Civil Rights Leader Rev. Dr. Chavis Announces ISGAP Conference On 'Jewish Consciousness' To Confront Antisemitism

(MENAFN- EIN Presswire)

Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis receiving a Lifetime Achievement award in Jerusalem as part of the MLK Holyland Pilgrimage to Israel, November 9, 2026. (Credit: ISGAP)

Announced during Holy Land pilgrimage of 500 Black pastors, the conference will be held May 30 to June 1, 2027 at the University of Cambridge

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL, November 9, 2026 /EINPresswire / -- Speaking in Jerusalem, civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. today announced an international academic conference, Jewish Consciousness: The Role of Ethics, Memory, and Power in Reclaiming Identity in Order to Confront Antisemitism, convened by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP). Dr. Chavis made the announcement at the Jerusalem of Gold Gala & Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Ramada Hotel Jerusalem, where he received a Lifetime Achievement Award. The conference will take place May 30 to June 1, 2027, at Jesus College, University of Cambridge.

Dr. Chavis was in Israel for the Unfinished Business Holy Land Pilgrimage, which honored the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the pilgrimage he planned in 1967. The Black Christian Leadership Council on Israel Relations led the delegation, which brought together some 500 Black pastors and Christian leaders, according to organizers.

The conference is the culmination of years of research initiated by Dr. Charles Asher Small at ISGAP to develop a framework for mapping, decoding, and combating contemporary antisemitism at the political and intellectual levels. Dr. Chavis's announcement responds to a growing hostile redefinition of Jewish identity in academic and intellectual life, particularly at elite institutions, which defines the Jewish people, Zionism, and Israel in terms of colonialism, white privilege, racism, occupation, and apartheid without engaging Jewish thought, ethics, history, or notions of homeland, exile, and freedom. Radical movements on the far left and far right, and radical Islamist movements rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood, though politically distinct, share antisemitism as a core element and have marked influence in Western higher education, the media, and political discourse.

At the heart of the conference is Jewish Consciousness, a framework under development in a dedicated ISGAP research project. Drawing on parallels with the Black Consciousness Movement led by Steve Biko in apartheid South Africa and as well by the Black Consciousness Movement in America, it seeks to ground Jewish identity in its own ethical and intellectual tradition - from Torah and Talmud to Maimonides and Emmanuel Levinas - and in principles such as Tzelem Elohim, the idea that every human being is created in the image of God. The framework seeks to empower Jewish people and their allies in the struggle against antisemitism.

“Steve Biko, the great anti-apartheid leader, taught that the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed,” said Dr. Chavis.“Black South Africans won back their dignity by refusing to let others define them, and the Jewish people have that same right. I am announcing this conference here in Israel, alongside 500 Black pastors, because Black and Jewish communities have stood together in the fight for justice before, and we must do so again. Confronting antisemitism is not only a Jewish responsibility; it is a test for everyone who believes in human dignity.”

"For too long, Jewish identity has been defined from the outside," said Dr. Charles Asher Small, Founding Director of ISGAP. "Jewish Consciousness is a call to reclaim it on its own terms and to confront antisemitism from a position of strength, pride, and confidence. The most basic expression of power is the ability to define yourself in society. Jewish Consciousness will help in this struggle against contemporary manifestations of Jew hatred. We are honored that Dr. Chavis is helping to launch this conversation."

The Cambridge conference will ask how this framework can help reclaim Jewish identity from imposed distortions, equip students and scholars to confront antisemitism and anti-democratic values, and renew the historic alliance between Jewish people, people of African descent, and others globally, rooted in a shared pursuit of justice and dignity for all.


Call for Papers

ISGAP invites scholars across the humanities and social sciences to submit proposals for this interdisciplinary conference.

Dates: May 30 – June 1, 2027
Venue: Jesus College, University of Cambridge
Proposal deadline: February 3, 2027
Submit to:..., subject line "Jewish Consciousness Conference Proposal"
More information:


About ISGAP

ISGAP is a leading academic institute, dedicated to scholarly research into the origins, processes, and manifestations of global antisemitism and of other forms of prejudice, including various forms of racism, as they relate to policy in an age of globalization. ISGAP disseminates analytical and scholarly materials to help combat hatred and promote understanding.

Raoul Wootliff
N10S

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