Canadian scholar speaks at Hiroshima City University about the Palestinian Conflict
Jul. 10, 2009
by Miho Kuwajima, Staff Writer
Dr. Yakov Rabkin, 63, a history professor at Montreal University in Canada, delivered a lecture at Hiroshima City University on July 8. An audience of about 30, including students and faculty members, listened to him speak about Middle East issues on the theme of “Uneasy relations between Judaism and Zionism.”
He maintained that one should not confuse Judaism with Zionism, which misuses the teachings of Judaism for political ends, when he discussed the creation of “a Jewish homeland” in Palestine. He stated that in order to solve the Palestinian conflict it is important not to continue treating Israel as a collective victim of Nazi genocide and a culmination of Jewish history, but as a country with its own history, interests, and values.
Dr. Rabkin is Jewish and is originally from the former Soviet Union. He emigrated to Canada in 1973. He came to Japan in late June at the invitation of Doshisha University in Kyoto.
(Originally published on July 7, 2009)
Related articles
Hiroshima and the World: Tragedies Bestow No Privilege (May 25, 2009)
Dr. Yakov Rabkin, 63, a history professor at Montreal University in Canada, delivered a lecture at Hiroshima City University on July 8. An audience of about 30, including students and faculty members, listened to him speak about Middle East issues on the theme of “Uneasy relations between Judaism and Zionism.”
He maintained that one should not confuse Judaism with Zionism, which misuses the teachings of Judaism for political ends, when he discussed the creation of “a Jewish homeland” in Palestine. He stated that in order to solve the Palestinian conflict it is important not to continue treating Israel as a collective victim of Nazi genocide and a culmination of Jewish history, but as a country with its own history, interests, and values.
Dr. Rabkin is Jewish and is originally from the former Soviet Union. He emigrated to Canada in 1973. He came to Japan in late June at the invitation of Doshisha University in Kyoto.
(Originally published on July 7, 2009)
Related articles
Hiroshima and the World: Tragedies Bestow No Privilege (May 25, 2009)
