I caught him tonight after he gave a lecture in Manhattan about antisemitism in Europe, and I asked him a few questions. I asked him whether there were any European capitals that a Jew could freely walk around with a kippah (he also answered about whether one can walk around with an Israeli T-shirt.) I also asked him whether European attitudes towards Israel were comparable to how they viewed apartheid South Africa, what EU leaders think about Israel within the pre-1967 lines, and whether he felt that the current anti-circumcision and anti-ritual slaughter campaigns in Europe were animated by anti-Islamism or antisemitism.
Ben's a real nice guy. After the interview we had a discussion about, well, everything, from BDS to the role of trade unions in anti-Israel activity and how that can be countered, to university anti-Zionism and antisemitism, to HRW and the Marc Garlasco episode I was involved with back in 2009.
Enjoy:
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