2018-19 Annual Eleanor Roosevelt Lecture : Liberalism and Zionism: the View from America

Abstract

In the half-century since the 1967 Middle East War, the political alignment of Zionism, and of support for the State of Israel, has shifted from the center-left to the center-right. Nowhere has this been truer than in the United States, the most important country for the Zionist cause outside of Israel itself ever since the State of Israel was created in 1948. This lecture will explain the intimate ties between supporters of Israel and figures on the liberal or progressive center-left, such as former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, in the United States during the 1940, 1950s and 1960s, and it will describe the crack-up of the North American liberal alignment for Israel in the following years. It will include some brief comparisons to the British scene.

While attendance at this event is free, places are limited and so booking is required to avoid disappointment

About the series

The Eleanor Roosevelt lecture is intended as a celebration of Eleanor Roosevelt's immense influence as First Lady, public communicator on New Deal issues, human rights campaigner, women's rights advocate, civil rights promoter, and early UNO eminence.  The lecture focuses on any aspect of ER's role and interest in her own lifetime and legacy-related issues in the post ER era.  The first was delivered in 2013 by Susan Mary Grant of Newcastle University on Eleanor Roosevelt's 'My Day' columns that were of immense importance in communicating the aspirations and achievements of New Deal liberalism.  

Other Eleanor Roosevelt lecturers include: Tony Badger (Cambridge) on Eleanor Roosevelt as a public communicator, Jeanne Theoharis (Brooklyn College) on Rosa Parks and her legacy of civil rights protest, and the Rt Hon Keir Starmer on the continuing relevance of  Eleanor Roosevelt's human rights legacy to post-Brexit UK.