A prominent Arab-Israeli writer will speak on the Syracuse University campus Thursday in an event that organizers hope will broaden attendees’ understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Sayed Kashua, will be speaking at 7 p.m. Thursday in Maxwell Auditorium. Kashua’s talk will be followed by a brief question-and-answer session. The event is hosted by the student organization LIME: An Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue Group.

Kashua is the winner of the Bernstein Prize, a prestigious literary award given out to writers annually in Israel. He has penned three books including “Dancing Arabs,” “Let it Be Morning” and “Second Person Singular.” “Dancing Arabs” was made into a feature film, which premiered in 2014 at the Telluride Film Festival.

Zach Zeliff, president of LIME, said he looks forward to Kashua’s talk as a way for people to understand the complexities of being an Arab-Israeli and how it affects politics.

“It’s a unique opportunity for us since a lot of our events tend to be politically focused and Sayed Kashua represents a cultural aspect, which is a pretty important part of the discussion we struggle to engage with a lot,” Zeliff said.

He added that the goal of LIME is to bring these complicated conversations to the Syracuse community in order to broaden the understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In addition, Kashua writes a weekly satirical column in Hebrew for the newspaper Ha’artez. He is best known for creating and writing the critically acclaimed sitcom “Arab Labor” in Israel. The show pokes fun at the cultural divide that exist in Israel though the main characters love-hate relationship with his identity as Arab-Israeli.

Much of Kashua’s work focuses on the dualities of his identity as an Arab-Israeli and the problems facing Arabs living in Israel. Kashua was born in the predominantly Arab town of Tira, Israel and then moved to Jerusalem, where he lived for 25 years. In 2014, Kashua decided to move to Illinois with his wife, daughter and two sons.

“I hope Mr. Kashua speaks about why he finally decided to move to the U.S. after trying to blend in the Israeli community as a citizen of the country regardless of his ethnicity, and how this might have been a failure based on his experience,” said Nour Taher, a member of LIME’s e-board.

Jeff Spivak, vice president of LIME, added that he hopes that Kashua will discuss his experience living in Israel as an Arab and the complexities that it entails. He said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict consists of many divergent narratives, and Kashua has a unique view of them being at the forefront of Israeli literary culture.

Published on March 25, 2015 at 11:51 pm

Contact Rahimon: rnasa@syr.edu