Raphael Israeli |
HEBREW
UNIVERSITY
Prof. Israeli
Points Out
What’s Good for the Goose
Story and Photo by Tim Boxer
ENVY the Hebrew University students at Raphael Israeli’s
classes in Islamic, Middle Eastern and Chinese history. He
intersperses his lectures with humorous anecdotes to carry across
a point –just for fun.
I attended his lecture on
Islamic fundamentalism at the Annual Leadership Educational Forum
(ALEF) held by American Friends of the Hebrew University at the
Marriott Marquis.
The ringing of someone’s
cell phone reminded the professor of the definition of paradise:
When you have a telephone, that’s useful. Two phones, that’s
luxury. Three phones, that’s extravagance. No phones – that is
paradise.
Israeli, who coined the
term “Islamikaze” to describe Arab suicide bombers, said Jews
should seek reciprocity in the peace process.
The mistake Israelis made
at Oslo, he said, was that “our negotiators were amateurish –
they forgot to insist on mutual recognition.”
The Arabs recognized the
existence of the state of Israel but not Zionism, which they
labeled “racism.”
“If we recognize the
PLO and acknowledge their right to self-determination,” Israeli
said, “then they should recognize Israel and the Jewish right to
self-determination, which is Zionism.” |
