Series: Intro to How Ideas Take Shape – How they Become “Obvious”

18 Weeks Exploration for the Thoughtful, the Curious, and the Uncertain

Anti-Zionism did not spread because most people are extreme, hateful, or obsessed with Israel. It spread because ideas travel — through language, institutions, repetition, and trust.

Today, many people encounter anti-Zionist claims in classrooms, headlines, protests, and social media already framed as moral consensus. By the time they arrive, they often feel obvious and settled. Questioning them can feel uncomfortable — even risky.

This 18-week learning series is not asking you to adopt a position. It is asking something more fundamental: How do certain ideas become so widely accepted that they stop being questioned at all?

Each week, we slow the conversation down. We look at definitions before judgments, history before slogans, and systems before soundbites. We examine how moral language, scholarship, and institutional authority shape what feels “true” — often without our noticing how those narratives were built.

This series is designed for people of all faiths and backgrounds who value nuance over certainty, inquiry over allegiance, and human dignity over ideological alignment.

At BCTC, we ground the information we share in credible expert scholarship and trace ideas back to their origins. We invite you to conversation to build human connection.

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What We’ll Explore

Foundations & Definitions

1. Why Are We Talking About Anti-Zionism at All? Coming on 1/23/2026
2. What Is Anti-Zionism? Coming on 1/30/2026
3. What Is Zionism (Without the Caricature)? Coming on 2/6/2026
4. Moral Inversion: When Language Gets Turned Upside Down

History & Meaning
5. Where Did Anti-Zionism Come From?
6. Colonization: What It Is — and What It Is Not
7. Genocide: A Legal Term, Not a Metaphor
8. Ethnic Cleansing: Context Removed, Meaning Inverted

Institutions & Influence
9. How Academia Shapes Belief
10. How Anti-Zionism Captured Academia
11. From Universities to K–12 Education

Psychology & Persuasion
12. Logic vs. Emotion: Why Anti-Zionism Persuades
13. Why Facts Aren’t Enough — and What Helps Instead

People & Pressure
14. The Thoughtful Middle
15. Jews Against Jews: When Dissent Is Weaponized
16. Students, Pressure, and Survival

Responsibility & Relationship
17. Why Allies Matter
18. Clarity Is the Beginning of Responsibility

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A Closing Note

You don’t have to agree with everything in this series.
You don’t have to arrive with answers.

If you’re willing to pause, to question what feels obvious, and to stay in conversation — you belong here.

This series is an invitation to think carefully, listen generously, and remain connected even when the topic is difficult. That, at its core, is the work we are trying to do.