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The Jewish Studies Program and the School of Religion at Queen’s University will host an important discussion on the future of antisemitism and hate movements in the post-Trump period.
The Anti-Defamation League, as well as several researchers, have noted a marked rise in Antisemitic attacks and hate crimes during the Trump administration. The ADL, for instance, reported that according to their research, there was a 12% rise in Antisemitic incidents from 2018 to 2019 in the United States. The FBI also noted that hate crimes in general surged nearly 20% during the Trump administration. Much of this social polarization, misinformation, and loss of trust in social institutions also culminated in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, which involved numerous neo-Nazi, alt-right, and conspiratorial movements. Several individuals were also spotted wearing blatantly antisemitic clothing. As the Biden administration begins their work, it will be important to not only take stock of what happened over the last four years in the United States, understand racial and religious fault lines that pre-dated Trump, and work as much as possible to heal these divides going forward.
The Jewish Studies Program and the School of Religion have invited four distinguished speakers, with deep personal experience, to engage in this important discussion. The talk will be moderated by Dr. Amarnath Amarasingam, an Assistant Professor in the School of Religion.
Panelists:
Bradley J. Galloway was a fixture in the North American right-wing extremist movement for 13 years and was the president of a racist skinhead gang for five of those years. It is these lived experiences that play a role in his work in combating violent extremism. Brad currently works at the Centre on Hate, Bias & Extremism (CHBE), as the Coordinator of the Global Network Against Hate. Brad also works as a Case Manager with Life After Hate (LAH), where he assists others find their way away from violent extremism. He also conducts research and intervention work at the Organization for the Prevention of Violence (OPV). He has been a Research Assistant on a number of projects that are funded by Public Safety Canada and the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society (TSAS). Brad has also served as a consultant for Google, Moonshot CVE, and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), among others. His primary research interests include right-wing extremism and terrorism, preventing and countering violent extremism, and the roles of former extremists in combating violent extremism.
Chuck was actively involved with white supremacist groups for over 15 years beginning in the mid 1980's; and sympathetic to their beliefs for 20 plus years.
After learning that a girlfriend was half jewish he began to question those beliefs; which was the beginning of a long disengagement process.
In 2011 Chuck was introduced to Life After Hate, and with their support began speaking publicly against his former beliefs. You can find him on Twitter @LA_Kings_67.
Shannon Foley Martinez has worked within at-risk communities teaching and developing dynamic resiliency skills. She has helped to build preventative models of counter-extremism, focusing on family values, the importance of individual empathy, and intersectional consciousness. Since leaving the white supremacist movement over 25 years ago, Ms. Foley Martinez has been equal to the gruelling task of educating others and building expertise within herself. She has worked for school systems, non-profits, and community organizations sharing expertise with many entities including the UN Office of Counter Terrorism, National Counterterrorism Center, US government and global media outlets.
As Vice President of the Center on Extremism, Oren Segal and his team combat extremism, terrorism and all forms of hate in the real world and online. Recognized as the foremost authority on extremism, the Center provides resources, expertise and training which enables law enforcement, public officials and internet and technology companies to identify and counter emerging threats.
Oren joined ADL in 1998 after working for The New York Times and the Jewish Community Federation in San Francisco. Much of Oren’s 21 years with ADL has been devoted to evaluating the activity and tactics of extremist groups and movements from across the ideological spectrum, training law enforcement officers and publishing reports and articles on a wide range of extremist topics. In 2006, Oren was recognized by the FBI for his exceptional service in the public interest. He was named to the Forward’s list of 50 influential, intriguing and inspiring American Jews in 2019.
Oren is a graduate of Wheaton College in Massachusetts.
Moderator:
Dr. Amarnath Amarasingam is an Assistant Professor in the School of Religion at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation. His research interests are in radicalization, terrorism, diaspora politics, post-war reconstruction, and the sociology of religion. He is the author of Pain, Pride, and Politics: Sri Lankan Tamil Activism in Canada (2015), and the co-editor of Sri Lanka: The Struggle for Peace in the Aftermath of War (2016). He has also written several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, has presented papers at over 100 national and international conferences, and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Politico, The Atlantic, and Foreign Affairs.
