WOCMES – Seville, Spain, July 2018
Conflicts between Religious Identities & Individual Liberties: The Colonial Empire’s Complex Legacy in the Middle East
On July 19, 2018, ICMES Board member, Gloria Morán, chaired a panel session entitled “Identities and Individual Liberties: The Colonial Empire’s Complex Legacy in the Middle East,” at the 2018 World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES), held in Seville, Spain on July 16-22, 2018. The panel focused on the ossification of Shari’a and the simplification of plural juridical systems under European colonial rule in the Middle Eastern nation-states. Participating on the panel was ICMES Secretary, Issam Saliba, who spoke on “The Relationship between Religious Belief and Personal Liberty in Islamic Traditions”; Robert Destra (Catholic University of America), who focused on “Abrahamic Dialogue in a Time of Conflict: Interfaith Collaboration as a means of Predicting and Preventing Genocide”; Kristina Arriaga (U.S. International Religious Commission), who presented on “Patriarchal Communal Religious Groups and the Rights of Women: Legal Challenges”; and Alaa Ebrahim, whose talk concerned “Sharia and Civil Law in Syria: Contradictions and Paradoxes in Time of War.”
WOCMES – Seville, Spain, July 2018
Why a Jewish State in the Middle East? Challenges & Objections
On July 18, 2018, ICMES President, Norton Mezvinsky, and ICMES Board member, Ghada Karmi, participated in a panel session entitled “Why a Jewish State in the Middle East? Challenges and Objections,” at the 2018 World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES), held in Seville, Spain on July 16-22, 2018. Also participating on the panel was Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro of New York City and Yakov Rabkin, Professor of History at Université de Montréal. The panel focused upon Israel’s existence as a Jewish state in the Middle East. The discussion considered and questioned Zionism, the reigning philosophy of the state of Israel, and scrutinized Israeli Zionist policies that affect Jews, Palestinians and others. Dr. Karmi’s presentation, titled “An Arab View,” considered the Zionist proposition to establish an exclusive state for Jews in an already inhabited country, Palestine. Her paper reviewed the history and analyzed the consequences for the indigenous, Palestinian population and the Middle East region. Rabbi Shapiro’s presentation, titled “Why a Jewish State in Israel?” questioned Israel’s referring to itself as the nation-state of the Jewish people and will explore how Zionism incorrectly arrogated to itself the authority to represent the Jewish people. Prof. Rabkin’s presentation, titled “The State in Judaic and Christian Theologies,” examined some of the effects of Zionism on Judaism and Christianity. His presentation also looked at the opposition the political movement evoked in different intellectual, social and religious circles, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Dr. Mezvinsky’s presentation, titled “Definitions of and Reactions to a Jewish State,” considered varying definitions of the Jewish state and specified certain objections to Israel from other parts of the Middle East and the wider world.