Overview
- At a November 9 event in Frankfurt’s Westend Synagogue, audience shouting interrupted Jason Stanley’s speech before a community representative told him to leave the stage.
- The next day, the Jüdische Gemeinde Frankfurt issued a statement accusing Stanley of making relativizing comparisons and said it regretted inviting him, without citing specific passages.
- Stanley said his remarks focused on his German‑Jewish family, including his grandmother Ilse Stanley, and on free inquiry within Jewish traditions.
- He emphasized that he opposes BDS, supports Israel’s existence, and considers support for Hamas and calls for Jews to leave Israel antisemitic.
- He cited the canceled Hannah Arendt Prize ceremony for Masha Gessen as part of a wider climate of constrained debate, while figures such as Daniel Cohn-Bendit and scholar Wolfgang Benz condemned his removal and warned of a broader pattern of silencing.