ToC: Israel Studies Review 31.2 (2016)

Israel Studies Review 31.2 (2016)

Table of Contents

Articles

• The Puzzle of The University on Air: A Story of Media and Academia in Israel, 1977–2013 / Hagai Boas and Ayelet Baram-Tsabari (1–21)
• Menachem Begin’s World Travels in the 1950s: A Road to Political Legitimacy / Ofira Gruweis-Kovalsky (22–40)
• The New Economic Policy of 1962: How Israeli Economists Almost Changed the Israeli Economy / Ronen Mandelkern (41–60)
• War and Memory: The Israeli Communist Commemoration of the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1986 / Amir Locker-Biletzki (61–79)
• Israel Goes to the Polls: The Road to Elections for the Constituent Assembly, 1948–1949 / Meir Chazan (80–100)
• Westernization and Israelization within Israel’s Extreme Orthodox Haredi Society / Menachem Keren-Kratz (101–129)
• Turkish-Israeli Relations during the Cold War: The Myth of a Long ‘Special Relationship’ / Kilic Bugra Kanat (130–149)

Reviews

• Uri Ram, The Return of Martin Buber: National and Social Thought in Israel from Buber to the Neo-Buberians [in Hebrew].
• Christopher L. Schilling, Emotional State Theory: Friendship and Fear in Israeli Foreign Policy.
• Marwan Darweish and Andrew Rigby, Popular Protest in Palestine: The Uncertain Future of Unarmed Resistance.
• Erella Grassiani, Soldiering under Occupation: Processes of Numbing among Israeli Soldiers in the Al-Aqsa Intifada.
• Assaf Meydani, The Anatomy of Human Rights in Israel: Constitutional Rhetoric and State Practice.
• Yael Raviv, Falafel Nation: Cuisine and the Making of National Identity in Israel.

Lecture: Becke, Israel Studies in the Arab World (SOAS, London, Nov 18, 2015)

SOAS Centre for Jewish Studies

EVENING LECTURE PROGRAMME

Lecture: “Israel Studies in the Arab World.”

BY
Dr. Johannes Becke (Heidelberg University)

November 18 2015 – 5.30pm
Brunei Gallery, Room B104, SOAS, University of London, Russell Square, WC1H 0XG.

In Western academia, Israel Studies could be differentiated into four main paradigms – Jewish Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, settler-colonial studies and postcolonial studies. This lecture discusses the research agenda of exploring an additional paradigm – Israel Studies as enemy studies and post-enemy studies; a literature with a long, yet under-researched tradition in the Arab World. In fact, the small academic field is split into two epistemic communities which rarely interact, often enough for legal reasons prohibiting any formal contact: While Israel Studies in Western academia is struggling with the accusation of ‘hasbara’ (propaganda) studies, in wide parts of Arab academia the discipline was established with the explicit research interest of ‘knowing your enemy’. The lecture provides an overview of the institutions and paradigmatic shifts that characterize Israel Studies in the Arab world – stretching from the Institute for Palestine Studies in Beirut to the al-Ahram Center in Cairo and from the newly-established Center for Israel Studies in Amman back to the Land of Israel/Palestine, namely the Ramallah-based MADAR, the Palestinian Forum for Israel Studies.

Bio: Johannes Becke serves as assistant professor at the Ben Gurion Chair for Israel and Middle East Studies, Centre for Jewish Studies Heidelberg. After graduating from Freie Universität Berlin with a PhD in Political Science, he received a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oxford.

 

All Welcome

This event is free and there is no need to book

Convenor: Dr. Yonatan Sagiv (js108@soas.ac.uk)

New Article: Hager & Jabareen, Arab-Palestinians in Israeli Academia

Hager, Tamar, and Yousef Jabareen. “From Marginalisation to Integration: Arab-Palestinians in Israeli Academia.” International Journal of Inclusive Education (early view; online first)
 
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2015.1090488
 
Abstract

The Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel, one-fifth of the country’s population, has been underrepresented in Israeli institutions of higher education since the establishment of the state. This article focuses on the authors’ shared aim of promoting diversity and multiculturalism in institutions of higher education in Israel. It first introduces Arab marginalisation within Israeli society as a whole. Subsequently, it offers a critical overview of existing data and research on the challenges faced by young Arab-Palestinians in higher education institutions in Israel. Based on this indispensable analysis, which clearly shows the numerous obstacles that await Arab-Palestinians on their path to graduation, the article goes on to suggest some required changes. Presenting some useful policy transformations and courses of action, it subsequently introduces multicultural academia as a better conceptual and practical framework for achieving inclusive education.

