Ben Gurion history professor Benny Morris, a leading member of Israel’s “New Historians,” who challenged mainstream Israeli historiography and sparked new public discussion on the Israel-Palestine issue, will discuss the Six-Day War’s historical and contemporary implications to mark the war’s 50th anniversary.
Morris’ lecture, “Looking Back at the Six-Day War: Victory and Loss,” is Wednesday, May 24, at 7 p.m. at Mandel Jewish Day School, 26500 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood.
The event is free for members of Case Western Reserve University’s Laura & Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program or $5 for nonmembers. Advanced registration is recommended. To register or for more details, visit case.edu/lifelonglearning/benny-morris/.
On Thursday, May 25, at 10 a.m., Brian Amkraut, executive director of Siegal Lifelong Learning, will moderate a public discussion with Morris, titled “Reflections on 1967: Then and Now,” at Landmark Centre, Suite 100, 25700 Science Park Drive, Beachwood.
Audience members may share comments on how the events of 1967 shaped their understanding of Israel, and how their thoughts have changed over the last 50 years. To have reflections included in the conversation, submit them in advance to Alanna.Cooper@case.edu. Cooper is director of Jewish Lifelong Learning and an adjunct assistant professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve.
The May 25 event is also free for members of Lifelong Learning or $5 for nonmembers. Advanced registration is required. To register or for more details, visit case.edu/lifelonglearning/benny-morris/.
In addition to his faculty position at Ben Gurion University, Morris is the Goldman Visiting Israeli Professor in Georgetown University’s Department of Government. He received his PhD in modern European history at Cambridge University, worked as a journalist and editor at The Jerusalem Post, and, since 1997, has been on the faculty of Ben-Gurion (Middle Eastern Studies Department) Beersheba, Israel.
Morris has written 10 books, including The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem (Cambridge University Press, 1988), which was influential opening up a new school of revisionist Israeli history, and 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War (Yale University Press, 2008), which received the National Jewish Book Award. His most recent book is One State, Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict (Yale University Press, 2009).