Steven J. Zipperstein

In a letter to the editor titled "Divestment at Stanford is a Distraction," published in The Stanford Daily in January 2015, Zipperstein addressed the then-ongoing debate surrounding the push for Stanford University to divest from companies allegedly complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. The divestment campaign, part of the broader Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, had gained traction on several university campuses, including Stanford, with the goal of pressuring Israel to change its policies toward Palestinians. Zipperstein, while making clear his opposition to the Israeli occupation, argues that divestment is a misguided and divisive tactic. He states it reduces a complex geopolitical issue to a simplistic moral stance, leading to polarization on campus rather than fostering productive dialogue. This opposition to divestment put him at odds with Stanford historian colleagues such as Joel Beinin. == Awards ==

• Leviant Prize of the Modern Language Association (2006) • Judah L. Magnes Gold Medal (1997) ==Books==

• Philip Roth: Stung by Life (Yale University Press, 2025) • Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History (Liveright, 2018) • ''Rosenfeld's Lives: Fame, Oblivion, and the Furies of Writing'' (Yale University Press, 2009) • The Worlds of S. An-sky: A Russian Jewish Intellectual at the Turn of the Century edited volume; co-edited with Gabriella Safran (Stanford University Press, 2006) • ''Ahad Ha'am Elusive Prophet: Ahad Ha'am and the origins of Zionism'' (California University Press, 1993) • ==References==