 

 

 

New Article: Harlow, Referenda on Recent Scholarship in the Israel–Palestine Conflict

Harlow, Barbara. “‘Be it Resolved …’: Referenda on Recent Scholarship in the Israel–Palestine Conflict.” Cultural Critique 91 (2015): 190-205.

 

URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cultural_critique/v091/91.harlow.html

 

Extract

Be it resolved that the MLA urge the United States Department of State to contest Israel’s denials of entry to the West Bank by United States academics who have been invited to teach, confer, or do research at Palestinian universities.

—MLA Resolution 2014-1

 

Resolution 2014-1 of the Modern Language Association (MLA), calling for relief from Israel’s rigidly discriminatory restrictions on the “right to entry” for U.S. academics into Israel and its occupied Palestinian territories, following contentious debate in the weeks preceding, was passed by the organization’s Delegate Assembly at its annual meeting in January 2014. Six months later, in June, the resolution was ultimately not ratified in a referendum put, according to MLA procedure, to the full membership of the influential academic association representing faculty and students involved nationally and internationally in modern language studies. While differing significantly from the even more vociferously debated resolutions passed by related organizations in the previous year (2013) that called for a full academic boycott of Israeli institutions of higher education on the grounds of their complicity—both direct and indirect—in Israel’s “apartheid” policies of occupation of the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza and systemic discrimination against Israeli Arabs, the MLA resolution on the “right to entry” nonetheless engaged the same pressing questions of academic freedom and the legitimacy—and legality—of boycott as a political tactic in the popular struggle against colonialism, both neo- and settler, and on behalf of international human rights. Unlike the boycott resolutions of the Association for Asian American Studies, the American Studies Association and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, the MLA resolution had focused most specifically on a right to movement—the right, that is, of academics to travel to destinations in Israeli-occupied Palestine for the purposes of teaching, conferring, and/or conducting research in collaboration with Palestinian and other international colleagues. Such purposes necessarily entailed, however, other rights—such as the civil and political rights to freedom of expression and of association as well as the economic and social right to education, all enshrined in international rights covenants—and their recognition, as well as an acknowledgement of their abridgement under Israeli law for Palestinians and their supporters.

 

 

New Article: Shalhoub-Kevorkian & Roer-Strier, Counter-Hegemonic Qualitative Research: Insights from an Israeli/Palestinian Research Team

Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Nadera and Dorit Roer-Strier. “Context-Informed, Counter-Hegemonic Qualitative Research: Insights from an Israeli/Palestinian Research Team Studying Loss.” Qualitative Social Work (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1473325015595545

 

Abstract

Theorizing social work qualitative methodologies have always been closely related to the context of the studied subjects. This paper offers the framework of context-informed, counter-hegemonic qualitative research for theorizing research in conflict zones. Based on a case study of a group of Jewish and Palestinian social work researchers who examined together the effect of the loss of home on families during an ongoing political conflict, this paper explores the impact of participating in a research team on the researcher’s perceptions and study of otherness and otherization in the context of asymmetries of power. Analysis of the group dynamics discovered: (1) a growing ability to see and acknowledge the other, accompanied by a growing willingness to be attentive; (2) a growing ability to empathically listen to and hear the experiences of suffering of the other; (3) overcoming silencing by allowing voices of dissent, pain and resilience; and (4) creating a liminal space of “safe haven” for the researchers. The paper explores the development of context-informed group reflexivity leading to emancipatory consciousness and academic activism.

 

 

New Article: Turgeman & Hadaria, The Birth of New Anti-Semitism in Public and Academic Discourse in Israel

Turgeman, Asaf, and Gal Hadaria. “‘Arab Anti-Semitism Debate’: The Birth of New Anti-Semitism in Public and Academic Discourse in Israel.” Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 14.3 (2015): 501-19.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14725886.2015.1032018

 

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the emergence of the concept “new anti-Semitism” in both public discourse and academic research in Israel. Our main argument is that the new anti-Semitism has emerged in tandem with changing values within Israeli society, primarily the adoption of a mythic-traditional perspective. This historical review focuses on description of a key event: United Nations Resolution 3379 equating Zionism with racism. We argue that increasing adherence to Jewish tradition goes hand in hand with the assimilation of Jewish myths regarding anti-Semitism. Scholarly discourse about new anti-Semitism is presented through critical study of Shmuel Almog’s anthology Sin’at Yisrael ledoroteiha (A History of Hatred of Israel). This study is the first to be published that discusses an updated view of anti-Semitism in Israeli public discourse and academic research, emphasizing how the State of Israel has become its object.

