Anti-Zionism is a new form of antisemitism, that is according to Professor Robert S. Wistrich who contends that, “in many quarters what anti-Zionism has become over three, four decades and especially more recently … is a kind of mask for an increasingly open form of demonisation, even slander of the essence of the whole Zionist project.”

I think it’s an objective fact that there are passages very hostile to Jews in the Quran

Robert S. Wistrich, Jewish scholar

In this episode of Head to Head, Mehdi Hasan challenges Robert S. Wistrich, one of the world’s leading scholars of antisemitism, on why he thinks criticism of Israeli policies is a modern manifestation of historical anti-Jewish hatred.


Roibert Wistrich replied that the summer demonstration for Gaza was (based on hearsay) peopled by demonstrators carrying ‘Hitler was right’ placards. In fact, the only one spotted was this hand-made one carried by this young man. There were several claiming that Israelis were now behaving to the Palestinians as Hitler did towards the Jews. Which is absurd and historically ignorant (holocaust denial?) but not as obviously antisemitic as the anti-Muslim Wistrich would have us believe.

Is anti-Zionism a new form of antisemitism? Are boycotts driven by prejudice or principle? And is criticism of the Palestinians and the Muslim world Islamophobic?

In front of the Oxford Union audience, and with the help of an expert panel, we discuss the complex relationship between legitimate criticism of Israel and illegitimate racism.

Joining this discussion are:

• Hannah Weisfeld, the founder and director of Yachad, a pro-Israel, pro-peace movement
• Jonathan Arkush, the vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
• Richard Kuper, the founder of Jews for Justice for Palestinians
• Sharif Nashashibi, a Palestinian commentator and former advisor to the UN

Antisemitism and Islamophobia: Old fears, new threats? with Professor Robert S. Wistrich will be broadcast on April 24 at 2000GMT and will be repeated on April 25 at 1200GMT; April 26 at 0100GMT, and April 27 at 0600GMT.

Head to Head is Al Jazeera’s new forum of ideas, a gladiatorial contest tackling big issues such as faith, the economic crisis, democracy and intervention in front of an opinionated audience at the Oxford Union.