Young Israel to host Arab affairs analyst
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Young Israel to host Arab affairs analyst

By Debra Rubin April 23, 2015, 12:00 am Edit
Dr. Mordechai Kedar will speak about his idea to have Arab city-states in Israel as an alternative to the two-state solution. 
Dr. Mordechai Kedar will speak about his idea to have Arab city-states in Israel as an alternative to the two-state solution. 

An Israeli specialist in Arab culture will be scholar-in residence Friday-Sunday, April 24-26, at Young Israel of East Brunswick, offering his analysis of the recent Israeli election as well as his own unconventional alternative to the proposed two-state solution.

Mordechai Kedar, senior lecturer in the Department of Arabic and Middle East Studies at Bar-Ilan University, will appear at the Shabbaton celebrating Israel Independence Day. Sponsored by the synagogue’s Israel Advocacy Committee, its centerpiece will be on Saturday evening, at 9:15 p.m., focusing on Kedar’s concept of creating eight self-governing Arab city-states in Gaza and the West Bank. 

As he explained previously in NJJN, Kedar said his idea is based on the notion of “tribalism,” suggesting that Mideast entities formed along tribal lines — including Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates — are “the only stable places in the Arab world.” 

Kedar, a former lieutenant colonel with 25 years’ experience in military intelligence, believes this tribalism is the cornerstone of Islamic culture and the source of cohesion in homogenous areas. 

In addition to the free Saturday night program, among Kedar’s other topics during the Shabbaton will be how Jerusalem became holy to Muslims, the 2015 elections as a turning point for Israel and its Arab sector, and Israel’s Christian minority. At a VIP luncheon on Sunday, he will discuss modern Muslim states.

“The world is rapidly changing,” said committee cochair Judy Goldrich. “There has been so much geopolitical change in the last 12 months. We want to see how Israel fits into the picture in light of the Arab Spring, the war in Gaza, and upheaval in the Middle East.”

For more information, contact Goldrich or committee cochair Cheryl Shmulewtz at IsraelAdvocacy@yieb.org. 

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