The Middle East Centre, founded in 1957 at St Antony’s College is the centre for the interdisciplinary study of the modern Middle East in the University of Oxford. Centre Fellows teach and conduct research in the humanities and social sciences with direct reference to the Arab world, Iran, Israel and Turkey, with particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, during our regular Friday seminar series, attracting a wide audience, our distinguished speakers bring topics to light that touch on contemporary issues.
Zionism and the Jews of Iraq: A Personal Perspective
Professor Avi Shlaim gives the George Antonius Memorial Lecture 2023, examining the Jewish exodus from Iraq in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and arguing the Zionist movement played an active part in the uprooting of Iraqi Jews. This annual lecture is also a launch for Avi Shlaim’s new book, 'Three Worlds: Memoir of an Arab-Jew' which will be published by Oneworld on 8 June. The three worlds of the title are Baghdad to the age of 5, Ramat Gan, Israel, 10 to 15, and school in London, 15 to 18. The book uses a family history to tell the bigger story of the Jewish community in Iraq, its rich culture, its integration into Iraqi society, and its contribution to nation-building at various levels. The lecture revolves round the central concept of the Arab-Jew. It examines the circumstances surrounding the Jewish exodus from Iraq in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It challenges the Zionist narrative which claims that antisemitism was the main driver of the exodus. It argues that the Zionist movement played an active part in the uprooting of Iraqi Jews, and it presents new evidence to support this argument.
Avi Shlaim is an Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the British Academy. His books include Collusion across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist Movement, and the Partition of Palestine (1988); War and Peace in the Middle East: A Concise History (1995); The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (2000, updated edition 2014); Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace (2007); and Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations (2009).
Speakers:
Emeritus Professor Avi Shlaim, FBA (University of Oxford)
Chair: Professor Eugene Rogan (St Antony's College)
Recorded Thursday, 15 June 2023 Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
15 Nov 2022
Nemir Kirdar Memorial Event
Memorial event for the late Mr Nemir Amin Kirdar (1936-2020). The Warden of St Antony’s, the Fellows of the Middle East Centre, Mrs Nada Kirdar, her daughters Rena and Serra, and friends and colleagues from Investcorp gathered in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Bahrain in memory of the late Mr Nemir Amin Kirdar (1936-2020). This Friday 7th October 2023 memorial event took place in the Investcorp Lecture Theatre of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College. The Investcorp Building is named in recognition of the global investment group, Investcorp's remarkable support for the construction of the building - Mr Nemir Kirdar is the founder of Investcorp.
Professor Roger Goodman, the Warden of St Antony’s, chaired the session with tributes from Mr Mohammed Alardhi, CEO of Investcorp, Professor Margaret MacMillan, former warden of St Antony’s, Professor Eugene Rogan, Director of the Middle East Centre, Mr Yusef Abu Khadra, a personal friend of Nemir Kirdar, Dr Serra Kirdar, Nemir and Nada’s daughter. The final speaker was His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
19 May 2022
Women's Rights Research Seminar: Threatened motherhood in the Israeli welfare state: The discourse and the practice behind the disqualification of disadvantaged women's motherhood
Prof. Esther Hertzog gives a talk on the vulnerable situation of motherhood in the Israeli welfare state. This talk will examine the role of state authorities, especially the welfare system and the courts, in undermining disadvantaged women's motherhood. State authorities undermine mothers' custodial rights over their offspring, especially through the discourse on 'child's wellbeing' and 'parental capability', blaming mothers for physically endangering and neglecting their children. It will be argued that while the formal discourse emphasizes the value of biological motherhood, yet in practice underprivileged mothers' custody over their offspring can be easily expropriated. Single parent mothers are a susceptible group from which babies can be taken away to adoption and their children taken to welfare institutions.
The research on 'single parent mothers' ignores the phenomenon of expropriating disadvantaged mothers' parenthood by State authorities as well as the coercive means that are employed in the process. This talk will propose a critical analysis of the connection between "children at risk" discourse and disadvantaged women's motherhood.
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