Israel and Palestine (Part 1)

The region west of the Jordan River has been a cradle of human culture for thousands of years. Today, Jews, Muslims and Christians, Israelis and Palestinians with the most diverse historical, cultural and political backgrounds live side by side there. All too often, this diversity is overshadowed by the Middle East conflict, but it is worth looking at the two sides and societies in all their facets and not reducing them to the conflict alone.

The project “Leonardo” offers a two-part series of events for the winter semester 21/22 and summer semester 22, which deals with Israel and Palestine.

The framework is the so-called Middle East conflict, which began with the founding of the state of Israel and the expulsion of the Palestinian Arabs (Nakba) in 1948 and continues to this day. Keywords of this conflict are: Refugee problems, Six-Day War 1967, occupation, Intifada 1987, Oslo Peace Agreement 1991, settlement construction, Jerusalem. The basis for a long-term solution to the conflict was a fair two-state solution, which was already envisaged in the UN partition plan of 1947, but is not feasible today in view of the prevailing situation. The main points of contention are the Palestinian West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which the one side is using for Israeli settlements or sealing off, while the other claims it for an independent Palestinian state.

From a German as well as a historical perspective, the question arises as to how one can simultaneously guarantee the existence of Israel as a national state and, on the other hand, critically accompany events in the region and safeguard the right of the Palestinians to their own state.

We dare to take a differentiated look at the region in the Middle East: landscape and economy, society and science, politics, culture and history. We cordially invite you to join us. The program includes not only scientific lectures from a wide range of disciplines and professional cultures, but also impulses from literature, art and journalism.

This course on Israel and Palestine, designed for two semesters and related to each other, is led by Professors Simone Paganini (Biblical Studies), Joachim Mayer (Rectorate Representative for the Cooperation of RWTH with TECHNION Haifa) and Ghaleb Natour (Analytics and Electronics Jülich/RWTH Aachen and Association for the Promotion of Peace in Israel and Palestine e.V.).

Part 1: Israel

The Israeli Perspective: The Holy Land. The Jewish Land. A place full of contrasts: On the one hand overshadowed by violence and conflict on the other hand the one and only liberal democratic industrial nation in the Middle East. At the same time, a modern multi-ethnic state with different religions and cultures, as well as an innovative country that produces impressive achievements in research and development. What adversities has Israel overcome in its history and which ones does it still struggle with today? What enables growth there and a scientific landscape that is as young as it is remarkable? What changes has this country undergone and is it still living through today?