ACADEMIA

Jarrod Tanny

Professor

Jarrod Tanny is Associate Professor of History at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He is the author of City of Rogues and Schnorrers: Russia’s Jews and the Myth of Old Odessa and is currently writing a book on Jewish humor in America. In June, Tanny stepped into the febrile debate about Israel following the recent hostilities in Gaza with a piece titled “The Loneliness of the Liberal Zionist.” In a passionate defense of his political position, Tanny remarked that “liberal Zionism in America is not merely a political position. It is also an expression of American Jewish identity. Liberal Zionists believe that American Jews, much like other minorities who have suffered oppression throughout history, have the right to celebrate their Jewish pride in public, to be a so-called hyphenated nationality, like African Americans, Latinx Americans, and Asian Americans. This is the underlying premise of American multiculturalism as preached (if not always practiced) since the 1960s.” (Photo: courtesy)