Israel/Palestine – Center for Jewish Studies @Fordham

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complex. In the aftermath of the brutal Hamas attack on Israeli communities and the ongoing war in Israel/Palestine, students and faculty have been asking for resources to help them understand the history of this conflict. Below are recent lectures, webinars, and panels addressing the current war as well as books, articles, and other materials that provide deeper historical context.

Reflections on thoughtful conversations in this difficult moment:

Oped in the NYTimes by Amaney Jamal and Keren Yarhi-Milo titled “The Discourse is Toxic. Universities Can Help” (Oct. 30)

Panel discussion at Princeton University (November 28), titled “The Current Israeli Palestinian Conflict: Constructive Campus Conversations,” with Amaney Jamal and Keren Yarhi-Milo, moderated by Chris Eisgruber

A conversation published in the Atlantic between Gal Beckerman and two writers Joshua Cohen, the author of The Netanyahus, and Ruby Namdar, the author Ruby Namdar, the author of The Ruined House, about the meaning of October 7th: “Two Jewish Writers, a Bottle of Whiskey, and a Post–October 7 Reality.”

Peter Cole, “Again on the Slaughter: A Response to the Israel-Hamas War” in Yale Review (November 2, 2023)

New Lecture Series about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:

We are currently hosting Hussein Ibish and David N. Myers for a four-part lecture series titled “How Did We Get Here? A Deep Dive into the History of Israel and Palestine.”

Part 1 (December 6, 6pm EST) – “Arabs and Jews: 1881-1948” (in person and live-streamed) For the link to the video and additional readings click here
Part 2 (January 23, 1pm EST) – “Israel and Arab States: 1948-1967″ (Zoom webinar)
Part 3 (February 20, 1pm EST) – “Israelis and Palestinians: 1967-2023” (Zoom webinar)
Part 4 (March 19, at 6pm EST) – “October 7: The Aftermath” (in person and live-streamed)

Webinars and podcasts addressing the current moment:

October 8th Panel at 92ndY with Itamar Rabinovich, Richard Haass, Lihi Ben Shitrit, and Jodi Rudoren

October 9th Lecture with Ambassador Prof. Daniel Kurtzer, The Outbreak of War in Israel: A Geopolitical Update

October 12 Panel at Princeton, moderated by Razia Iqbal, featuring Daniel Kurtzer, Salam Fayyad, and Mona Yacoubian

October 12th Teach-in: War in Israel, Reflections from Brandeis Faculty, with Eva Bellin, Yuval Evri, Shai Feldman, Abdel Monem Said Aly, Jonathan D. Sarna, moderated by Alexander Kaye

October 15th Conversation at Columbia University, “Israel at War: Live from Tel Aviv,” with Avi Shilon, moderated by Rebecca Kobrin

October 30th Conversation at Dartmouth College, “Hope Interrupted in Israel/Palestine,” with Mira Sucharov and Omar Dajani

A podcast interview from the Shalom Hartman Institute titled “Resilience and Ingenuity in Crisis” with Effie Shoham-Steiner, who was a Fordham-NYPL Fellow in 2022-2023, and who is involved in the Shomrim al Ha-Bait Ha-Meshutaf

Podcasts from the Luskin Center at UCLA:

“Understanding the Israel-Gaza Conflict: Causes, Conduct, and Consequences.”
“Israel, Gaza, and the U.S.” Aaron David Miller

Articles addressing the current moment:

In the aftermath of the Hamas massacre, Magda Teter published an article titled “Have We Scholars of Anti-Semitism Failed to Facilitate Empathy for Its Victims? What we can learn from scholars of anti-Black racism” on Public Seminar, and, via JTA, a longer version here.

In 2016-17, we hosted a series of events about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, highlighting groups working toward peace in our “In Dialogue” series. Among them was an event, titled “The Roadmap for A Shared Society, or How Jews and Arabs Can Live and Prosper Together,” with Yaniv Sagee and Mohammad Darawshe from Givat Haviva. Mohammad Darawshe’s cousin, Awad, was murdered by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Here is a recent New York Times article about him and those who have been working towards peace, “Peace, a Forgotten Word, Renews its Claim in the Holy Land.” Givat Haviva held a briefing by Michal Sella on October 12 about the current situation.

Rabbinic voices reflecting on the Hamas attack:

Rabbi Angela Buchdal’s sermon at Central Synagogue in Manhattan, “Israel at War: In the Beginning There Was The Word” (October 13).

Rabbi Sharon Brous at Ikar in Los Angeles, “We’ve Lost So Much. Let’s Not Lose Our Damn Minds” (October 14).

Rabbi Rachel Timoner at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, “Shabbat B’reishit 5784 – Response to the Tragedy in Israel” (October 14).

Webinars related to the history of the conflict, Israel, and Zionism

In 2017-2018, David Myers and Hussein Ibish spoke at Fordham’s Center for Jewish Studies in a series titled “A Different Take on Israel/Palestine: Shared Histories, Divergent Pathways.” The series was held before we began recording our events. These two scholars recorded a 2-hr mini-course and held a similar three-part series at the University of Scranton, available here:

“Shared Paths, Divergent Courses: Zionism and Palestinian Nationalism” (2-hr mini-course)
University of Scranton: Shared Paths, Divergent Courses: The Israel-Palestine Conflict, 1949-1979.
University of Scranton: Shared Past, Divergent Courses: Zionism and Palestinian Nationalism: The Israel-Palestinian Conflict, 1979-Present
University of Scranton: The History of Israel-Palestine: Peering into the Future

Derek Penslar (Harvard) spoke at Fordham on “Zionism: An Emotional State,” relating the history of Zionism through the lens of emotions and arguing that Zionism is a matrix of emotional states–bundles of feeling whose elements vary in volume, intensity, and durability across space and time–love, solidarity, fear, and hate.

Hollis Granoff Landauer spoke about “Kibbutz Haggadot in Mandatory Palestine.”

Amnon Reichman and Orit Avishai discussed the constitutional crisis in Israel in recent months.

You can watch recordings of additional events hosted by Fordham’s Center for Jewish Studies related to Palestine/Israel here and about Jews in the Middle East and North African here.