"Israel The Jewish State?": Conference Experts Assess Impact Of Religious Identity, Democratic Pluralism

University of Maryland/ Media AlertMarch 4, 2010 Israel the Jewish State?Top Israel Experts Will Assess Impact of Religious Identity, Democratic Pluralism  WHAT: 

University of Maryland/ Media AlertMarch 4, 2010 Israel the Jewish State?Top Israel Experts Will Assess Impact of Religious Identity, Democratic Pluralism  WHAT: Top Israel experts from the United States and Israel will meet to discuss the multifaceted challenges impacting the advancement of society and a sense of community in Israel. The University of Maryland’s Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies is sponsoring this event.  Media will have access to participants between sessions, at midday and at the conclusion. DAY 1: Sunday, March 7, College Park Campus Session 1 - Is Israel “The Jewish State”? How the avowed Jewish character of Israel influences or should influence the politics and government of the state. (9:15 to 10:45 a.m.)Keynote Address - Member of Knesset and former Minister of Education in Tel Aviv, Professor Yuli Tamir. (11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.)Session 2 - Do Jews in Israel Have Religious Freedom?The issue of pluralism; the competing goals and values of semi-official religious Orthodoxy and those of secular and non-orthodox religious groups and interests. (1:45 to 3:30 p.m.)Session 3 - Religion and Democracy in Israel: Are Judaism and Democratic Values Compatible?
Are citizens’ rights unacceptably diminished by Israel’s Jewish character? (4:00 to 5:45 p.m.) DAY 2: Monday, March 8, Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, D.C. Luncheon - Religion and the Israel-Palestinian Conflict: Religious values and ideologies - Jewish, Muslim, Christian - and their consequences for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Noon to 2 p.m.)
Co-sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars WHO: Bernard Avishai, adjunct professor, Hebrew University and a former senior editor of the Harvard Business Review;Adele Berlin, Robert H. Smith Professor Emerita of Hebrew Bible, University of Maryland;Bernard Cooperman, associate professor of history, University of Maryland and holder of the Louis L. Kaplan Chair;Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum, associate dean, Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem;Shlomo Fischer, teacher, School of Education at Hebrew University and fellow at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem;Aviad Hacohen, dean, Sha’arei Mishpat Academic College and senior lecturer of law at Hebrew University;Shlomo Hasson, professor of geography, School of Public Policy at Hebrew University and holds the Leon Safdie Chair at the Institute of Urban and Regional Studies;Kevin Klose, dean, University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism;Robert Litwak, vice president of programs and director of International Security Studies, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars;Edward N. Luttwak, senior associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies;Ilan Peleg, Charles A. Dana Professor of Government & Law, Lafayette College;Yoram Peri, Kay Professor of Israel Studies, University of Maryland and Director of the University’s Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies;Rabbi Avi Shafran, director public affairs, Agudath Israel of America’s;Saul Sosnowski, associate provost, International Affairs; director of the Institute for International Programs; and professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature at the University of Maryland;Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, University of Maryland;Yuli Tamir, Member of Knesset from the Labor Party since 2003 and has served as the Israeli Minister of Education and of Immigrant Absorption;Amiel Ungar, former professor, College of Judea and Samaria in Ariel and at Bar Ilan University;Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, chairman, Israel Task Force of the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism;Eric Zakim, associate professor for Hebrew language, literature and culture, University of Maryland. Complete Program: http://www.israelstudies.umd.edu/conference/ WHEN & WHERE: DAY 1: Sunday, March 7 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tyser Auditorium, Van Munching Hall, University of Maryland, College ParkDirections and Parking: http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/about/directions.aspx DAY 2: Monday, March 8 from Noon to 2 p.m., Ronald Reagan Building, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.Directions and parking: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.directions MORE EVENT INFORMATION AND RSVP:http://www.israelstudies.umd.edu/conference MEDIA CONTACT: Nicky EveretteCollege of Arts and Humanities Communications301-405-6714meve@umd.edu