Description: There is a persistent narrative in Western media: if Jews and Muslims share anything, it is a deep-rooted and eternal hatred. However, this narrative does not hold up against the historical record. Long before the contemporary concept of a "Judeo-Christian" tradition emerged, there existed a vibrant Judeo-Islamic civilization. Why, then, is this shared history so difficult to trace today? In this lecture we will explore the reasons behind this historical erasure, the politics shaping current narratives, and the broader implications for global politics—particularly regarding Israel/Palestine and Jewish-Muslim relations in the United States.

Bio: Santiago Slabodsky holds the Kaufman Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies at Hofstra University–New York. His work in mentorship, teaching, and scholarship has earned multiple awards, including the Frantz Fanon Outstanding Book Award from the CPA for Decolonial Judaism: Triumphal Failures of Barbaric Thinking. He currently serves as director of the JWST program at Hofstra, co-director of the journal Decolonial Horizons (Argentina/Chile), co-editor of the Transmodern Times book series (Rutgers University Press), and associate editor of ReOrient: The Journal of Critical Muslim Studies (UK). In addition to his U.S. academic roles, he has held concurrent visiting positions in the Netherlands, Costa Rica, North Macedonia, Canada, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Turkey, and South Africa.