Member News
AIS Members are welcome to share with us news about their careers, including prizes, fellowships, promotions, honors, tenure, and new jobs. The purpose of this page is to recognize and honor the accomplishments of AIS members. Approved announcements will be published in this section of our website. Submissions must be no more than 150 words and should be sent to: ais@aisisraelstudies.org
– Congratulations to Bar-Ilan University Professor Eytan Gilboa on winning the International Studies Association International Communication (ICOMM) Distinguished Scholar Award! Prof. Gilboa is the founder and first director of both the School of Communication and the Center for International Communication at Bar-Ilan. He is also a senior research associate at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies, former Chair of the Israel Communication Association, and founding Chair of the Israel Public Diplomacy Forum. He is a world-renowned expert on international communication, public diplomacy, and US policy in the Middle East. He has published fifteen books and numerous articles and book chapters and has won several significant international awards.
– The AIS would like to congraluate longtime AIS Member, Prof. Uri Bialer, on his selection as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
– Prof. Uri Bialer: The Israeli Association for International Studies (IAIS) granted the Life Award Recognition Prize to Prof. Uri Bialer, emeritus Professor from the Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he taught from 1975 to 2011. (Posted on June 20, 2021)
– Deborah Bernstein, University of Haifa Professor Emerita, is the recipient of this year’s Israel Prize in Sociology and Anthropology. An inspiring teacher and a creative scholar, she advanced the study of class, gender, and ethnicity in Mandate Palestine and Israel. A long-time member of the Association for Israel Studies—and a dear friend—it is a pleasure to be able to announce this tribute and to wish her congratulations on behalf of her scholarly community (posted on 4/17/19).
– Raphael Cohen-Almagor received a grant from The Swiss National Science Foundation (2017-2018) to study end-of-life care in Switzerland. He also received Visiting Professorship, Nirma University, Institute of Law, India (January 2018) where he taught a course on “Speech, Democracy and Liberalism”; Visiting Scholarship, Department of Philosophy, University of Zurich (August-September 2018), and The Distinguished Visiting Professor to the Faculty of Laws, University College London (UCL) (2019), where he plans to work on his new book Reasonable Multiculturalism.
– On behalf of the AIS Board, We wish to congratulate Sara Yael Hirschhorn whose book, CITY ON A HILLTOP: AMERCIAN JEWS AND THE ISRAELI SETTLER MOVEMENT published by Harvard University Press has just been named winner of the Sami Rohr Prize Choice Award.
– On behalf of the Board, We wish to extend congratulations to former AIS President Hanna Herzog who was named one of the recipients of the Israeli prestigious EMET Prize given for outstanding work in Art, Culture, and Science. Political Sociologist, Professor Herzog created the field of gender studies in Israel and has served as a model for both the academy and those engaged in social change. Mazal Tov Hanna Herzog!
– Dr. Joyce Dalsheim, UNC Charlotte, Department of Global Studies and Associate Editor of Review of Middle East Studies, has been awarded the Luce/ACLS Fellowship in Religion, Journalism and International Affairs for her current research project. (posted on 3/13/2018)
– Judit Bokser Liwerant, Profesor of Political Science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has been awarded the Sklare Award. She will receive the 2017 Award at the congress of ASSJ and AJS (posted on 4/8/2017)
– Colin Shindler’s The Rise of the Israeli Right: From Odessa to Hebron, has been awarded the gold medal in The Washington Institute’s 2016 Book Prize competition. The Rise of the Israeli Right is published by Cambridge University Press (posted on 11/30/2016)
– The Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies is proud to announce Hillel Cohen as the winner of the third biennial competition for the Azrieli Institute Prize for Best Book in Israel Studies in English or French. The book: Year Zero of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1929 was published by Brandeis University Press (The Schusterman Series in Israel Studies). The competition is organized under the auspices of the J.I. Segal Awards of the Jewish Public Library (posted on 9/21/2016).
