Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem’s Post

Now, more than ever, it is crucial to understand the meaning of the term #antisemitism. The concept of anti-Semitism is intertwined with the study of the history of the Jewish people: from tensions between Jews and Christians in early periods, through blood libels in the Middle Ages and the early modern period, to the mass murder by the Nazis and their collaborators, and contemporary debates about the policies and even the existence of the State of Israel. Can one concept accurately describe so many phenomena? And perhaps its widespread use renders it an empty vessel? The Historical Society of Israel in collaboration with the Leo Baeck Institute, invites you to the event "Old/New Antisemitism? Between Past and Present". The event follows current burning questions and in honor of the English edition of the book “Antisemitism and the Politics of History”. The discussion’s participants are Guy Miron and Scott Uri, the book’s editors, as well as Shulamit Volkov, Mustafa Abbasi and Havi Dreifuss. The event will take place on Tuesday, 16.01.2024, at 18:00, at the institute or via Zoom webinar. Entry is free but pre-registration is required. For registration:  https://bit.ly/3tI4Euj

Listen to the wise words of Israeli historian and academic Avi Shlaim.

Emine Fetvacı's ‘Picturing History at the Ottoman Court’ reveals how late 16th-century illustrated Ottoman chronicles not only served as imperial eulogies but actively engaged in shaping political perspectives, promoting agendas, and documenting historical and cultural transformations among the elite. Book Summary: “The Ottoman court of the late 16th century produced an unprecedented number of sumptuously illustrated chronicles. While usually dismissed as imperial eulogies, Emine Fetvacı demonstrates that these books commented on contemporary events, promoted the political agendas of courtiers as well as the sultan, and presented their patrons and creators in ways that helped shape the perspectives of their elite audience. Picturing History at the Ottoman Court traces the simultaneous crafting of political power, the codification of a historical record, and the unfolding of cultural change.” Available: https://lnkd.in/d-NcmnpE Tags: #ottomans_zubairsbookshelf

Israelis overall are decent people. But historians like Benny Morris along with Netanyahu are manipulating history way out of shape to Israel's great potential harm There is a lot of historical revisionism going on in Israel especially on the extreme edges of the right. Leading Israeli historian Benny Morris may be one of the worst perpetrators and in line with some of Netanyahu's real jewels in trying grossly t marginalize legitimate Palestinian causes. One of the worst ideas is Morris' defence of Gaza's destruction by pointing to the mass destruction of countless Japanese cities in the 1940s justifying what the Netanyahu government is doing. Trying to use what happened in World War II, pre UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights as giving a free pass to blow Gaza to pieces so as to destroy the enemy is just outrageous - especially in the year 2024, and with so many Israelis' ancestors having suffered the scourge of a Holocaust. Then Morris' belief that using a nuclear bomb on Iran is acceptable. This altogether is wacko, deadly thinking. For Netanyahu he makes references to Israel being more a state of Jewish immigrants of the first waves, occupying vacant land. He makes no references to the land and resource exploitation of Palestinians. Israel is simply a great project carved out of the desert to a large extent of providing a homeland to millions who were barbarically treated. And from his view shame on Palestinians displaced but tributes of war as those Palestinians who fought to protect their full rights were fighting against Israeli's right to exist? In his mind and too many -most Palestinians in Israel forfeited the right to live or claim assets in Israel because of their antagonistic attitude to Jews and the idea of Israel as a Jewish homeland. The problem was that as Israel developed it encroached on Arab Palestinians who were not even compensated. Those who were able to stay even lost some of their assets. Israelis in a way can be proud of the way they made their homeland flourish in areas that were so-called vacant But West Jerusalem has largely done grave injustices to Palestinians. Those wrongs must be righted not by brutal occupation defended by revisionary history and causing World War III in the region. A practical two state solution with reparations paid to Palestinians is a must. Without it, there will be perpetual grief for these two peoples and for the region and possibly to the destruction of much of the world. Netanyahu and his horrible schemes are not worth it and ridiculous revisionary history that blows up the region and and the world.

TOC: Language, Context and Text: The Social Semiotics Forum : Vol. 6 / No. 1 (2024): 2024. vi, 225 pp. Table of Contents Editorial Editors’ note p. 1 Articles Moving towards peace, compassion and empathy through semiotic enquiry Awni Etaywe, Elizabeth A. Thomson & Ingrid Wijeyewardene | pp. 2–26 peace Constructing resistance in the quest for social justice: A study of a fracturing in Thai hegemony Ingrid Wijeyewardene | pp. 27–59 Acknowledging dispossession: A CDA/PDA perspective on discourse dealing with unceded land J. R. Martin & Priscilla Angela T. Cruz | pp. 60–87

The armed conflict in Gaza has been raging for over one year and there remains much dissension about where and on whom to focus collective grief and indignation. Attention is focused on October 7 - but what about October 8? And 9, and 10? This is the opening question of Professor Fuad Zarbiyev in his latest article. He considers the relativity of human lives in our collective imagination and the troubling differences in the reactions of Western leaders and the international community to Israeli and Palestinian deaths. Read here: https://lnkd.in/eBQNjGqP

For in-depth historical research on the Jordan Lead Codices I recommend following David Elkington's substack page https://lnkd.in/g6GAUmJu

Listen to this interview of prof. Avi Schlaim, and you will be enlightened The New history. https://lnkd.in/da2ar2Hr

Check this paper out in a Brill journal that is about to be uploaded with a print version following it: Singh, D.E. ‘Nur-e Afshan (the refulgent light): An Introductory Examination of a Nineteenth-Twentieth Century Christian Periodical from South Asia’ in International Journal of Asian Christianity,  7 (1) 2024, 5-29.

I've just released the first piece of a series on the modern history of the Balkans on Substack! This article explores the fragmentation of Yugoslavia as a 'crisis of legitimation'. I explore the malleability of emotion and ethnicity amidst political uncertainty, the significance of knowledge production, and the complex relationship between temporality and the violence that marked Yugoslavia's disintegration. Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/eBP26NuA. #Balkans #Yugoslavia #History #Analysis #Politics #InternationalRelations