By Melissa Hunter
Assistant Editor
On July 2, join the AJC and Jewish Cincinnati congregations for an evening of meaningful conversation with Dr. Saba Soomekh, and learn how to counter anti-Israel bias by leveraging diverse Jewish historical narratives. Dr. Soomekh is a first-generation Iranian Jew whose family is part of the Forgotten Exodus. According to her website, Dr. Soomekh is the Director of Training and Education at American Jewish Committee (AJC), the leading global Jewish advocacy organization. She comes to AJC after twenty years as a professor and university administrator, where she continues to teach Religious Studies and Middle Eastern history courses for graduate students. At AJC, Dr. Soomekh facilitates antisemitism trainings and workshops for corporations, non-profits, tech platforms, sports teams, music and talent agencies. She received her BA in Religious Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, her Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dr. Soomekh teaches and writes extensively on World Religions, Women and Religion, intersectionality and its impact on the Jewish community, and the geo-politics of the Middle East. She is a graduate of the 2021 Fellows Program at King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), an inter-governmental organization that promotes inter-religious dialogue to prevent and resolve conflict. In the summer of 2019, Dr. Soomekh was a Scholar-in-Residence at Oxford University with the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy.
More information about her many accomplishments can be found on her website.
In her local presentation, Dr. Soomekh will share her family’s story, which dispels the myths about Israel and promotes the proud heritage of Jews throughout the Middle East. The evening is sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, Adath Israel Congregation, Rockdale Temple, Isaac M. Wise Temple, and Congregation Beth Adam.
