From Biafra to Birkenau: Semitism, Philo-Semitism, and Anti-Semitism in Nigeria

“Can there be anti-Semitism where there are (almost) no Jews?” This question is rarely posed regarding Africa. In Nigeria, however, three factors bifurcate philo-Semitism and Zionism on the one hand and anti-Semitism on the other: 1) a longstanding religious divide between a mostly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south; 2) the resurgence of a Biafran secessionist movement spearheaded by Igbos; and 3) the spontaneous generation of dozens of increasingly embattled Igbo communities who are practicing rabbinic Judaism.

William F. S. Miles is professor of political science at Northeastern University in Boston and the former Stotsky Professor of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies there.  Among his dozen books are two National Jewish Book Award finalists: Zion in the Desert and Jews of Nigeria: An Afro-Judaic Odyssey.  Professor Miles convened the first-ever international symposium on Third World Views of the Holocaust, a theme he has published about in The Journal of Genocide Research; Genocide Studies and Prevention; and Human Rights Review.  He has also published about Holocaust and genocide in The Journal of Holocaust Education; The Chronicle of Higher Education; and the Annals of Tourism Research.

This is a hybrid event. In person in the Humanities Quadrangle at 320 York Street, room 307; also live streamed via Zoom. To join the Zoom webinar please register.

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