Stephen D. Smith is the emeritus executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation and the inaugural UNESCO chair on genocide education.
Stephen D. Smith
By Stephen D. Smith
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Opinion The final act of genocide is its denial
Before Israelis could even identify their dead, there were internet campaigns alleging their murderers didn't do it
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Community Luke Holland’s ‘Final Account’ is unsettling. That’s why you need to watch it
Luke Holland and I had a regular spot at St. Pancras railway station in London. We would sit under the vaulted 30-foot Victorian ceilings, sipping afternoon tea and discussing the latest Nazis he had interviewed. Holland, who was born in England in 1948 and died of cancer last spring, was raised in Paraguay, where his…
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Opinion 3 years after Parkland, only education can battle resurgent conspiracy theories
If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. That’s what QAnon adherents are trying to do with their conspiracy theories about pedophile cults and satanic worship — claims so outlandish as to seem laughable, except that, for some people, they have become enshrined as truth. One of those true believers is sitting…
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Opinion China is committing a genocide. Silence is not an option.
The Chinese government’s persecution of the majority Muslim Uyghur population in Xinjiang takes many forms.
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Opinion Jews must stand up for the rights of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh
A proud people, many the descendants of genocide survivors, occupy a small patch of territory in an unfriendly region. They’re attacked by their neighbors, longtime antagonists, who fire long-range artillery and armed drones. Global powers call for a ceasefire, but otherwise do not intervene. The attacks continue. No, this is not Israel; it is Nagorno-Karabakh,…
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Opinion Stop the fear-mongering. Holocaust education is good – and it works.
Last week, a major survey was released about Holocaust education in the United States. The findings were heartening: 80% of U.S. college students reported receiving at least some Holocaust education during high school, 78% of those students reported knowing a lot or a moderate amount about the Holocaust, and students exposed to Holocaust education were…
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Opinion A USC student was told her Zionism ‘made her complicit in racism’
The University of Southern California, where I work, is embroiled in a student government controversy — and its implications could reverberate far beyond our campus. It began when Truman Fritz, the former president of the undergraduate student body, stepped down in early July after being accused of racial microaggressions. Now, comments made during the push…
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Opinion Since we’re debating labels, stop calling it anti-Semitism. It’s Jew hatred.
Should we capitalize the “b” in Black? Hundreds of publications across the country, including bellwethers like The New York Times and Associated Press, have adjusted their style guides, arguing that capital-B Black reflects a common identity and heritage. It’s time for a similarly introspective debate about the language we use to describe discrimination against Jews….
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Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
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