 

 

Editorial: Schwarz et al, The Scientific Bridge: Fifty Years of Germany–Israel Diplomatic Relations

Schwarz, Helmut, Itamar Willner, and Ilan Marek. “The Scientific Bridge: Fifty Years of Germany–Israel Diplomatic Relations.” Angewandte Chemie – International Edition (early view; online first).

 

URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201506694

 

Excerpt
Indeed, the scientific and technological links between Germany and Israel have provided exciting opportunities for the benefit of the two countries well beyond the narrow confines of scientific activities. The continuation and expansion of these thriving relations demonstrate how science and culture can bridge and overcome bitter experience and memories. The relatively young history of German–Israeli diplomatic relationship serves as a good example on how “science acts as a diplomacy of trust”. Recently, we are witnessing efforts to boycott Israel, and particularly, its academic institutions. As such acts endanger academic freedom, free speech, and human rights, all of us should unite against the destruction of these basic values. Israel and Germany seek the future academic, cultural, and political cooperation with partners from all over the world. After all, it is cooperation that forms the first step towards building a joint future.

 

 

New Article: Hager, A Jewish Israeli Teacher Grapples with Arab Students’ Underachievement

Hager, Tamar. “Seeing and Hearing the Other: A Jewish Israeli Teacher Grapples with Arab Students’ Underachievement and the Exclusion of Their Voices.” Radical Teacher 101 (2015): 46–53.

 
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5195/rt.2015.113

 

Abstract
This paper addresses my political and pedagogical resistance to the institutional discrimination of Palestinian Arab students in Israeli academia. Describing my instinctive negative reactions (frustration, helplessness, anger) towards what seems at first sight as their reluctance to study, I go on to criticize my own and other lecturers’ tendency to blame the victim by analyzing the structural, cultural, political and social obstacles encountered by Arab students in Israeli institutions of higher education. The paper mainly focuses on the story of my resistance to this prevailing social and political structure. Adopting feminist critical pedagogy in my course “Representing Disability in Literature and the Cinema”, I have created a space for my Arab students to overcome at least temporarily their repression by the Israeli academic system. The process of empowerment and the subsequent educational transformative and liberating exchange has enabled all participants to grant Arabs’ transparent and excluded knowledge a significant social, cultural and political place, thus creating new and more culturally sensitive knowledge. Confronting the empowering effects of this method, I conclude my paper by suggesting some explanations as to the rarity of critical feminist pedagogies in Israeli academia.

 

 

New Article: Nakash et al, Primary Mental Health Prevention Themes in Published Research and Academic Programs in Israel

Nakash, Ora, Liat Razon, and Itzhak Levav. “Primary Mental Health Prevention Themes in Published Research and Academic Programs in Israel.” Israel Journal of Health Policy Research (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2045-4015-4-3

 

Abstract
Background

The World Health Organization Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan (CMHAP) 2013–2020 proposes the implementation of primary prevention strategies to reduce the mental health burden of disease. The extent to which Israeli academic programs and published research adhere to the principles spelled out by the CMHAP is unknown.

Objective

To investigate the presence of mental health primary prevention themes in published research and academic programs in Israel.

Methods

We searched for mental health primary prevention themes in: (1) three major journals of psychiatry and social sciences during the years 2001–2012; (2) university graduate programs in psychology, social work and medicine in leading universities for the academic year of 2011–2012; and (3) doctoral and master’s theses approved in psychology and social work departments in five universities between the years 2007–2012.

We used a liberal definition of primary prevention to guide the above identification of themes, including those related to theory, methods or research information of direct or indirect application in practice.

