Journalist, political commentator and author of “Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning,” Peter Beinart, will be visiting the University of New Mexico to speak in a discussion-format lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m., at the Anthropology building lecture hall.
The event is sponsored by Congregation Nahalat Shalom, the Unitarian Universalist Church and Muslims and Jews United, and is part of Beinart’s national book tour, according to a press release by the event organizers.
“Beinart, a leading voice in American and Middle Eastern political affairs, will address his call for justice for Palestinians after decades of occupation, and a new paradigm for understanding Jewish victimhood,” the press release reads.
UNM Professor of Anthropology, Les Field, and Jewish Community Foundation member Chuck Buxbaum, will be facilitating the discussion.
Field said he hopes students attend the lecture in light of the threat to academic freedom from the Trump administration, and the “weaponization” of the accusation of antisemitism in the United States.
“Students should be concerned about academic freedom, they should be concerned about their safety in expressing their views, whatever those views might be,” Field said. “At least up to now, there are all kinds of ways you can criticize the U.S., and increasingly, there are ways that you can’t criticize the state of Israel.”
In August, the federal government froze over $300 million in research funds for the University of California, Los Angeles, over claims of antisemitism and bias, according to The New York Times.
Beinart will discuss issues of democracy versus ethno-supremacy in Israel, the “moral and practical untenability of occupation” and the “weaponization” of antisemitism in the U.S., according to the press release.
Becky Gordon, who is part of Nahalat Shalom, is helping organize the event.
“Peter Beinart is such a captivating speaker because of how much value he places on hard conversations between people, between Jews specifically, who don’t agree with each other,” Gordon said.
Field described Beinart’s book as a substantiation of “why what has happened in Gaza is being called a genocide,” and links that to an overall history of the establishment of the State of Israel and the Zionist movement.
“While it is undeniable that Hamas conducted atrocities and crimes against humanity on Oct. 7, 2023, there is a context that doesn’t justify in any way what they did, but precisely that contextualizes what happened,” Field said.
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The book grounds the terror attack of Oct. 7 and what happened since then in a larger historical purview, Field said.
“That is such a strong Jewish tradition, throughout the ages, which is to hold open and open-minded and critically thinking debates. It’s what we should value in any academic community, such as the University of New Mexico, and so I think that’s really important for students to see,” Gordon said.
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on X @paloma_chapa88
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
