Adi Schwartz
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Adi Schwartz () is an Israeli journalist and academic. A former staff writer for ''
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
'', he currently works as a freelance journalist for Israeli and international newspapers and magazines. His primary fields of interest include the
Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is a geopolitical phenomenon involving military conflicts and a variety of disputes between Israel and many Arab world, Arab countries. It is largely rooted in the historically supportive stance of the Arab League ...
and Israeli and Jewish current affairs.


Career

After reading Western History at
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
, Schwartz took a position with Haaretz in 1999.Adi Schwartz' Bio
''Adi Schwartz' Blog''
His career with Haaretz, with whom he remained as "a staff writer and a senior editor" until 2009, took him across the world, with assignments in "Brussels, London, Rome and Latin America".Adi Schwartz Linkedin profile
/ref> He has written freelance for other media and serves as the Israeli correspondent for British magazine ''
Monocle A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens placed in front of the eye and held in place by the eye socket itself. Often, to avoid losing the monoc ...
''. He also maintains a blog in which he posts already published articles and publicizes new articles. Schwartz is employed by Sapir College as a journalism teacher and speaks publicly as a guest lecturer and commentator in his field. With Einat Wilf, he has coauthored a book, ''The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace''.


Antisemitism

Schwartz has written about various aspects of
antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
. Schwartz has published several articles about the controversy surrounding Ariel Toaff's book about the blood libel of Trento.


Belgian politicians and antisemitism

Schwartz wrote a reportage about Antwerp's Jewish community increasing support of
Vlaams Belang Vlaams Belang (; ; VB) is a Flemish nationalist, Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. It is widely considered by the media and political analysts to be on the polit ...
, a right-wing Flemish nationalist and secessionist political party, following the increase of attacks of antisemite nature in
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
(this article was cited in
Bat Ye'or Gisèle Littman (; born 1933), better known by her pen name Bat Ye'or (, ''Daughter of the Nile''), is an Egyptian-born, British-Swiss author and historian, known for her promulgation of the Eurabia conspiracy theory. She claims that Islam, and ...
's book '' Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis''). Schwartz later interviewed Filip Dewinter, a leading member of Vlaams Belang. During the interview Dewinter went a great length to prove he is not connected to antisemitism, and revealed that his father was taken to forced labor in Germany and that his grandfather was a member of the
Dutch Resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...
. Schwartz also interviewed Belgian Prime Minister
Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium from 2009 until 2024. He was a me ...
. Verhofstadt stated that attacking Jews "because they are Jews", or saying that "the Jewish state cannot exist" are all forms of antisemitism.


Holocaust

Schwartz wrote about the role of the Belgian authorities in the persecution and deportation of the Jews during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, about Mimi Reinhard,
Oskar Schindler Oskar Schindler (; 28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was a German industrialist, humanitarian, and member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and amm ...
's secretary, about Katrin Himmler's book "The Himmler Brothers: A German Family History", and various other aspects of the
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
.


Pope Pius XII

Schwartz published a series of articles about
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
and his role in the Holocaust. Schwartz criticized Pius who haven't exercised his influence in regions with large concentrations of Catholics, like
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
,
Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
and
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, to rescue Jews. Schwartz also wrote about Israeli minister
Isaac Herzog Isaac "Bougie" Herzog (; born 22 September 1960) is an Israeli politician who has been serving since 2021 as the president of Israel. He is the first president to have been born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence. Son of former Is ...
opposition to the
beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...
of Pope Pius XII, and the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
officials furious reaction over Herzog's comments.


Muhammad al-Durrah

Schwartz has published several articles about the
Muhammad al-Durrah incident On 30 September 2000, the second day of the Second Intifada, 12-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah () was killed at the Netzarim Junction in the Gaza Strip during widespread protests and riots across the Palestinian territories against Israeli o ...
for Haaretz. Schwartz was the first Israeli journalist to conduct a thorough interview with Philippe Karsenty about his misgivings regarding the incident. Schwartz wrote a follow-up about the incident in which he discussed the ballistic report by Jean-Claude Schlinger.Adi Schwartz,
Independent expert: IDF bullets didn't kill Mohammed al-Dura
, ''Haaretz'', February 3, 2008.


Views


Israel's right to exist

Schwartz criticizes in his articles those who object to
Israel's right to exist The legitimacy of the State of Israel has been challenged since before the state was formed. There has been opposition to Zionism, the movement to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, since its emergence in 19th-century Europe. Since the ...
. Schwartz claimed that "the discussion of Israel's right to exist is no longer just the realm of Arab parties in conflict with Israel, and has become part of the European and American discourse".Adi Schwartz
"A country in question"
''Haaretz'', January 21, 2007
Schwartz pointed out articles written by American-Jewish historian
Tony Judt Tony Robert Judt ( ; 2 January 1948 – 6 August 2010) was an English historian, essayist and university professor who specialised in European history. Judt moved to New York and served as the Erich Maria Remarque Professor in European Studies ...
and by Norwegian intellectual Jostein Gaarder as denouncing Israel's right to exist. Schwartz characterized Gaarder's article as layered with "harsh religious, eschatological and apocalyptic elements, which resembled a messianic prophecy" (see Tony Judt's views about Israel and Jostein Gaarder controversy).


Religion and the Holocaust

Schwartz highly criticized
Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
interpretation of the role of religion in the Holocaust. Pope Benedict have said: "In the darkest period of German and European history, an insane racist ideology born of neo-paganism gave rise to the attempt to exterminate European Jewry" and "The holiness of God was no longer recognized, and consequently contempt was shown for the sacredness of human life".Adi Schwartz,
Rewriting history in the name of the Father
, ''Adi Schwartz' Blog'' (first published on ''Haaretz'' on August 24, 2005).
Schwartz argued that the Pope's interpretation of Holocaust history is "more troubling and less exact". Schwartz claimed that:
This interpretation is very convenient for the Church, of course. It distinguishes between what he calls a secular, pagan, "insane" Europe, which does not recognize the holiness of God, and a religious, sane, peace-mongering Europe. As far as Ratzinger is concerned, the Holocaust took place because of non-recognition of the Christian faith.
In response to the historical claim made by Pope Benedict, Schwartz stated that:
The Holocaust took place on Christian soil, including Catholic Bavaria, where Ratzinger was born. It was made possible, at the very least, by the collaboration of Poles, Hungarians, Austrians, French and Belgians – all of them members of the Catholic community. This collaboration was achieved in part due to the heritage of anti-Semitism that was the legacy of the Church, the same Church that massacred Jews during the Crusades and established the first ghettoes.


References


External links


"Adi Schwartz' blog"

A collection of links to Schwartz' articles on Haaretz
''Palestine: Information with Provenance (PIWP database)'', department of Computer Science,
University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...
. * Adi Schwart
'A Tragedy Shrouded in Silence: The Destruction of the Arab World's Jewry'
in '' Azure'' 45 (Summer 2011). {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Adi Living people Israeli Jews Israeli journalists Haaretz people Tel Aviv University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)