Tel Aviv Review

Dr. Erella Grassiani, an anthropologist at the University of Amsterdam, discusses her new book Soldiering the Occupation: Processes of Numbing among Israeli Soldiers in the Al Aqsa Intifada, where she analyzes the link between the spatial aspects of Israel's control of the West Bank and its moral consequences. Song: Boy of the world - Tipkas This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by T...

History Professor Wm. Roger Louis of the University of Texas at Austin, a world-renowned expert in British imperial history, discusses the repercussions of two WWI British foreign policy decisions - the Sykes-Picot agreement and the Balfour Declaration - that are still felt across the Middle East to this day. Prof. Louis participated in an international symposium at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institut...

Dr. Orit Rozin, professor of Jewish history at Tel Aviv University, is the author of the newly published A Home for All Jews: Citizenship, Rights and National Identity in the New Israeli State. In her research, she   analyzes the day-to-day practices with which the establishment and immigrants themselves have shaped the famous Israeli melting pot. Song: The Idan Raichel Project - Im Hayit Ro'a Thi...

Prof. Uri Ram, a sociologist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and author of the recently published The   Return of Martin Buber: National and Social Thought in Israel from Buber to the Neo-Buberians , sheds light on an oft-forgotten chapter in the life of the celebrated Jewish theologian and political thinker. Appointed in 1947, Buber was the first chair in sociology in Israel, and introduced...

Professor Carlo Ginzburg, one of the greatest historians of our time, is in Israel this week participating in an event at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute marking the 100th birthday of his mother, renowned novelist Natalia Ginzburg. He joins Gilad Halpern to discuss the historian's role in the digital age, the tenets of "micro-history" (the school his work "The Cheese and the Worms" was instrument...

Prof. William Kolbrener, professor of English literature at Bar-Ilan University, discusses with host Gilad Halpern his recently published book  The Last Rabbi: Joseph Soloveitchik and the Talmudic Tradition . It presents a critical evaluation of the work of one of the greatest Jewish theologians of the 20th century, who can be credited almost single-handedly with laying the foundations of Modern O...

Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin, policy fellow at Mitvim - The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies , discusses parallels between the ongoing Cyprus and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts and reflects on the benefit of comparing the two.   Song: Shlomo Artzi - Vehaemet This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute , which promotes humanistic, democratic, and l...

Oded Gilad, the director of the newly founded One World - The Movement for Global Democracy , explains to host Gilad Halpern how shortcomings of the present international system could be addressed with a different, thoroughly democratic approach to dealing with global challenges such as climate change and poverty. Song: Ovadia Hamame & Gad Elbaz - Mode Ani  This season of the Tel Aviv Review is ma...

Prof. Lev Grinberg is a sociologist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a visiting lecturer at Dartmouth College in the United States. He discusses with host Gilad Halpern his book Politics and Violence in Israel/Palestine: Democracy vs. Military Rule and tries to establish why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, compared to other seemingly intractable conflicts of the 20th century, has proven...

Gad Yair is a professor of sociology and education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He discusses with host Gilad Halpern his forthcoming book The Unruly Mind,  which analyzes how - and why - Israeli scientists go about their business in such a different way to their international peers. Song: Marina Maximilian - Tango This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusa...

Dr. Yarden Enav, an anthropologist at Israel's Open University, discusses with host Gilad Halpern his book Israeliness in No Man's Land: Citizenship in the West Bank of Israel/Palestine . He analyzes the ongoing attempt to establish normative Israeliness amid legal and political uncertainty. Song: HaClick - Incubator This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Ins...

Dr. D Gershon Lewental, an Israel Studies professor at the University of Oklahoma, gives host Gilad Halpern an overview of the Baha'i religion - an offshoot of Shi'a Islam that set up shop in the Holy Land (albeit not in Jerusalem, thankfully). They discuss its relationship with the local ethnic groups under the different regimes. Song: Ethnix - Tutim This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made pos...

