The Politics of Jew-Hatred: A Three-Era Framework for Understanding Antizionism

This talk introduces the Three-Era Framework for understanding the evolution of Jew-hatred from anti-Judaism, to antisemitism, to antizionism. While the language of hostility changes across historical periods, the underlying mechanism of demonization persists: Jews are recast as violators of each era’s prevailing moral order. By tracing the evolution of anti-Jewish libels and their adaptation to new moral vocabularies, the framework situates contemporary antizionism within a longer history of Jewish demonization.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Naya Lekht was born in the former Soviet Union. She holds a PhD in Russian Literature from UCLA. She is co-founder of "Stop Antizionism", an initiative that encompassed a global declaration and educational resources tied to her "Three-Era Framework for Jew-Hatred." Naya is an educator, researcher, writer, and public speaker specializing in the history of antisemitism, antizionism, and Soviet history. Her doctoral research examined Holocaust literature in the Soviet Union, focusing on the suppression, censorship, and political manipulation of Holocaust memory, including literary responses to the massacre at Babi Yar. She is also the host of her own podcast, "Don't Know Much About". Her writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Sapir, the New York Post, JNS, Jerusalem Post, and Jewish Journal. In 2024, she was named top 20 Zionist Visionaries by the Jerusalem Post and the JNF.