Results

Of the 934 articles published in the three journals, 7.2%, n = 67, addressed primary prevention. Of the 899 courses in the 19 graduate programs 5.2%, n = 47, elective courses addressed primary prevention. Of the 1960 approved doctoral and master’s theses 6.2%, n = 123, addressed primary prevention. Only 11 (4.7%) articles, 5 (0.6%) courses, and 5 (0.3%) doctoral and master’s theses addressed primary prevention directly.

Conclusions

The psychiatric reform currently implemented in Israel and WHO CMHAP call for novel policies and course of action in all levels of prevention, including primary prevention. Yet, the latter is rarely a component of mental health education and research activities. The baseline we drew could serve to evaluate future progress in the field.
.

 

New Article: Horkin et al, Organizational Performance and Executive Pay in Israel’s System of Higher Education

Horkin, Amir, Baruch Mevorach, and Ytzhak Katz. “Organizational Performance and Executive Pay in Israel’s System of Higher Education.” Business and Management Studies 1.2 (2015): 55-65.

 
URL: http://redfame.com/journal/index.php/bms/article/view/874 [PDF]

 

Abstract
In the business sector, the relationship between performance and pay is mostly measured with reference to an organization’s business results on the one hand and the pay awarded to its senior management on the other hand. The present research shifts the analytical focus to the third sector and to higher-education institutions, assessed in their case—where the notion of profitability loses its relevance—on their performance as perceived by their clients, namely the student body. Our research results point to a positive, strong and significant relationship between performance and executive pay (with a one-year lag) and to a positive, weak and significant relationship between executive pay and performance (again, with a one-year lag). Furthermore, it is the state-funded (hereinafter: budgeted) colleges, where executive pay was by far the lowest, that achieved the highest satisfaction score (averaging 2011 and 2013), despite a slight drop in satisfaction observed in this category from 2011 to 2013. Taken together, however, higher-education institutions saw their satisfaction scores increase in 2013 compared to 2011. The paper leaves aside research performance rankings of higher-education institutions, due to the fact that most institutions in Israel are teaching oriented. As a matter of fact, only few Israeli universities are ranked by international ranking organizations. Furthermore, unfortunately, Israel does not have a formal system of higher education institutions research rankings. In the paper, a large body of literature on performance-related pay in school teaching is not covered.

 

 

New Book: Ram; The Return of Martin Buber (in Hebrew)

רם, אורי. שובו של מרטין בובר. המחשבה הלאומית והחברתית בישראל מבובר עד הבובריאנים החדשים. תל אביב: רסלינג, 2015.

Martin Buber (1878-1965) was the first chair of the first Department of Sociology at the first university in Israel – but who remembers this today? This book discusses the history of ideas of national and social thought, and of sociology in Israel, through the question of Buber’s changing status: what was his initial place in sociology? Why did he disappear from the sociological canon? And why has interest in his works resurged in recent years?

This significant book by Uri Ram presents a new look at Buber’s philosophy and offers a critical reading of it. While Buber was a prominent figure of the pre-state peace movements (“Brit Shalom” and “Ihud”), he was also a German thinker of his time, who utterly rejected modernism and fully embraced the conservative-right visions of traditional Gemeinschaft Community, the nationalist Volk culture, and the Congregation of the Faithful.

The Department of Sociology was founded in the academic year of 1947/8 and Buber was appointed as its chair. His sociology was somewhat consistent with the spirit of the pre-state Jewish community, but not the spirit of statehood that followed independence. In 1950, the leadership of Sociology shifted to Buber’s student Eisenstadt, who designed the discipline in the coming decades in the spirit of American modernization. Buber’s figure became marginal for many years. However, since the 1990s, Buber’s status has enjoyed a revival, against the backdrop of the crisis of secular nationalism, alongside the rise of postmodern and postcolonial approaches in intellectual discourse. New sociological studies was inspired by Buber is defined in this book as “neo-Buberian”, and the book raises questions as to whether this trend promotes a civil and democratic culture or rather empowers the national-religious culture in contemporary Israel.

 

New Article: Klin-Oron, How I Learned to Channel

Klin-Oron, Adam. “How I Learned to Channel: Epistemology, Phenomenology, and Practice in a New Age Course.” American Ethnologist 41.4 (2014): 635-47.

