The Injustice of the Century: the Legitimation of Israeli Apartheid - CPS Annual Lecture

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Please also note that this event will now start at 6.00pm

Abstract

In this talk, former Knesset Member (2009-2019) and renowned Palestinian leader Haneen Zoabi will argue that in light of recent developments such as President Donald Trump's so-called “Deal of the Century”, Palestinians and progressives need to develop a moral and political understanding of the question of Palestine as a colonial issue and not as a struggle for a state.  This moral understanding should inspire a renewed round of resistance to Israeli oppression.

This oppression is sanctioned by Trump’s newly found peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians which erases the Palestinian narrative. This “peace plan” is in essence an apartheid plan imposed on the Palestinians. These realities seem to point to a total domination of the Zionist narrative and its associated apparatus. Nevertheless, a century of Palestinian struggle, sacrifice, and suffering for freedom and self-determination, should inspire us to stand up to this recent round of indignity inflicted upon the Palestinians. More resistance, not less, is the answer.

Biography

Haneen Zoabi is a well-known politician and public figure of the Palestinian community in Israel. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) for the Balad Party for ten years between 2009 and 2019, the first woman to represent an Arab party at the Knesset. Among her multiple activities, Zoabi has been a member of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality and the Special Committee for the Rights of the Child. She was also a member of the Lobby for Female Knesset Members.

Haneen is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she obtained an MA in Communication Studies. Before joining the Knesset, she cofounded and directed I’lam (The Arab Center for Media Freedom, Development and Research), established in 2000 by Palestinian intellectuals and journalists active in the fields of civil society, media and research. The first Palestinian citizen of Israel to graduate in media studies, she established the first media classes in the country’s Arab schools.

Since 2019, Haneen Zoabi has been working on a research project at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Registration

This event is open to the public and free to attend, however registration is required. 

Chair: Dina Matar (SOAS)

Photo source: Flickr

Organiser: Centre for Palestine Studies, SOAS