Dr. Hassan Barari, a Jordanian-born professor of political science at the University of Nebraska, has chosen a difficult, possibly dangerous academic path: he is committed to “peaceful coexistence and historical reconciliation between the Arabs and the Israelis.” In a step unusual among his Arab colleagues, he took the trouble to learn Hebrew “in order to make sense of Israel’s society and politics.” His new book, “Israelism,” addresses “the underdevelopment of Israeli studies in the Arab world.” Part of the problem, he notes, is that Arab scholars perceived their role “as being to expose and delegitimize Israel, rather than to provide a sound knowledge of the other.”
Read more: ‘Israelism’: Hassan Barari and why he gives me hope | Ed Rettig | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/israelism-hassan-barari-and-why-he-gives-me-hope/#ixzz3545sCRmy
‘Israelism’: Hassan Barari and Why He Gives Me Hope
Dr. Hassan Barari, a Jordanian-born professor of political science at the University of Nebraska, has chosen a difficult, possibly dangerous academic path: he is committed to “peaceful coexistence and historical reconciliation between the Arabs and the Israelis.” In a step unusual among his Arab colleagues, he took the trouble to learn Hebrew “in order to make sense of Israel’s society and politics.” His new book, “Israelism,” addresses “the underdevelopment of Israeli studies in the Arab world.” Part of the problem, he notes, is that Arab scholars perceived their role “as being to expose and delegitimize Israel, rather than to provide a sound knowledge of the other.”
Read more: ‘Israelism’: Hassan Barari and why he gives me hope | Ed Rettig | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/israelism-hassan-barari-and-why-he-gives-me-hope/#ixzz3545sCRmy
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Edward Rettig