In the first-ever episode of the Feminists Against Antisemitism Podcast, Freya Papworth talks with Professor Rosa Freedman – human-rights lawyer, academic, Orthodox Jewish woman, and long‑time defender of women’s sex-based rights – for a conversation about what it means to stand for truth in a political climate shaped by fear, factionalism, and rising antisemitism.

Rosa reflects on her journey from the so-called “TERF Wars” into the far darker “Zio Wars,” explaining how speaking up for women’s rights once led to bullying and professional harassment — yet none of it prepared her for the violent surge of antisemitism, dehumanisation, and public denial of Jewish suffering that followed 7 October.

Together, Freya and Rosa explore why antisemitism is uniquely tolerated in feminist and progressive spaces, how Antizionism has become a badge of belonging on the left, and why the same coercive tactics once used to silence women are now being deployed to erase Jewish pain.

Rosa offers legal insight, historical context, and deeply personal reflections on solidarity, silence, complicity, and the urgent need for women to resist hatred within our own movement.

Notable Moments:

• 00:02:00 — How standing up for women’s rights ignited a storm of harassment in academia
• 00:05:00 — “No Zios on campus”: the escalation of threats after 7 October
• 00:07:00 — What antisemitism is, and why Antizionism often disguises it
• 00:12:00 — The instant mobilisation of anti‑Israel protests before Israel had even buried its dead
• 00:24:00 — The disturbing denial of rape and sexual violence on October 7
• 00:35:00 — Why Jews hesitate to speak up, and how allies can break the silence
• 00:41:00 — When Antizionism becomes unlawful
• 00:47:00 — Hope found in the 250‑woman Brighton solidarity event

Rosa Freedman is the inaugural Professor of Law, Conflict and Global Development at the University of Reading. She is a barrister and an academic panel member of 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square. Freedman has published extensively on the United Nations and human rights, including three monographs, five co-edited collections, and articles in the leading international law journals. She regularly is instructed to provide expert advice and reports for national governments and multilateral institutions, and appears frequently in the international media. Freedman is President of the Intra-Communal Professorial Group focusing on antisemitism in UK academia. She has served as a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Civil Society Advisory Board on prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, a Specialist Adviser on safeguarding to the UK government International Development Committee, and currently sits on a UK FCDO Steering Committee.

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