
Unpacking the Phenomenon of Antisemitism at the MOTJ
DECEMBER 25, 2024
Parents of members of Beitar Nordia’s soccer club gathered at the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem on Tuesday, September 3 for a kick-off event to the 2024/2025 season. There, the parents listened to a presentation about the connection between the world of education and soccer that emphasized the role of the parents in the development of their child as a person and an athlete.
It’s not often one finds a Syrian-born activist addressing attendees at a Museum in Israel where she decries antisemitism and takes part in a Hanukkah lighting ceremony. And yet, Rowan Osman, a self-described “recovering antisemite” did just that on Thursday, Dec. 25, during a screening of the film “Tragic Awakening: A New Look at the World’s Oldest Hatred” at the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem.
Osman, the narrator of the documentary, is the daughter of Lebanese and Syrian parents. She has leveraged her significant following on social media to build bridges and challenge misconceptions between Arab countries and Israel to fearlessly share her insights through multiple platforms that reach Middle Eastern and international audiences alike. Her worldview changed seemingly overnight when she met Jews for the very first time in Europe in 2011 and realized that Jews are not the enemy – as she has been told – but are actually just like anybody else.
“If we're going to cure a disease, we must have the correct diagnosis,” she explained. “I happened to land in my mid-20s in the Jewish quarter near one of the biggest synagogues in the world, in France, Strasbourg. And the first time I saw Jews, the first day, I had a panic attack. And I went on a journey to understand why the Jew was my enemy. Here I am today, a recovered antisemite.”
The film, which analyzes the phenomenon of antisemitism from a post-October 7 lens, argues that Jew-hatred can actually be harnessed as a source of strength for not only Jews but the Western world in general. The film argues that as long as Jews are a beacon of light and espouse the need for justice and Tikkun Olam – the very values given to Moses on Mount Sinai – nefarious powers will always have the Jewish people in their crosshairs.
Rabbi Schwartz said, ““The Gemara says that Sinai and “sina” [the Hebrew word for ‘hate’] have the same root identity. Sina Gedolah—’the Great Hatred’—derives from Sinai. Our Sinai mandate is to perfect the world, to become a light unto the nations, so that mission is what antisemitism is a response to.”
Some 400 people attended the sold-out event which included a panel discussion by Osman alongside the film’s producers Rabbi Shalom Schwartz and Rabbi Raphael Shore and its director, Wayne Kopping. Afterwards, the Museum held a special reception where attendees took part in a book signing for Rabbi Shore’s new book, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Jew: Learning to Love the Lessons of Jew-Hatred.”
Shore said, “This is a film about the Jewish people in the guise of a film about antisemitism. And really that’s the point. If we understand Jew-hatred, and the real reason, the deeper reason for why the Jews have been hated obsessively for so many millennia, then we understand our greatness, and it can be a tremendous source of inspiration.”
Shore, founder and executive chairman of OpenDor Media, was inspired to write the book after working on the film and said, “Our aim in producing this film, and mine in writing the book, is to challenge conventional wisdom in the Jewish people and deepen the conversation, not only about the nature of antisemitism but even more importantly about the nature of the Jewish people.
During the panel discussion, the crowd erupted in applause when Osman announced that she’s a Zionist, and wanted to relocate to Jerusalem and convert to Judaism.
“I was an atheist all my life, and it's really easy to be an atheist in the Middle East, when you observe all the injustice. In addition to that, my father is Sunni, my mom is Shia, and they sent us to a French Catholic school. Every group told us the others are lying, so your instinct as a child is to conclude they're all lying,” she explained. “Judaism made sense to me. When I understood all these coincidences were merely stones showing me the way back home. It was Hashem showing me the light.”
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