Prof. Zvi Ziegler is Professor Emeritus of mathematics at the Technion and Chairman of the Israeli inter-university forum to combat academic boycotts. He assesses with host Gilad Halpern the threat posed to Israeli academia by international calls for a boycott, and explains how Israel tries - and in most cases succeeds - to thwart them. Song: Geva Alon - Days of Hunger   This season of the Tel Avi...

Nimrod Lin, a doctoral fellow in history at the University of Toronto, tracks back the emergence of the demographic discourse in Zionism. He discusses with host Gilad Halpern how, at different stages in Zionist history, the leadership tried to cope with this ongoing challenge. Song: Liron Amram & HaPanterim - Hashahar This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem In...

Meital Regev, a doctoral fellow at the archaeology and land of Israel studies department at Bar-Ilan University, discusses with host Gilad Halpern Israel's sometimes ambivalent attitude towards the prospective immigration of Ethiopia's centuries-old Jewish community, since the enactment of the Law of Return in 1950. Song: Hanan Ben Ari - Ima Im Haiti This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made poss...

Prof. Michael Levin is a historian of architecture at Shenkar College for Engineering, Art and Design, and co-editor of Richard Kaufmann and the Zionist Project . He discusses with host Gilad Halpern the life and works of the Jewish-German architect, who was hired in 1920 as the chief planner of the Zionist community and who single-handedly shaped the landscape of modern Israel. A launch event, co...

Dr. Ori Goldberg, a scholar of political Islam and lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, analyzes with host Gilad Halpern the novelty of the Islamic State group. Dr. Goldberg explains why IS poses new threats and offers new opportunities to the West. Song: Shlomi Bracha - Tsav This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute , which promotes h...

Gabriel Mitchell, a doctoral fellow in government and international affairs at the University of Virginia Tech, discusses with host Gilad Halpern how Israel balances security interests and economic opportunity, in light of the recent discovery of huge offshore gas fields. Song: Hadag Nahash & Yehudit Ravitz - Ad Hasof This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem In...

After the fall of Communism, photographer Yuri Dojc returned to his native Slovakia to document the country's Jewish community, which remained intact in every respect except one: Its people. Dojc's new exhibition, "Last Folio," opens this week at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. It features photos of dilapidated books, abandoned synagogues and decrepit old people, symbolizing a once buzzing Jewis...

Colin Shindler, professor emeritus of Israel Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, discusses with host Gilad Halpern his book The Rise of the Israeli Right: From Odessa to Hebron , a comprehensive review of the evolution of the conservative and nationalist sections in Zionism. Song: HaBiluim - Ani Afrika'i This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Le...

Dr. Sara Shadmi-Wortman, chair of the community research and action programs at Oranim Academic College, discusses with host Gilad Halpern how the community - an ostensibly invisible social structure - can be engineered and constructed for the benefit of social cohesion and quality of life. Song: Ayala Ingedashet - Basar Vadam This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jer...

Prof. Mohammed Wattad, a legal scholar at the University of California at Irvine and Zefat Academic College in Israel, explores with host Gilad Halpern the cultural and professional orientation of Israel's highest legal instance, past and present. Song: Danny Sanderson - Khoshev Alayich This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute , which promotes humanis...

Dr. Merav Ben-Nun, a lecturer at Oranim Academic College of Education and the founding principal of Haifa's first Jewish-Arab school, discusses with host Gilad Halpern the hopes and frustrations that the enterprise provides on a daily basis. Song: Hadag Nahash - Af Ehad This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute , which promotes humanistic, democratic,...

Ilan Peleg, a professor of government, law and Israel Studies at Lafayette College, analyzes with host Gilad Halpern the recent shift in Israel's hegemonic discourse from confident self-reliance to radical victimhood. Song: The Apples ft. Jessie Evans - Purified This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute , which promotes humanistic, democratic, and libe...

Dr. Rachel Back, a poet, translator and lecturer in English literature at Oranim Academic College for Education, discusses with host Gilad Halpern the overlap between poetry, education and progressive social change. Song: Sivan Talmor - Circles This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute , which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the...