 

URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/amet.12102/abstract

 

Abstract

New Age channeling aims at intimate and daily contact with benevolent incorporeal entities. In an Israeli channeling course, students learn to interpret external events in a new light and to monitor internal mental, physical, and emotional processes in new ways, culminating in an ability to achieve “controlled flow,” a state of consciousness in which self-attention is heightened but a sense of volition diminishes. Through the braiding of epistemology, practice, and phenomenology, they engage in a new mode of being-in-the-world and inhabit a new lifeworld where they become conduits to external forces. Anthropological fieldwork also aims at understanding epistemological systems through active participation, but by examining my own experience in the channeling course I demonstrate how temporary suspension of disbelief differs from permanent adoption of a new system of belief

Newsletter: Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies, Fall 2014

Click here to see original.

FALL HIGHLIGHTS TUESDAY, OCT. 21 The Future of the Peace Process   Abraham Sofaer, Hoover Institution; Former Legal Advisor, State Dept. Janine Zacharia, Stanford University; Former Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Washington Post 5 pm | Bancroft Hotel THURSDAY, NOV. 6 ROBBINS LECTURE IN JEWISH LAW Maimonides on Mourning: Jewish Law and Emotion Moshe Halbertal, Hebrew University/NYU 5 pm | Bancroft Hotel PUBLIC EVENTS CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 10 Canada and the Holocaust: The Untold Story Irving Abella University of Ottawa 12 noon | Goldberg Room, Berkeley Law Click here to RSVP WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 10 Gourmet Ghettos: Modern Food Rituals  Exhibit Opening Event 5 pm | The Magnes THURSDAY, NOV. 13 Piyyut: Hebrew Poetry and World Music Prof. Robert Alter & Yair Harel, Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artist Co-hosted by The Magnes 7 pm | The Magnes, For more information see our events page  _____________________              FALL 2014 Berkeley Institute Newsletter Prof. Ken Bamberger A Word from the Faculty Director: The Berkeley Institute is experiencing a growth spurt. Its role as a hub for student and faculty engagement has expanded exponentially, as has the national presence of its Program on Israel Studies and its Program on Jewish Law, Thought, and Identity. Our talented staff has doubled, with the addition of Andrei Dubinsky, Program Administrator, and Leah Wagner-Edelstein, Director of Institutional Advancement. As the fall term begins, I’d like to share a taste of the past year’s accomplishments, as well as some of what’s planned for this year – ten visiting faculty and scholars, seven new courses, programs on the future of the peace process and Israeli music and culture, the Annual Robbins Lecture in Jewish Law, and two speaker series for students. And that’s just the beginning. I look forward to seeing you throughout the year. Four Professors – Yudof, Davidoff Solomon, Lawton, and Zilberman – Join the Institute’s Faculty The Institute welcomes four new members to its Faculty Advisory Committee: Mark Yudof, Steven Davidoff Solomon, Leora Lawton, and David Zilberman. Two hail from law: Mark Yudof, former UC President, is a leading scholar of education law, while Davidoff Solomon studies international issues of law and finance.  Lawton, a demographer, heads the Berkeley Population Center and has extensive experience in Israel. Zilberman is a leading environmental economist working on water resources in the Middle East. Their addition to our faculty contributes greatly to the Institute’s programmatic scope, its resources for student advising, and its academic breadth. Read more about Berkeley Institute Faculty Advisory Committee Members Welcoming Ten Visiting Faculty and Scholars In addition to new faculty affiliates, the Institute has brought ten visiting faculty and scholars to spend the 2014-2015 year at Berkeley. Four Israeli visiting faculty will teach courses in History, Sociology, Environmental Policy, and Legal Studies. Six additional scholars – American and Israeli – will conduct research and contribute to the Institute’s ongoing programs. Read more about Berkeley Institute 2014-2015 visiting faculty Read more about Berkeley Institute 2014-2015 visiting scholars Read more about Berkeley Institute 2014-2015 courses Bidding Farewell to our 2013-2014 Visiting Professors: As we welcome our new visiting faculty, we also say goodbye and thank you to our 2013-2014 visitors, Lisa and Douglas Goldman Visiting Israeli Professor Sharon Aronson-Lehavi and The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Visiting Professor Amnon Lehavi. Their courses greatly enriched Jewish and Israel Studies offerings on campus – engaging with topics in contemporary Israeli art and culture and Israeli law and society – and touched