Politics – July 2021 – Personal News
Israel should do whatever it can to bring home Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed as well as the remains of Hadar Golden and Shaul Aaron.
It is no less than state duty and, of course, the just and decent thing to do.
Indirect Egyptian-mediated talks in Cairo between Hamas and Israel failed to advance a deal that would allow the release of two Israeli citizens held captive and the return of the remains of two of IDF soldiers killed in the 2014 Gaza war. Israel has insisted that any agreement to rehabilitate Gaza must be linked to the return of the soldiers and citizens. According to a media report, both the Hamas and Israeli delegations were in Cairo at the same time. Egypt, with the help of the UN, is attempting to broker a permanent cease-fire to prevent a further outbreak of IDF-Hamas violence, such as last month’s 11-day war. Israeli restrictions on the entry of construction material and dual-use items have prevented Gaza from reconstructing buildings and facilities damaged during the war. A mechanism has not been put in place that would prevent Hamas from diverting the construction material for military purposes such as attack tunnels.
See https://www.timesofisrael.com/eyeing-bennetts-dc-trip-egypt-upgrades-mediator-in-push-for-gaza-breakthrough/?utm_source=S.+Daniel+Abraham+Center+for+Middle+East+Peace+List&utm_campaign=620137154b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_07_22_12_06_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_929d521884-620137154b-138680861
Reflections on Last Newsletter
Personal News: Vice President of The Association for Israel Studies
New Book: Just, Reasonable Multiculturalism
Looking for a Place to Write Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
New Article: “Stockholm and the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process - An Interview with State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Annika Söder”, Israel Affairs (2021). DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2021.1940562
Public Lecture: “Israel Facing COVID-19: Challenges, Problems and Successes”
Monthly Poem
Reflections on Last Newsletter
Abe Silverman reflected on one of last month’s reflections:
Dear Art
I think that in your zeal to be fair you display a lack of fairness. How can it be wrong for Jews to live in homes that they own legally even if those homes may be in a future Palestinian State. Why could 8000 Jews not live in peace in Gaza in homes that they bought and paid for legally and had lived in for over 25 years. Almost 2 million Muslim Arabs live in Israel protected by the same laws and freedoms that protect Jews. What is it about Jews that cause the Palestinians to declare that a future Palestinian State must be "Yuden Frie" Jew free. Do you see the irony? And marching through Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem in a peaceful demonstration celebrating Jerusalem day is what is done in a Democracy. You may not be old enough to remember Neo Nazi's marching through Jewish neighborhoods in Skokie Illinois. Did the Jewish residence like that. Of course not. Did they riot? Of course not. It's called the right to free expression. I'm afraid that you are mixing up what is right and fair with your feelings and emotions.
Abe Silverman
Edmonton Canada
Art responded;
I partly agree with Silverman’s view, and feel no need to answer it in detail. These things are not black and white, and there is room for many views. I just wish all sides would be less angry, less militant, less armed, and less inclined toward extreme nationalism and fundamentalist religion. Peace - Art Hobson, retired professor of physics, USA.
Personal News: Vice President of The Association for Israel Studies
Recently I was elected to serve as Vice President of The Association for Israel Studies (AIS). This is the largest and most important association of Israel studies in the world.
Some friends have now joined the association and I am grateful to their support. Please consider joining and let me know if you are willing to provide kind assistance. There is a lot to do and I appreciate any help I can get from you.
https://aisisraelstudies.org/Membership
New Book: Just, Reasonable Multiculturalism
My book Just, Reasonable Multiculturalism is about to be published later this month with Cambridge University Press. Professor Lord Bhikhu Parekh wrote:
Multiculturalism has polarised academic and public opinion. Some see it as the only way to reconcile the demands of unity and diversity in a multi-ethnic society. Others see it as a way to ghettoise different communities and prevent their interaction and integration. Professor Cohen-Almagor’s book is a judicious and perceptive account of the controversy and the way to resolve it. He discusses such important questions as the limits of state action, when the state may interfere with individual liberty, the relation between group rights and individual rights, and the sources of tension between liberalism and multiculturalism. His discussion is invariably fair, insightful, and probing.
Having laid the theoretical framework in the first part of the book, the author devotes the second to a critical examination of minority and other practices that may appear to offend against a society’s values. Here he skilfully examines several such practices in both liberal and non-liberal societies and further illuminates the way forward. He takes countries often ignored by multiculturalists, such as Israel, and uses them to disclose tensions within liberalism.
This is a fine book, analytically rigorous, comprehensive in scope, and informed by a deep familiarity with contemporary debates. I have no doubt that it represents an important addition to the growing literature on multiculturalism and should receive considerable critical attention.
Short video about the book: https://www.linkedin.com/in/almagor35/detail/recent-activity/
I appreciate your help in promoting it.
I am interested to present the book before interested audiences. I’d be happy to take (virtual) part in book celebrations and book launches in your respective departments and institutions. Please get in touch if this can be arranged.
Looking for a Place to Write Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Since 2013, I am writing a book titled Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Critical Study of Peace Mediation, Facilitation and Negotiations between Israel and the PLO (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming). This is a very substantive project, based on archival work in the United Kingdom, Israel, the United States and Norway, as well as on dozens of interviews with senior politicians and negotiators.
I am looking for a hosting institution that would sponsor my stay and provide me with peace of mind and supporting, interested community to write my book. All ideas welcome.
New Article: “Stockholm and the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process - An Interview with State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Annika Söder”, Israel Affairs (2021). DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2021.1940562
Abstract
This article records my interview with State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Annika Söder. We discussed her involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and Sweden’s relationships with Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The interview assesses the positive and negative lessons and implications of the peace process, Sweden’s involvement in the peace process, and the likelihood of bringing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a close.
Keywords: Arafat, Hamas, Israel, PLO, Sten Andersson, Sweden, peace negotiations
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raphael-Cohen-Almagor/research
Public Lecture: “Israel Facing COVID-19: Challenges, Problems and Successes”
Pandemic and Governance: Towards an Approximation of Covid-19’s Legal, Administrative, Fiscal and Political Dilemmas, The Eötvös József Research Centre of the University of Public Service, Budapest https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Y0YLD1kpvlnGh_c1et1IssH9DK5ib3P4
Monthly Poems
Eighty Three Years
Eighty three years
Have waited for love to conquer
Bring him where he wanted.
Eighty three years
This is awfully lot of time
Woke up trembling
Hugged his partner who slept beside him
Listening to her sweet breath.
Raphael Almagor
Peace, Love, and Good Health to all
Rafi
My last communications are available on Israel: Democracy, Human Rights, Politics and Society, http://almagor.blogspot.com
People wishing to subscribe to this Monthly Newsletter are welcome to e-mail me at r.cohen-almagor@hull.ac.uk
Twitter at @almagor35
