AMERICAN JEWRY AND THE “CRISIS OF ZIONISM”

Robert Rabil

Lifelong Learning Society Distinguished Professor of
Current Affairs 2012-2013
Recipient of the LLS 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award

DESCRIPTION: Since its inception as a vehicle of Jewish nationalism, Zionism has wedded humanitarian, moral, cultural and religious attributes to its ideology and core mission. American supporters and adherents of Zionism, regardless of their political orientation, have supported Israel as the embodiment of the Zionist ideal, taming their bias or opposition to some of Zionism’s attributes. This support, however, has recently come under stress on account of a combination of factors, ranging from concerns over Israel’s policies, to ideological and generational change in the polity of American Jewry.

Nothing reflects this condition more than Peter Beinart’s The Crisis of Zionism and the responses it elicited. This one-time lecture attempts to situate what is termed the “Crisis of Zionism” in the dual context of American-Israeli relations and American-Jewry’s relations with Israel. In so doing, we try to understand the different impulses underlying the “Crisis of Zionism” against a broad ideological and political background, regardless of the relative merits of perspectives.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Dr. Robert G. Rabil holds a Masters in Government from Harvard University and a PhD in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. He served as Chief of Emergency for the Red Cross in Lebanon, and was Project Manager of the U.S. State Department-funded Iraq Research and Documentation Project. He has written extensively on Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, U.S. Arab Relations, reform in the Arab world, radical Islam and terrorism. Dr. Rabil is a frequent speaker at major university campuses throughout the country. He lectures and participates in forums and seminars sponsored by the
U.S. government, including the U.S. Army and the National Intelligence Council. He currently is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and was recently conferred with an honorary PhD in humanities from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.