the lives of the many students they taught and advised and faculty with whom they collaborated. We are grateful for their many contributions in and outside the classroom during their year at Cal. Read more about Sharon Aronson-Lehavi Read more about Amnon Lehavi An article in the J Weekly about Professor Aronson-Lehavi An article highlighting Professor Aronson-Lehavi on the Theater Department website. Expanding the Student Focus: Student Fellows, Programs, and Support Ambassador Dennis Ross meeting with Berkeley students The Berkeley Institute has over the past year magnified its resources and programming for students. Highlights include student programs with Ambassador Dennis Ross and Israeli writer Ari Shavit, and the facilitation of a successful student-initiated course, “Paradigms of Jewish Identity.” The Institute is expanding these programs this year and offering two lecture series for students. “Different Angles on the Middle East Conflict” will host discussions with campus and community experts. “Religion, Law, and State in Israel” will bring distinguished scholars and public intellectuals to Berkeley for student-focused talks. These programs will supplement the seven Israel and Jewish Studies courses supported this year by the Institute. Undergraduate Fellows Tiana (left) and Mallory (right) Spring 2014 semester also saw the launch of the Institute’s Undergraduate Fellows program. Our Fellows serve as ambassadors of the Institute to the rest of the student body, promoting student engagement with the Institute’s existing courses, programs, and activities, and working with others in the student body to develop student-focused programming. Examples of Fellows’ involvement include: Students conduct staged theater reading Staffing and promoting the Institute’s programs Coordinating student events including a panel discussion on Israeli Start-Ups, the multicultural celebration “From India to Israel,” and a staged theater reading for Yom Hashoah Planning an Israeli film series for Fall 2014 2013-2014 in Review: A Year of Landmark Programming: The Institute achieved new programming heights in 2013-2014, attracting collaborations from across the Cal campus. Professor Michael Walzer at Berkeley Fall 2013: In the fall, the Institute hosted Fania Oz-Salzberger, Professor of History at the University of Haifa, who spoke about her new book, Jews and Words, written with her father, novelist Amoz Oz. Later in the semester, leading American political thinker Michael Walzer gave the Fifth Annual Robbins Collection Lecture: “What We Can Learn from the Jewish Political Tradition?” Fall public programming concluded with Ambassador Dennis Ross speaking before a packed audience about the prospects for peace in the Middle East, before meeting a group of Berkeley students for an in-depth dinner discussion. Dean Joan Bieder and Ari Shavit in conversation Spring 2014: Spring semester highlights included a series, co-hosted by the Graduate School of Journalism, on “Covering Israel.” Associate Journalism Dean Joan Bieder moderated discussions with three contemporary journalists: award-winning author and Ha’aretz columnist Ari Shavit; Ha’aretz Editor-in-Chief Aluf Benn; and Janine Zacharia, former Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the Washington Post. In March, the Institute hosted an international conference titled “Israeli and Palestinian Waterways: History, Politics, and Technology of Water and Environment in the Middle East,” drawing seven institutional partners from across campus and beyond. Spring programs concluded during the week of Yom HaShoah with a staged reading of the play by Robert Skloot If the Whole Body Dies: Raphael Lemkin and the Treaty against Genocide. Many of the Institute’s public programs, including the lectures by Ambassador Ross and Michael Walzer, the Journalism series, and the international conference, were recorded and are available for viewing online. Watch a video of Professor Walzer’s Robbins Lecture Watch the video of Ambassador Ross’ Lecture  Watch the “Covering Israel” journalist series Watch the Israeli and Palestinian Waterways Conference Thank you to our supporters! Contact Information Faculty Director Kenneth A. Bamberger Professor of Law kbamberger@law.berkeley.edu Executive Director Rebecca Golbert rlgolbert@law.berkeley.edu Director of Institutional Advancement Leah Wagner-Edelstein, MA lwedelstein@law.berkeley.edu Program Administrator Andrei Dubinsky adubinsky@law.berkeley.edu For more information check our website at http://www.law.berkeley.edu/JLILES.htm Follow us on Facebook or contact Andrei Dubinsky at adubinsky@law.berkeley.edu

UC Berkeley School of Law | 2850 Telegraph Ave., Suite 500 | Berkeley | CA | 94705

Opinions: Braiterman on Middle East Scholars & Librarians Now Boycotting Israel

Zachary Braiterman (Department of Religion, Syracuse University) writes in his blog on questions about Middle East Scholars and Librarians boycotting Israel.

