Jewish Telegraphic Agency published an op-ed by historian Pamela Nadell arguing that streamer Hasan Piker’s rhetoric — denying Jews the right to name antisemitism, conflating Zionism with Judaism, and invoking classic antisemitic tropes — amounts to gaslighting American Jews.
Hadassah Magazine published an essay by Pamela Nadell tracing how American Jews, from Gershom Seixas in the founding era to the Samuel and Lemann families in later generations, have navigated an “ambivalent embrace,” gaining unprecedented opportunity while facing pressure to dilute Jewish identity to belong.
Liberal Education published a piece by Pamela Nadell arguing that antisemitism on campus is a genuine problem, but that the Trump administration has seized on it as a pretext to advance a broader assault on higher education.
Read the full article here: Liberal Education – Smokescreen: Antisemitism on campus is real—and the Trump administration is exploiting it
Jewish Telegraphic Agency published a piece by historian Pamela Nadell tracing the centuries-old “blood libel” — the medieval lie that Jews consume human blood — through its long, often violent history in the U.S. and Europe, and connecting it to a recent guerrilla-art protest outside Washington, D.C.’s Union Station that depicted Israeli and U.S. leaders eating “Gaza’s Spilled Blood.” The piece argues that while the protesters may frame their act as anti-Zionism, its imagery revives a slander that has repeatedly fueled violence against Jewish communities, from 12th-century England to a 1946 pogrom in Poland to a 1928 blood-libel scare in Massena, New York.
Times of Israel published an interview with Pamela Nadell exploring the current rise in antisemitism in the United States, its historical parallels, and its impact on Jewish life today. The interview highlights both the challenges and historical context of antisemitism, while noting how Jewish communities continue to respond.
Inside Higher Ed reports that an overwhelming majority of higher ed provosts acknowledge antisemitism is a problem on the campus. Concurring, Pamela Nadell observes the danger of the federal government instrumentalizing this real problem to launch its long-planned attack on higher education.
In Inside the powerful task force spearheading Trump’s assault on colleges, DEI, The Washington Post quotes Pamela Nadell. The story reported how the federal government’s Antisemitism Task Force was overreaching its aim of rooting out antisemitism on college campuses to advance a long-standing conservative demand to reform higher education. Nadell said: “Ultimately, I am deeply worried that under the pretext of ending hatred of Jewish people — an historic, worldwide problem — the antisemitism task force’s demands to dismantle DEI as the root of antisemitism will further isolate Jews in American colleges and univerities. Jews will be blamed for its abolition. But antisemitism will not disappear from the campus.”
In a recent article for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, historians Rebecca Kobrin and Pamela Nadell reflect on the resurgence of interest in the Alfred Dreyfus affair. Writing in connection with the Paris exhibit “Alfred Dreyfus: Vérité et Justice,” they explore how this pivotal case of antisemitism in 19th-century France continues to hold urgent lessons for today’s world.
“Antisemitism and political violence are both part of the same problem,” said Pamela Nadell, a historian and director of the Jewish Studies program at American University, who is quoted in an article in Time. “There are so many moments where legitimate criticism of Israel crosses into antisemitism—opening the path for someone to shoot two people simply because he believes they are Jews.”
In her June 2025 Hadassah Magazine article, historian Pamela Nadell reflects on the rising tide of antisemitic violence in the U.S., from the murder of two young professionals outside Washington, D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum to attacks on Jewish homes and demonstrators. These alarming incidents, she asks, may signal a turning point for American Jews.