Dave Rich Interviewed by Rebecca Abrams

Leading authority on antisemitism Dr Dave Rich asks why antisemitism is still with us and rising when it should have disappeared in the Dark Ages and explains what we can do about it.

Rich says there is evidence of antisemitism everywhere and it cannot be put down to a handful of extremists. He warns that antisemitism is being fuelled at a time of economic, political and social turmoil by conspiracy theories and war in the Middle East. He looks at Shakespeare, South Park, Israel, Palestine, ancient stereotypes and modern memes to reveal the truth about what antisemitism is and how we can play a part in stopping it.

Rich has worked for almost 30 years for the Community Security Trust, a Jewish charity that protects the UK Jewish community and advises the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, football clubs, the Labour Party and many other organisations on how to tackle antisemitism. He is author of The Left’s Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Antisemitism. Here he talks to Rebecca Abrams, an award-winning author and journalist and regular reviewer for the Financial Times.  She is author of Licoricia of Winchester: Power and Prejudice in Medieval England and The Jewish Journey: 4000 Years in 22 Objects. Abrams teaches creative writing at the University of Oxford.

This event is part of the festival’s programme of Jewish literature and culture.

Sponsored by Jewish Book Week and generously supported by Professor Lucian Hudson and Jewish trusts and private donors.