 

URL: http://jewishphilosophyplace.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/jewish-studies-israel-studies-questions-about-middle-east-scholars-librarians-now-boycotting-Israel/

 

 

Excerpt

As an organization, it would seem that MESA understands in sharper perspective than do the individual signatories to the boycott the purpose of its association, which would be the study of the Middle East in all its varied ramifications. With or without too much hope, my own view is that professors of Jewish Studies and Israel Studies should continue to seek common cause with those colleagues amenable to professional and personal contact and exchange. Especially given the fact that MESA as an organizational body opposes BDS, the best course of action would seem to me to be ones that isolate the phenomenon and contain the damage, to listen carefully to and when possible to heed colleagues, morally and politically. Certainly one should also push back where one thinks one should, while avoiding direct confrontation and the appearance of confrontation. Any act carries its own consequence. More often than not, the best course of action is not to act at all in an obviously hostile way. On the ground, Israel and Hamas prove again and again that each are their own worst enemies. Armed resistance against Israeli civilians has turned out to be a self-destructive act that only further isolates the Palestinian people. For its part, with the ongoing and deepening occupation of the 1967 territories, Israel does more to undercut its own moral, political, social, and national standing than any act of BDS by individual scholars who, by every measure, appear to hate the country with what can be shown to be an extreme prejudice.

 

New Article: Sucharov and Sasley, Blogging Identities on Israel/Palestine

Sucharov, Mira and Brent E. Sasley. “Blogging Identities on Israel/Palestine: Public Intellectuals and Their Audiences.” PS: Political Science & Politics 47.1 (2014): 177-81.

 

URL: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9135928

 

Abstract

Drawing on our research and blogging on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we make three claims about the role of scholar-bloggers in the social media age. First, as scholar-bloggers with some degree of ethno-national attachments related to our area of expertise, we contend that we are well positioned to issue the kinds of critiques that may resonate more deeply due to the very subjectivity that some perceive as a liability. Second, through the melding of scholarly arguments with popular writing forms, scholar-bloggers are uniquely poised to be at the forefront of public engagement and political literacy both with social media publics and with students. Third, the subjectivity hazard is an intrinsic part of any type of research and writing, whether that writing is aimed at a scholarly audience or any other, and should not be used as an argument against academic involvement in social media. Ultimately, subjectivities of both consumers and producers can evolve through these highly interactive media, a dynamic that deserves further examination.

JOB: UCSD Fall Quarter, Hebrew Literature (fixed term)

University of California – San Diego – Visiting Assistant Professor in Hebrew Literature

UC San Diego Visiting Assistant Professor in Hebrew Literature, Fall Quarter 2014

The Judaic Studies Program housed in the department of History within the Division of Arts and Humanities at UC San Diego is committed to academic excellence and diversity within the faculty, staff, and student body. We invite applicants for a one quarter visiting position at UC-San Diego during the fall quarter of 2014. The successful candidate will teach two courses, one to be a survey of Modern Hebrew Literature in translation, the other in an area of Judaic Studies of their choice. Candidates should be eager to engage with faculty and graduate students in Literature and Judaic Studies while at UCSD, and be prepared to deliver a public seminar on their research during the quarter. We welcome applicants with a comparative focus, as well as those with an emphasis in Hebrew language and literature. Junior applicants are especially encouraged to apply, although visiting senior candidates will also be considered. Successful candidates will demonstrate strong or potential accomplishments in areas committed to diversity, equality and inclusion, and a desire to play leadership role in advancing UC San Diego’s commitment to achieving excellence and diversity.

Applicants should submit a cover letter, cv, and a sample syllabus, as well as three letters of recommendation to Sally Hargate at judaicstudies@ucsd.ed  by January 15, 2014.

UCSD is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer with a strong institutional commitment to excellence through diversity.

You can see the H-net ad at: http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=48025

—

Announcement: Schusterman Graduate Student Fellowships in Israel Studies 2014-15

Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University offers full and partial fellowships for doctoral candidates focusing on Israel Studies. Eligible disciplines include History, Politics, Sociology, Middle East Studies, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and Literature. Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis to students accepted into the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at Brandeis University.Stipend up to $24,000 per year, renewable for up to five years, plus healthcare benefits. Join an engaged, diverse & multidisciplinary intellectual community.

