Responses to 7 October: Law and Society

Rosa Freedman is Professor of Law at the University of Reading and Research Fellow at the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, UK.David Hirsh is the Academic Director and CEO of the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.

• Foreword: 'My grandmother was killed in a pogrom. Then my daughter was, too' Introduction Editor’s Note 1. International Law and the Conflict in Gaza 2. The Holocaust, Genocide, and October 7th 3. International Law Is Not Antisemitism-Proof 4. ‘But Israel claims to be a democracy!’ – Hypocrisy, double standards, and false equivalences 5. A Visit to Kibbutz Kfar Azza, November 28, 2023: Reflections on the Jewish Present and the Jewish Past 6. From the River to the Sea 7. Indecent Jewish theology, post October 7th: the G-d of the bathroom floor 8. Collective Trauma and Resilience for the Jewish People in the Aftermath of 7th October 9. After the Pogrom: A shift in the Jewish Configuration 10. Global Leaders, Experts Must Reject Surging Antisemitism and Affirm Jews’ Equal Rights 11. Antisemitic Reactions to October 7: The German Case 12. The worst month in my lifetime for UK antisemitism

‘I was brought up believing it’s a good thing Israel exists, to stop those who would push all Jews into the sea. Anti-Israel hysteria made me re-examine whether subconscious bias had left me blind to its evil. Facts, context and history tell me no, and such confident yet malicious accusations raise alarm bells. Anthologising this phenomena is vital work.’Rachel Riley MBE, TV presenter, activist against antisemitism and advocate for women and girls in STEM‘Essential and compelling reading on the 7 October attacks by a distinguished array of historians, lawyers, feminists, novelists and sociologists, who debate the significance of the Hamas kill-raid against Israel and analyse the denial, glorification and trivialisation that followed.’Simon Sebag Montefiore, historian, author of Jerusalem: the biography‘Absolutely and heartbreakingly necessary: some of the greatest thinkers of our day addressing the worst Jewish trauma in most people's living memory.’Hadley Freeman, journalist‘Following the horrifying blow of the atrocities of October 7th came the additional shock that virulent antisemitism had actually intensified in its aftermath. In this upside down moral universe feeling has sometimes overwhelmed reflection. But this magnificent collection of essays, at once deeply felt and sharply thought, is an anchorage for the intellect to confront the poisoned madness of this moment. It ought to be compulsory reading.’Simon Schama, historian