Chazan when she delivered the Robert and Pamela Jacobs Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Life and Culture for 2004.The Robert and Pamela Jacobs Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Life and Culture, 2004
The College of Humanities and Fine Arts recently had the honor and pleasure of presenting Professor Naomi Chazan when she delivered the Robert and Pamela Jacobs Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Life and Culture for 2004.
A member of the Israeli Knesset from 1992-2003, Professor Chazan is noted for her interests in women's rights, civil rights, religious freedom, pluralism and peace; she served as Deputy Speaker, Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights, and as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committees. Professor Chazan is Professor of Political Science and African Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is currently the Robert Wilhelm Fellow at the Center for International Studies at MIT.
Naomi Chazan is a passionate voice for peace in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and gave a lecture that combined history, political theory and personal opinion delivered with a scholar's attention to detail tempered by deep emotion and occasional humor. She began by saying that while she wished she could be delivering an inspiring, optimistic speech she feared that it would instead be troubling. The next 45 minutes were spent reviewing the dynamics of the peace process over the last three years, or since the "second intafada," laying out the elements of the recent "Sharon Plan," and analyzing the implications of the changes that may result from the U.S. backed implementation of that plan.
"I am a political scientist by training, but I am also a politician," the Jerusalem born and raised professor told the 150 people gathered in Memorial Hall, "therefore I make absolutely no claim of objectivity." She then laid out the issues she felt were present and blocking constructive movement toward a sustainable peace. Professor Chazan's greatest concern is what she sees as the loss of a "negotiating track," in the current plan. The trend toward extremist control of the process has she says, led to a situation in which "what should be a dialogue has turned into a monologue." Her hope and recommendation is that the "package be unpacked," with what she feels the good elements of the plan brought forward while those that are not constructive are suppressed. "Let's take this plan and move it into a negotiating track," she urged her listeners.
The Roberta and Pamela Jacobs Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Life and Culture is the product of an endowment created by two of the College's alumni. Robert, (a 1968 graduate in Political Science,) and Pamela, (a 1969 graduate in English,) wanted to "create an opportunity to broaden an understanding of Jewish life and culture at the University level," and so established this series. We thank them and Professor Chazan, for the opportunity to host this thoughtful presentation on an issue that affects so much of the world today.