Supported by a grant from the UCLA Arts Initiative, a group of students recently performed an exploration of, and response to, the infamous anti-Semitic forgery "The Protocols of the Elders Zion." The academic presentation was developed by Dr. Daniel Stein Kokin, a scholar affiliated with UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center and Arizona State University.

On April 19, a group of UCLA students presented "Breach of Protocols: Revisiting Zion's Elders," an academic performance exploring and subverting the The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. First published in Russian in 1903, this notorious anti-Semitic forgery purports to reveal a Jewish plan for global domination and has since appeared in all major languages the world over.

 "Breach of Protocols" is the brainchild of Dr. Daniel Stein Kokin, a scholar of Renaissance, Jewish and Israel Studies presently affiliated with both the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center and Arizona State University, and was supported by a generous grant from the UCLA Arts Initiative.

Structured as an introduction and six "protocols" ranging in length from 5 to 20 minutes, and punctuated by musical interludes, "Breach of Protocols" featured several UCLA students active in the Nazarian Center, including the co-chairs of the Israel Studies Student Advisory Council – Ryan Ang (Political Science, B.A. 2020) and Justin Feldman (Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies, B.A. 2020). 

" 'Breach of Protocols' aspires to be both educational and entertaining, and could not be more timely," said Stein Kokin, observing that “2020 marks the centenary of the first complete publication of The Protocols in English, the recent resurgence of anti-Semitism demonstrates the enduring presence of its toxic allegations, and the current pandemic raises the specter of conspiracy theories highly reminiscent thereof.” 

Stein Kokin has taught at the University of Oregon and the University of Greifswald in Germany, and also served as both the Viterbi Professor of Mediterranean Jewish Studies and as a Y&S Nazarian Center Visiting Assistant Professor, both at UCLA. He looks forward to arranging further performances of "Breach of Protocols," virtual and/or live.