Invitation to Public Talks: Jewish
Perspectives on Israel/Palestine
Prof Illan Pappe & Dr. Heidi Grunebaum
“Myths and Truths about the Land of
Israel”
Thursday, 31 July 2014
Room 222, Arts Building, c/o Merriman and Ryneveldt Streets, Stellenbosch
18:00 – Public Lectures/ Discussion
19:30 – Soup, Bread & Drinks
Please RSVP by 30 July to psc.stellenbosch@gmail.com
Hosted by Stellenbosch University’s Sociology and Social Anthropology Department, Kairos
Southern Africa and
the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) Stellenbosch on invitation of Muslim Views who is
responsible for the South African tour
Background to the topic
The Israel-Palestine conflict is often viewed as so complex that no-one seems to know how it started
or how to go forward. Such views lead to feelings of hopelessness and inertia and play into the hand
of Zionist myths. The discussion will uncover myths such as “Palestine was a land without a people”,
“Israel is about to be pushed into the sea”, “Israel wants peace for all” and “the exodus of Palestinian
refugees in 1948 was a voluntary mass relocation” as portrayed by Jewish and Christian Zionist
ideology.
These myths need to be uncovered not only for scholarly reasons or because it’s interesting.
Amongst other, social relations and particularly the role of South Africa in either perpetuating the
oppression of another people through our myths and ignorance or acting in solidarity, demand
clarity.
The event offers the opportunity to reflect critically on common myths to advance an understanding
of the historical political domination of the Palestinian People by the State of Israel.
More about the speakers
In the 1980s, a group of Israeli historians challenged the traditional Zionist view of the events leading
up to and including the 1948 Declaration and War of Independence. Prof. Pappe is one of these
historians who argue that the violence and war crimes that accompanied the transfer of the
Palestinian population to the West Bank and Gaza was a conscious strategy for ethnic cleansing. He is
an Israeli historian from the College of Social Sciences and International Studies, Director of
European Centre for Palestine Studies, and Co-director of the Centre for Ethno-Political Studies,
University of Exeter, UK.
Dr. Heidi Grunebaum is a scholar, writer and senior researcher at the Centre for Humanities
Research, University of the Western Cape. Her work focuses on memory and trauma; the afterlives of
war and genocide; and psycho-geographies of displacement in South Africa, Germany and, more
recently, Palestine/Israel. Her exploration mirrors that of Prof. Pappe through challenging the
dominant mainstream Zionist myths.
About PSC Stellenbosch and Kairos Southern Africa
PSC Stellenbosch is a group of people drawn together out of its concern for the human rights
violations by Israel over the Palestinian people. Kairos Southern Africa is an ecumenical voice from
within the Christian community, inspired by the contextual and liberation theology tabled in the 1985
South African Kairos document. Both PSC Stellenbosch and Kairos South Africa support the
Palestinian peoples’ right to self-determination, oppose Israel’s systematic violation of the human
rights of Palestinians, endorse the human rights and the dignity of both Israelis and Palestinians and
join with like-minded others to work towards a sustainable, just peace based on international law.
Previous events hosted by PSC Stellenbosch and Kairos SA include the showing of three films on
Israel/Palestine, as well as addresses by Israeli author Miko Peled and Dr. Mitri Raheb, a Christian
Palestinian theologian.
We look forward to welcoming you on 31 July. Feel free to bring friends.
Please RSVP by 30 July to psc.stellenbosch@gmail.com