This symposium brings together Institute Fellows and other prominent scholars to discuss Israel’s entangled identities between Arabs and Jews. It will discuss “Arab-Jews” or “Mizrahim” (Jews from Arab-Muslim lands), as evolving and dynamic concepts, and will encompass topics such as the role of Arab-Islamic Civilization in Israeli culture, Mizrahi immigration, protests, and the Arabized Jewish Diaspora.

Schedule:
1:00 PM Welcome & Introductions
Jeffrey Veidlinger, University of Michigan
Shachar Pinsker, University of Michigan

1:10 - 3:00 PM Session I: Migration, Memory and Resistance
Chair & Discussant: Devi Mays

Orit Bashkin, University of Chicago
“Iraqi Jews – The Battle for Survival in Transit Camps”

Aviad Moreno, Ben-Gurion University
“Deconstructing the Arab Homeland: "Spanish- Moroccans" in Israel and Beyond”

Bryan Roby, University of Manchester
“Mizrahi Belonging and Resistance in Israel and the
Arab World”

3:00 – 3:10 PM BREAK

3:10 – 5:00 PM Session II: Narratives and Knowledge Crossing Boundaries
Chair & Discussant: Carol Bardenstein

Zvi Ben Dor-Benite, New York University
“How ‘Arab’ are the Arab Jews? A Labor and
Intellectual Historian’s Response”

Mostafa Hussein, Brandeis University
“The Botanical Exploration of the Holy Land and the
Cultivation of Islamicate Knowledge”

Shayna Zamkanei, University of Chicago
“Rebranding the Jewish Refugee”

5:00 – 6:00 PM Roundtable Discussion
Moderator: Shachar Pinsker

Orit Bashkin, University of Chicago
Zvi Ben Dor-Benite, New York University
Aviad Moreno, Ben-Gurion University
Bryan Roby, University of Manchester
Mostafa Hussein, Brandeis University
Shayna Zamkanei, University of Chicago

Image courtesy of Zoltan Kluger, Israeli Government Press Office

If you have a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation, contact the Judaic Studies office at 734-763-9047 at least two weeks prior to the event.