R.I. Coalition for Israel to honor May-Ronny Zeidman

May-Ronny Zeidman will receive the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel’s Sy Dill Mensch of the Year Award on Sunday, April 24.

Zeidman, who was executive director of the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, in Providence, from 2005 to 2021, is receiving the 2021 award for her critical role in guiding the SBHEC through the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Anti-Semitism.

The IHRA Definition has been recognized domestically and worldwide as an indispensable tool for identifying specific behaviors as antisemitic. Promotion of the IHRA Definition in both religious and secular organizations is a priority for the R.I. Coalition for Israel (RICI).

During the April 24 Zoom program, Zeidman will give a presentation, “Back to the Future: Holocaust Education. Where Have We Been and Where are We Going?”

She will also give a brief history of the SBHEC and the work it has done over the last 30 years, address changes in education facing all Holocaust centers, and discuss whether it is time for Holocaust centers to add fighting antisemitism to their core mission.

RICI initiated the Mensch of the Year Award in 2019 to reward extraordinary effort by ordinary Rhode Islanders on behalf of the fight against Jewish hatred and in support of Israel.

The first award was given to Lt. Col. Joe Philbin of the R.I. State Police, now retired. He was chosen by the RICI board of directors for his energetic in-state talks to organizations, retirement groups, colleges and other groups, where he debunked the “Deadly Exchange.” The Deadly Exchange is a false allegation by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, that Israel is responsible for training American police in tactics of police brutality against minorities.

In 2020, the award was renamed in honor of the late Sy Dill, who was a prime mover in RICI. The award that year went to Brian Goldman, CEO of Blue Bug Solutions, in recognition of his display of RICI’s giant STOP ANTI-SEMITISM banner on the iconic Big Blue Bug statue, which hovers over Interstate 95 in Providence, during July of 2020.

The April 24 program begins at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. A link will be sent by email to all registrants. To register, go to www.tinyurl.com/84unxxa3.