Boycott Israel Prof Judith Butler Invited to Jewish Museum Conference on Franz Kafka

Image by wikimedia
The Jewish Museum in New York has reportedly invited a controversial critic of Israel to speak at a conference on the work of Franz Kafka in March.

Judith Butler
Judith Butler, a University of California professor who is a lightning rod because of her harsh criticism of the Jewish state, was invited because “politics were not a factor” in determining speakers for the March 6 event, entitled “Wish You Were Here: Franz Kafka,” according to the Algemeiner.
Butler is a professor of comparative literature and critical theory at the University of California, Berkeley and also holds positions at Columbia University and the European Graduate School. She is outspoken on numerous political issues and widely-read among supporters of the gay and lesbian rights movement.
Past institutions that have hosted Butler have also sparked controversy. Last year, pro-Israel groups at Brooklyn College fought to block an event featuring Butler that was co-sponsored by the school’s political science department, arguing that holding the event would amount to a tacit endorsement of BDS. The event went as planned, bringing out about 200 attendees, according to Haaretz.
In a statement published by Algemeiner, a museum spokesperson said that hosting dialogue between individuals of diverging viewpoints on art and Jewish culture is central to the museum’s programming. It added: “Judith Butler is a noted scholar and author who has lectured and written extensively on Franz Kafka. Her politics were not a factor in her participation. Program speakers are chosen on the basis of their expertise in the subject to be discussed not their personal political views.”
The Kafka event with Butler will also feature Jens Hoffman, deputy director of the museum.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 3
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 4
Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture In Pope Francis, a voice for interfaith dialogue and against antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Israeli army fires deputy commander after finding ‘operational errors’ in killing of 15 Gazans
-
News Pope Francis, who advanced church’s relationships with Jews, dies at 88
-
Fast Forward ‘F–k Israel’ message displayed at Coachella music festival and streamed to millions
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.