Birzeit University’s Ibrahim Abu Lughod Institute for International Studies (IALIIS), in collaboration with the Department of Political Science, hosted on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 a roundtable discussion entitled “The Death of Politics in Palestine,” moderated by visiting professor Nubar Hovsepian.

Professor of History at the IALIIS Roger Heacock opened the discussion, welcoming Hovsepian and student and faculty member attendees. “It’s our pleasure to host Professor Hovsepian at the Abu Lughod Institute, as he’s a friend of Birzeit University and all Palestinians,” he said.

 

 

Hovsepian then explored thinker Edward Said's views on the democratic secular state and its relationship to binationalism, the two-state idea, and other issues. He raised a number of open-ended questions for discussion such as: “Is there still an Arab-Israeli conflict?” and “What is the relationship between the one-state and two-state solutions, and how might each of them address the refugee right of return?”

The moderator highlighted the idea that politics in the Arab world is “dead,” or that political thought in the region has succumbed to doctrinal and sectarian thinking, using Lebanon as an example. He added that it seems time to retrieve political thinking from authoritarian authorities that have altered and distorted political language.

After Hovsepian’s introduction, the audience engaged in a valuable discussion with some agreeing with Hovsepian’s arguments and others taking issue with his ideas.

In closing, Institute Director Abdul Karim Al Barghouthi thanked Professor Hovsepian and the audience for their participation and said that he hopes such round tables will continue through other prominent thinkers.

Following the round table, the Public Relations Office queried Hovsepian on his relationship with the university and Palestinians. Hovsepian noted that he considers the university a key institution that serves the nation, and that it is an honor that the university has an institute named for his friend, Ibrahim Abu Lughod. “My belonging to Palestine is linked to the justice of the case,” he went on. “I consider the Palestinian cause a universal one and that’s why it interests me.”

Nubar Hovsepian is associate professor of Political Science and International Studies at Chapman University in Orange, California. He has published and contributed to several books, including The War on Lebanon (2008) and Palestinian State Formation: Education and the Construction of National Identity (2008). Currently, he is working on a book entitled Edward W. Said: The Politics of a Public Intellectual.