Barry Trachtenberg is a historian of modern European and American Jewry, and as an Associate Professor at Wake Forest University he teaches classes about the Nazi Holocaust, Zionism, and American Jewry. Trachtenberg is also a member of the Academic Advisory Board of Jewish Voice for Peace. Trachtenberg recently authored the Mondoweiss article “The New Kherem, or ‘Barry Trachtenberg Does Not Represent Us!’: On speaking for and against Jewish self-interests” in which he describes how a new form of kherem (Yiddish and Hebrew for “excommunication”) is being used against Jewish critics of Israel and Zionism.

Why War? The Formation of Israel in Palestine
Since October 7, 2023, the world has watched the government of Israel drop more than 6,000 bombs and launch more than 7,000 missiles into the territory of Gaza, causing damage the equivalent of 2 nuclear bombs. The military operation is in retaliation to a Hamas-led...