Professor Kenneth W. Stein will address the issue of why and how the academic assault on Israel has evolved over the last four decades, who supports the assault and how do we respond to it? Are these forms of anti-Zionism simply sophisticated covers for anti-Semitism, or more a reluctance to accept the right of Jews to practice self-determination in a state of their own?

From the beginning of Zionism Arab leaders and states refused to accept Jewish national presence in Palestine (Eretz Israel) and fought it with a variety of weapons. After Israel's establishment in 1948, Arab hostility toward it employed armed conflicts, economic isolation, terrorism, boycott of companies trading with Israel, political boycott at international organizations and, more recently, the defamation of Israel on campuses in North America and elsewhere.

For the last 37 years, Professor Kenneth W. Stein has taught Middle Eastern history, political science and Israel studies at Emory University. In addition to teaching one of Emory's most popular courses, "History, Politics and Diplomacy of the Arab-Israeli Conflict", Dr. Stein is the Director of the Emory Institute for the Study of Modern Israel and the President of the Center for Israel Education. He is the author of numerous books and articles as well as the recipient of many awards.  

www.ismi.emory.edu and www.israeled.org