect from that. Michal gives her perspective on how institutions such as the UN, Amnesty International, and elite universities have not only tolerated but enabled and normalized antisemitic double standards under the guise of progressive activism. Jonah challenges Michal to help make sense of the widespread moral confusion and media failures that culminate to chants such as “Death to the IDF,” and asks how we can bridge the gap with well-meaning people who have been misled by catchy headlines and ill-informed outrage. This episode answers the question of why antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem, but a global one, and what we can do to fight it.

• Mentioned in this Episode

  Official Biography of Michal Cotler-Wunsh:https://bit.ly/michalcotler-wunshbio

  The Story of Queen Esther: https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/esther-bible

  IHRA Definition of Antisemitism: https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definition-antisemitism

  UN Speech: Michal Cotler-Wunsh Addresses Global Antisemitism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTFV1t9_AuQ

  Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks: https://rabbisacks.org/life-of-rabbi-jonathan-sacks/biography/

  Calling Out Glastonbury Festival for Antisemitic Messaging: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-859304

  Jewish concerns about Mamdani: https://www.timesofisrael.com/some-jewish-democrats-in-us-congress-raise-concerns-about-mamdanis-anti-israel-stances/

  The 1948 War against Israel’s Existence: https://israeled.org/the-arab-israeli-war-of-1948-a-short-history/

  UN 1975 Resolution Equating Zionism with Racism: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-181963/

  Durbin Conference: https://www.ajc.org/durban

  The Story of Raphael Lemkin: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/coining-a-word-and-championing-a-cause-the-story-of-raphael-lemkin

  Double Standards & Natan Sharansky’s 3 D’s of Antisemitism: https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/defining-antisemitism-double-standards-against-the-state-of-israel

  Iran’s Recent Strikes on Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-second-day-in-row-iran-missile-hits-beersheba-damaging-buildings-wounding-7/

  Anti-Jew bias in Human Right Watch: https://unwatch.org/whistleblower-from-human-rights-watch-hrw-has-so-little-credibility-for-most-israelis-they-do-not-even-trust-it-with-their-corpses/

  Al-Ahli Hospital: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-it-hit-a-hamas-command-center-housed-in-gaza-hospital/

  Hamas Terror Tunnels: https://tunnels.honestreporting.com/

  Elite University Presidents Criticized for Antisemitism Hearing Responses: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/us/harvard-mit-penn-presidents-antisemitism.html

  Host & Production Team - Host: Jonah Platt; Produced by Rainbow Creative (Executive Producer: Matthew Jones; Story Producer: Sasha Nelson; Content Director: Alexandra Fugère; Associate Producer: Emma Webb, Nathan Wheatley, Valerie Patterson); Consulting Producer: Bethany Mandel; Executive Assistant: Josie Rothschild; Graphic Designer: Noah Bell

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