Eli Sharabi and Nicole Lampert scoop awards at antisemitism forum
Former hostage one of two award winners at London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism annual conference
A packed audience at the University of Westminster applauded with warmth and enthusiasm at the announcement of this year’s London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (LCSCA) book prize, which went to Eli Sharabi for his book, Hostage, an account of his 491 days as a Hamas captive in Gaza.
The applause was all the warmer when Mr Sharabi announced, in a video message, that he was donating his £1000 prize to the UK’s Kisharon/Langdon charity, the Jewish Learning Disability and Autism community, a cause he said was close to his heart.
The three judges for the book award, which was won last year by Shalom Lapin for his book, The New Antisemitism, were Daniel Chernilo, professor of sociology at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Santiago, Chile; Maiken Umbach, history professor at the University of Nottingham, and chief academic adviser to the UK National Holocaust Museum; and Pamela Walker, history professor at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
The book award was one of the key events of the Robert Fine Memorial Lecture evening, held annually by the LCSCA. Professor Chernilo, a former student of the late distinguished academic Robert Fine, said that Mr Sharabi’s book was “profoundly moving”.
He added: “Its value lies in the paradox that we wish it never had to be written at all, but are simultaneously grateful that he found the bravery to do so. In the midst of the most brutal circumstances, Sharabi’s determination to survive his kidnapping by Hamas leads us into a soul-searching journey of hunger and solidarity, family and friendship, identity and humiliation, human values and hatred.
“During the 16 months of his captivity, Sharabi’s only certainty was his conviction that his people had not forgotten those in captivity. As he returned to life, he discovered that his wife, daughters, and brother had been killed, yet he found the moral strength to gift us with this precious book. As scholars of antisemitism, we are grateful for his testimony and his courage”.
The first of the night’s awards was the Pete Newbon award, named for the young UK academic who was a fierce fighter against antisemitism and who died four years ago. The award, set up in his name, is now made annually for the person deemed to have made the greatest contribution to the public understanding of antisemitism within the last year.
Chairman of the all-female judges panel, Heidi Bachram, who won the award herself last year, announced that the 2025 winner was journalist Nicole Lampert. Bachram’s fellow judges were Rachel Moiselle in Dublin and Jen Gerber, former director of Labour Friends of Israel during the Corbyn years.
Bachram said that Lampert and her two highly commended nominees, Gillian Lazarus and David Collier (the “bane of the Beeb”), were “stationed on the most challenging front line” in their daily, not to say hourly, challenge of antisemitism.
Accepting her award, a clearly delighted Nicole Lampert told the audience: “I’m thrilled and honoured to have won the Pete Newbon award for greatest contribution to the public understanding of antisemitism from LCSAS.
“Pete was a much missed fighter against antisemitism and I’m extra pleased to have won the award which bears his name.
“It was fantastic tonight to be surrounded tonight by people who are fighting antisemitism in every field.
“A particular well done to my friends who were shortlisted — David Collier and Gillian Lazarus — for their sterling work. We are few, but we fight hard because we know we have no choice”.
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