– Galia Golan was honored with the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Peace Studies Section of the International Studies Association at ISA’s recent annual convention in Atlanta, GA. The award honors ISA members with a substantial record of research, practice, publishing in the field of peace and conflict studies and, ideally, a record of service to the ISA (posted on 4/21/2016)
– Raphael Cohen-Almagor (University of Hull) received two grants: The 1970 Trust, England (2013-2016) (£9,000), and he is part of a group of researchers that received AHRC Research Network: Crossing Over – New Narratives of Death, PI Dr David Kennedy (2013-2016) (£33,000). Professor Raphael Cohen-Almagor’s biography is included in Who’s Who in the World, 33rd Edition (2016), and in 2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21th Century, International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England (2015). (Posted on 3/27/2016)
– Itamar Radai has received the Jerusalem Days Prize of the Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Institute for his book: Palestinians in Jerusalem and Jaffa, 1948: A Tale of Two Cities, Tel- Aviv University, 2015 (The English version was published by Routledge, 2016). (posted on 2/1/2016)
-Motti Inbari was tenured and promoted to associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (posted on 1/29/2016)
STATEMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR ISRAEL STUDIES:
ON THE “ENTRY TO ISRAEL LAW”
The Association for Israel Studies views with deep concern the “Entry to Israel Law” passed by the Knesset on March 6. This law is dangerous to academic freedom and harmful to our members, Israeli scholars as well as those who study Israel from abroad.
The AIS, chartered in the United States, is the most significant international scholarly society devoted to the academic and professional study of Israel. We pursue the free and informed inquiry of all aspects of Israel society, and engage in disseminating our findings in hundreds of institutions across the world. While we hold to diverse views on Israeli history, politics and culture, we all uphold a free and unfettered exchange of ideas in the best traditions of academic freedom as practiced in enlightened and democratic societies.
We are committed to non-discrimination against Israeli academicians and institutions by supporters of BDS, and many of us have leadership positions in the struggle against it. This law undermines our ability to continue to do so.
There should be no doubt that this law will have a chilling effect on students wishing to seek an education in Israel, colleagues anxious to engage in research, and those wanting to participate in conferences. It will create the absurdity that the Association for Israel Studies will no longer be able to hold its meetings in Israel.
There can be no checkpoint of ideas. Security forces and defenses are essential for deterring actual attacks. But it is fantasy and misleading to think that interrogating academics at the country’s gates contributes to national security. Ideas, good and bad, have no borders and can be spread by modern communications and social media.
There are also personal consequences. As one of our members wrote: “I am a staunch opponent of BDS, but I have signed a petition favoring boycott of products from the West Bank settlements. Will I, who lived in Israel for 12 years, was Chair of a department at an Israeli university, served in the army, and have defended Israel in numerous public fora, be allowed to enter the next time I want to visit my daughter there?” Similarly, non-Israelis may not be able to participate in family affairs because of their views.
Our American members and the American public accept that advocating for a boycott – however strongly we object to BDS — is an exercise of free speech, and punishing or threatening to punish someone for that is a violation of rights.
Israel must not become an isolated entity open only to those who ascribe to official policy. Israel has endured economic and cultural boycotts and produced a vibrant economy and culture, and has maintained an animated public sphere with lively debate. Such a self-imposed quarantine can surely only diminish this fundamental prerequisite to democratic discourse.
This law is not only an encumbrance to academics, it is a danger to the vitality of Israeli life. It serves to isolate Israel more effectively than any of the BDS activities have been able to achieve.
הצהרת האגודה ללימודי ישראל על חוק הכניסה לישראל
האגודה ללימודי ישראל רואה בדאגה עמוקה את אישורו בכנסת של “תיקון מספר 27 לחוק הכניסה לישראל”. חוק זה מעמיד בסיכון את החופש האקדמי ומזיק למאות חברי האגודה החיים בישראל ומחוצה לה.
האגודה ללימודי ישראל, הרשומה בארצות הברית, היא אגודה אקדמית בינלאומית המוקדשת ללימודי ישראל בתחומי הרוח והחברה. אנו חותרים למחקר חופשי ומושכל של כל היבטי החברה הישראלית, ומפיצים את ממצאינו במאות מוסדות ברחבי העולם. דעותינו על אודות ההיסטוריה, הפוליטיקה והתרבות של ישראל מגוונות, אך כולנו תומכים בהחלפה חופשית של רעיונות בהתאם למסורת של החופש האקדמי המקובלת בחברות נאורות ודמוקרטיות.
