May 21, 2015
The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has mourned the passing of renowned scholar of anti-Semitism Professor Robert Wistrich, noting that his death is a great loss to the Jewish people and to the academic world.
ADC Chairman, Dr Dvir Abramovich, issued the following statement:
“We are deeply saddened by Professor Wistrich’s passing. The Jewish people have lost one of their most distinguished figures and advocates, and without doubt the world’s pre-eminent scholar on anti-Semitism. Professor Wistrich made an enormous contribution to our understanding of ancient and modern Jewish-hatred through dozens of essays and such groundbreaking texts as Anti-Semitism: The Longest Hatred and A Lethal Obsession: Anti- Semitism — From Antiquity to the Global Jihad. When UNESCO decided to cancel The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s exhibition, “The 3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People with the Holy Land”, which Professor Wistrich authored, The ADC lead the Australian campaign to reinstate the exhibit. We express our condolences to his family, to the Hebrew University, where he served as head of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism, and to the State of Israel. May his memory be a blessing to them all, and an inspiration for us to keep fighting the scourge of anti-Semitism. Professor Wistrich’s powerful legacy, courage, and dauntless commitment to bearing witness and to educating the public about the dangers of bigotry and prejudice, will live on forever in our hearts and minds.”
The Anti-Defamation Commission, founded in 1979, is Australia’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through educational programs that combat bigotry, prejudice and all forms of hatred.
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272 5677
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