Faculty Video: Catastrophe in Context: a Teach-In on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Beyond
On Friday, November 3rd, as the Israeli Defense Forces continued their invasion of the Gaza strip, BISR faculty organized a day-long teach-in, live streamed on the BISR Facebook page, to address pressing questions generated by this escalated phase of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: What drove it to this point? And where, ultimately, is it heading?
Each session was taught in conversation with relevant texts, including works by Rashid Khalidi, Frantz Fanon, and BISR Core Faculty member Suzanne Schneider.
In the first panel, on The History of Palestine, Ajay Singh Chaudhary, Max Ajl, Audrey Nicolaides and Barnaby Raine addressed, in turn, the long historical inflection points and context which prefigured October 7th. Next, in a session on the Theories and Histories of Colonization, Decolonization, and Violence, Alírio Karina, R.H. Lossin, and Anthony Alessandrini, joined Ajay to discuss the role of knowledge production in moments of crisis. Then, in the third panel, on The Geopolitics of the Middle East, Ajay, Audrey, K. Soraya Batmanghelichi, and Nafis Hasan discussed a host of contemporary issues, from how Israel deploys climate politics to justify conflict policy, to the means in which a rejuvenated internationalist Leftist project could engage the region. Finally, with Concluding Questions and Final Thoughts, faculty responded to audience follow-ups and offered parting observations.
Complete video of the teach-in is below. A detailed schedule of sessions can be found here, and readings for every session can be accessed here.
Session One | The History of Palestine
Session Two | Theories and Histories of Colonization, Decolonization, and Violence
Session Three | The Geopolitics of the Middle East
Session Four | Concluding Questions and Final Thoughts