אנו מחויבים למאבק באפלייתם לרעה של אנשי אקדמיה ומוסדות ישראליים בידי תומכי תנועת ה-BDS, ורבים מאתנו ניצבים בחזית מאבק זה. החוק הנוכחי פוגע ביכולתנו להמשיך בפעילות זו.
אין כל ספק כי לחוק תהיה השפעה שלילית על סטודנטים השואפים לרכוש השכלה בישראל, על עמיתים העוסקים במחקר אודותיה ועל משתתפי הכנסים השנתיים של האגודה ללימודי ישראל. החוק ייצור מצב אבסורדי, שבו האגודה ללימודי ישראל לא תוכל עוד לקיים את מפגשיה בישראל.
אסור להציב מחסומים כלשהם בפני רעיונות. כוחות ביטחון ואמצעי הגנה הם חיוניים לצורך הרתעה מפני התקפות של ממש; אבל המחשבה, שתחקורם של אקדמאים בשערי המדינה יתרום לביטחונה, היא אשליה חסרת יסוד. לרעיונות, טובים ורעים, אין גבולות, וניתן להפיץ אותם ללא הגבלה באמצעות כלי התקשורת המודרניים והמדיה החברתית.
לחוק ישנן גם השלכות אישיות. כפי שכתב אחד מחברינו: “אני מתנגד מושבע של ה-BDS, אבל חתמתי על עצומה הקוראת להחרמת מוצרים מההתנחלויות בגדה המערבית. האם אני, שחייתי בישראל במשך 12 שנה, כיהנתי כיושב ראש מחלקה באוניברסיטה ישראלית, שירתי בצבא, והגנתי על ישראל בפורומים ציבוריים רבים, אורשה להיכנס למדינה בפעם הבאה שארצה לבקר את בתי?” בדומה לכך, אנשים שאינם ישראלים לא יוכלו עוד להשתתף באירועים משפחתיים, בשל דעותיהם.
עמיתינו האמריקאים והציבור האמריקאי ככלל מסכימים כי פעילות ציבורית למען חרם – תהיה התנגדותנו לתנועת ה-BDS עזה ככל שתהיה – היא מימוש של עיקרון חופש הביטוי, וענישה או איום בענישה בגין פעילות כזו היא הפרה של זכויות יסוד.
אסור לישראל להפוך לישות מבודדת הפתוחה רק למי שדוגל במדיניותה הרשמית. ישראל כבר התמודדה בעבר עם חרמות כלכליים ותרבותיים והצליחה לפתח כלכלה מתקדמת ותרבות תוססת, תוך שמירה על מרחב ציבורי דינמי, המאפשר שיח ציבורי ער. בידוד, כמו זה שהמדינה כופה על עצמה עכשיו, יוכל רק לחבל בתנאי יסוד זה לקיומו של שיח דמוקרטי.
חוק זה אינו פוגע רק באקדמאים. אף יותר מכך, הוא מסכן את חיוניותה של ההוויה הישראלית. הוא יגביר את בידודה של ישראל ביעילות רבה יותר מכל הישג אליו הצליחה תנועת ה-BDS להגיע עד היום.
AIS AND THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION STATEMENT
Dear AIS Members,
We have been asked by the American Historical Association, with whom we are affiliated, whether we would like to join them and other affiliates in the statement found attached that supports the remission of the recent directive against the entry of citizens from seven Muslim Middle Eastern countries. The statement is similar to those issued by other academic as well as civil organizations. I received only enthusiastic endorsement from AIS Board members for joining in the statement of the American Historical Association. This is the link to the statement and of a list of academic associations affiliated with the AHA that have also joined just in the last day.The list represents many tens of thousands of academics. Note that the AJS and various departments across the country are organizing their own statements.
This spontaneous movement of protest is spreading rapidly across the United States. As such, and as an American-based academic organization founded in the states and legally based there although with a significant foreign membership, we have joined with fellow associations in this movement.
See: http://blog.historians.org/2017/01/aha-condemns-executive-order-restricting-entry-united-states/