There the attitude toward the Palestinians is filled with ambivalence. On the one hand, the conflict is repeatedly functionalized as an instrument for creating unity and identity, to reject Israel and the Western world; on the other hand, there is no true unity among the neighboring Arab states, for too many specific, divergent interests exercise their influence throughout the entire region.

Thus, at this symposium historians and journalists will discuss the "Construction of the History of Palestine" primarily from an Arab point of view. However, the perspective of the "new Israeli historians" is another focus. Finally, the cultural reception and representation of Palestine in modern Arab art will be thematized, as well as the conflict's influence on Arab cultural production as a whole.

Program
Sat. March 22
2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

On the Construction of Palestinian History
Lectures followed by discussion

The Expulsion and the Palestinians' Historical Consciousness

Elias Sanbar, writer and Editor in Chief of the "Revue d'études palestiniennes", Paris

The Formation of a National Identity

Issam Nassar, Professor of History, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem

Israel and al Nakba: the 1948 War from the Point of View of the "New Israeli Historians"

Dominique Vidal, acting Editor in Chief of "Le Monde Diplomatique", Paris

Moderator: Birgit Schäbler, Professor of West Asian History, University of Erfurt

5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Palestine in Modern Arab Culture
Lectures followed by discussion

Who Is a Palestinian Writer?

Elias Khoury, writer, culture editor of "An-Nahar", Beirut

Artistic Innovation and the Palestinian Image

Kamal Boullata, painter and author, Menton/Jerusalem

Literature and Identity

Moderator: Maher Jarrar, Professor of Literary Studies, American University of Beirut, presently Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin

Language: English and German with simultaneous translation

Concept and organization:
Sven Arnold and Thomas Hartmann in cooperation with Elias Khoury