Learn more here: www.brandeis.edu/israelcenter/support/gradStudent.html

Post-Doctoral Fellowship: 2014-15 Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University

Teach one course per semester in Israel Studies, related to programs in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Israeli arts and culture, politics, sociology, economics, or other relevant disciplines. Participate actively in the intellectual life of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, present at least one public lecture. Annual stipend of $52,500 plus a $3,000 research & travel fund. Benefits-eligible. Applications due January 15, 2014.

Learn more at http://www.brandeis.edu/israelcenter/support/postdoctoral.html

For further info, call 781-736-2154 or email aselve@brandeis.edu.

Job: U Cincinnati, Assistant Professor in Israel and Modern Jewish Thought

https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=47483

The Department of Judaic Studies at the University of Cincinnati invites applications for an Assistant Professor in Israel and Modern Jewish Thought.   This is a full-time tenure-track position, beginning August 1, 2014.

The successful candidate will be a promising scholar with demonstrated excellence in research and teaching. Qualified candidates will be familiar with the critical, academic study of Israel and Modern Jewish Thought within a broader, global context. Also desirable would be background in theories and methods in the study of religion, competency in Modern Hebrew, and the ability to integrate digital technologies into the research and teaching of Jewish Studies.   Teaching responsibilities include the introductory courses Modern Jewish Civilization, Modern Jewish Thinkers, and Modern Israel, advanced courses on Israel and Jewish thought, and advising research projects of advanced undergraduate and graduate students.  The successful candidate will also serve on committees and generally work to further the department’s growth and prestige. We are seeking individuals whose research and teaching activities are consistent with our mission, which emphasizes a commitment to diversity and to collaborative projects nationally and internationally.

Qualifications: Ph.D. in hand by July 31, 2014, clear evidence of research and publication activity, solid evidence of teaching effectiveness, and knowledge of Modern Hebrew.

Applicants for this position must apply online to http://www.jobsatuc.com (position number 213UC6187). Cover letter should address the candidate’s effectiveness and consistency with both the position and the mission of the Department and indicate experience and success with teaching and interacting with culturally diverse populations. Include a current vita, samples of scholarly work, and evidence of teaching effectiveness. Three letters of recommendation should be sent electronically to Matthew Kraus matthew.kraus@uc.edu  (phone: 513-556-2298) or mailed to Judaic Studies Search Committee C/O Matthew Kraus Dept. of Judaic Studies, University of Cincinnati, PO Box 210169 Cincinnati, OH 45221-0169. Applications must be submitted by November 7, 2013 and will not be considered complete until all letters of recommendation have been received. For questions, please contact Professor Jana Braziel, Chair of Search Committee (513) 556-0350 [jana.braziel@uc.edu].

Application deadline:  November 7, 2013. Screening of applications will begin promptly on November 7 and will continue until the position is filled. The University of Cincinnati is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.  Women, people of color, people with disability and veterans are encouraged to apply.  Preliminary interviews will be conducted at the annual meetings of AAR/SBL and AJS.

Jobs: Oxford, OI, Research Lectureship in Israel Studies

https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.display_form

 

University Research Lecturership in Israel Studies

University of Oxford -Faculty of Oriental Studies

Faculty of Oriental Studies, Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford

Grade 8: £37,382 – £44,607 p.a.

The University proposes to appoint a University Research Lecturer in Israel Studies from 22 April 2013 or as soon as possible thereafter for five years. The successful candidate will also be appointed to a Fellowship in Israel Studies in the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, a Recognised Independent Centre of the University. The University Research Lecturer will be required to carry out research in the field of Israel Studies; to promote and disseminate research; to teach; and to fulfil general duties for the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

The successful applicant will have the potential to be a recognised authority in his or her field; by the time of appointment hold a doctorate (or equivalent) in some aspect of the study of Israel Studies; have a record of scholarly publications; a commitment to teaching; the potential to provide academic leadership; and be able to demonstrate a dedication to disseminating knowledge about Israel to a wider public. Applicants without all of the required skills and experience may be considered for appointment at Grade 7 (£29,541 – £36,298 p.a.).

Applications for this vacancy are to be made online not later than noon on Thursday 7 March 2013. Two references also should be sent to the email address provided below by Thursday 7 March. Shortlisted candidates will be asked for a third reference to be provided prior to the interview. To apply for this role and for further details, including the job description and full selection criteria, please click on the links provided below.