International Workshop on Bi-Nationalism

The Israel Democracy Institute | 4 Pinsker Street, Jerusalem

The Israel Democracy Institute's International Workshop on Bi-Nationalism was made possible by the generous support of The Goldhirsh Foundation

On May 26-27, 2010, The Israel Democracy Institute hosted an International Workshop on Bi-Nationalism. During this workshop, leading Israeli and International scholars explored the historical record of bi-nationalist polities, examined multi-national models, and debated the relevance of such models to the contemporary Middle East. They also discussed the nature of Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State.

The International Workshop on Bi-Nationalism was coordinated by IDI Senior Fellow Prof. Anita Shapira, the laureate of the 2008 Israel Prize for Jewish History.

 WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2010


09:30-10:00
Registration

10:00-13:00
SESSION 1: THE HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE

Chair: Dr. Arye Carmon, President, The Israel Democracy Institute

Speakers:

  • Prof. Ivo Banac, Yale University - "Yugoslavia and its Successors as Multi-National States"
  • Prof. Van Parijs, Professor, University of Louvain (Belgium); Hoover Chair in Economic and Social Ethics and Visiting Professor at Harvard University, Department of Philosophy - "Is a Bi-National Democracy Viable? A Tentative Answer in Light of Belgium's Achievements and Problems"
  • Dr. Matti Steinberg - "And the one people shall be stronger than the other people": Bi-Nationalism in the Era of Nationalism - the Arab Middle Eastern Context"
  • Prof. Tamar Hermann, Senior Fellow, The Israel Democracy Institute - "Past and Present - on the Evolution of the Bi-National Idea in the Israeli-Palestinian Context" (Hebrew)

Respondent: Prof. Shulamit Volkov, Department of History, Tel- Aviv University

Discussion


14:00-17:00
SESSION 2: THEORETICAL MODELS OF MULTI-NATIONAL STATES

Chair: Prof. Nili Cohen, Faculty of Law, Tel-Aviv University

Speakers:

  • Prof. Michael Walzer, Professor (Emeritus) of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton - "Five Regimes of Co-Existence"
  • Prof. Avishai Margalit, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton - "Why I am Not for a Bi-National State"
  • Prof. Ran Halevi, Centre national de la recherche scientifique; Centre de recherches politiques Raymond - "Plurality in the Shadow of Unity: The Fabric of the French Nation"
  • Prof. Shahar Lipshitz, Senior Fellow, The Israel Democracy Institute; Faculty of Law, Bar-Ilan University. - "Liberal Multi-Culturism as a Remedy to the Relationship Between State and Religion in Israel" (Hebrew)
  • Prof. Yaffa Zilbershatz, Faculty of Law, Bar-Ilan University - "Against Multi-Citizenship"


Respondent: Prof. Yoram Shachar, The Redzinger Law School, The Inter-Disciplinary Center, Herzliya

Discussion

THURSDAY, May 27, 2010


09:30-10:00
Assembly


10:00-13:00
SESSION 3: ISRAEL AS A JEWISH AND DEMOCRATIC STATE

Chair: Prof. (Emeritus) Benjamin Z. Kedar, Department of History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Speakers:

  • Prof. Haim Gans, Faculty of Law, Tel-Aviv University - "Israel as a Jewish State -Separating the Constitutional and the Political Spheres"
  • Dr. Alex Yakobson, Department of History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem - "National Identity and Citizenship in a Jewish and Democratic State"
  • Prof. Yedidia Stern, Vice President, Research, The Israel Democracy Institute; Law Faculty, Bar-Ilan University - "Jewish and/or Democratic?" (Hebrew)
  • Prof. Sami Smoocha, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Haifa University - "Bi-National State, Zionist State and In-Between"
  • Prof. Ruth Gavison, Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Respondent: Prof. Michael Walzer, Professor (Emeritus) of Social Science, Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton

14:00-17:00
ROUNDTABLE SUMMARIZING THE CONFERENCE

Chair: Prof. Anita Shapira, Senior Fellow, The Israel Democracy Institute; Department of Jewish History, Tel-Aviv University

Participants:

  • Dr. Sarah Ozacky-Lazar, Senior Fellow, Van Leer Institute
  • Dr. Meron Benvinisti
  • Dr. Alex Z. Yakobson, Department of History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Dr. Arye Carmon, President, The Israel Democracy Institute
  • Prof. (Emeritus) Asa Kasher, Department of Philosophy, Tel-Aviv University
  • Prof. Yedidia Stern, Vice President, Research, The Israel Democracy Institute; Law Faculty, Bar-Ilan University
  • Prof. Tamar Hermann, Senior Fellow, The Israel Democracy Institute

Discussion

Tags:
Arab citizens of Israel, 
Zionism, 
nationalism