The Taub Center for Israel Studies will host two February lectures centering on how the nation’s history has influenced its present: “Did the Oslo Accords Pave the Way to a (Israeli-Palestinian) Two-State Solution?” (February 7) and “Evolving Nationalism: Homeland, Religion and Identity in Israel” (February 28).

Oslo Accords, Israeli Nationalism Focus of February Lectures Sponsored by NYU’s Taub Center for Israel Studies

New York University’s Taub Center for Israel Studies will host two February lectures centering on how the nation’s history has influenced its present: “Did the Oslo Accords Pave the Way to a (Israeli-Palestinian) Two-State Solution?” (February 7) and “Evolving Nationalism: Homeland, Religion and Identity in Israel” (February 28). Both lectures, free and open to the public, will be held at NYU Open House, 528 LaGuardia Place (between Bleecker and West 3rd), from 6 to 8 p.m. RSVP to fas.taubcenter@nyu.edu or 212.998.8981. Space is limited. Subways: Subways: A, B, C, D, E, F, M (West 4th Street).

February 7, 2011, 6-8 p.m.

NYU Open House, 528 LaGuardia Place
"Did the Oslo Accords Pave the Way to a (Israeli-Palestinian) Two-State Solution?”
Lecture by Yair Hirschfeld, director general, Economic Cooperation Foundation (Tel-Aviv)

Yair Hirschfeld served as a leading negotiator in bringing the Israeli Government and the PLO together at the Oslo Accords of 1993. Active in “track II” diplomacy for over 20 years, Hirschfeld currently serves as the director general of the Tel Aviv-based Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF). The ECF aims to develop a comprehensive strategy toward regional peacemaking and reconciliation, by pursuing policy planning on issues of permanent status while supporting Israeli-Arab (Palestinian, Jordanian, and Egyptian) cooperation and coordination in political, economic, and social spheres. Hirschfeld is also a leading member in Israeli Palestinian working groups, developing concepts on peaceful solutions of the Jerusalem and Refugees Issues.

February 28, 2011, 6-8 p.m.

NYU Open House, 528 LaGuardia Place
“Evolving Nationalism: Homeland, Religion and Identity in Israel”
Lecture by Nadav Shelef, professor, Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Nadav Shelef is the Harvey M. Meyerhoff Assistant Professor of Israel Studies and an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science. Shelef teaches and studies nationalism, religion and politics, Israeli politics and society, and Middle East politics. Shelef’s current project asks why some territorial partitions appear to resolve nationalist conflict while in other instances violence continues unabated. Shelef’s recent publication, Evolving Nationalism: Homeland, Religion and Identity in Israel (Cornell University Press, 2010), examines how the idea of Israel as a nation-state has developed within Zionist and Israeli discourse over the past eight decades. Engaging with some of the most contentious debates about the nature of Israeli nationalism and the geographic, religious, and ethnic definition of the state of Israel, Shelef has made contributions to the understanding of Middle East politics and of the ideological underpinnings of nationalism itself.

Editor’s Note:

The Taub Center was established with a gift from the Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation. The gift supports an endowed professorship and two graduate fellowships in Israel Studies, and funds lectures, seminars, scholarly colloquia at the Center, and other special programs for students, faculty, and the community. In addition to offering its own programming, the Taub Center works closely with NYU’s departments to create cross-disciplinary programming, serving to broaden NYU’s offerings in Judaic and Middle Eastern studies. For more, go to http://hebrewjudaic.as.nyu.edu/page/taub.

 

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