Mordechai Zaken

Dr. Mordechai (Moti) Zaken

Mordechai Zaken also Moti Zaken (Hebrew: מוטי/מרדכי זקן‎‎; Arabic: مردخاي زاكين ‎‎), born 1958 in Jerusalem, is an expert on the Kurds and Middle Eastern minorities, both by academic training - he is historian of the Jews, the Kurds and the Assyrian Christians in Kurdistan, and by professional practice. He served as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advisor on Israeli Arabs and minorities during his first term (1997–1999), and has been serving as advisor in the Ministry of Public Security from 2001.

Education and Expertise

He earned his BA (Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies), (MA, Cum Laude), and PhD (2003), in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was also given grants and studied in the United States in both Binghamton University and New York University (1987-1990). Among his influential teachers were Moshe Sharon,^[1] under whom he studied Islamic history; Benjamin Z. Kedar, historian of medieval history, under whom he studied comparative history, and the late semitic linguist Gideon Goldenberg, with whom he published the Book of Ruth in Neo-Aramaic.^[2] He published another Neo-Aramaic text in a book honoring Goldenberg's jubilee.^[3][4]

New oral history sources on the Jews and the tribal Kurdish society

Because of the severe dearth of written and archival sources on Kurdistan, he initiated oral history fieldwork research, focusing on the Jews and the tribal Kurdish society. He conducted altogether hundreds of one-on-one oral history interviews with more than sixty Kurdish Jewish informants, thus saving their memories from being lost forever.^[5] This study forms a new set of historical records^[6][7] and was commended^{[8][9][10][11]} His book on the Jews and the tribal Kurdish society has received wide attention in both academic and public circles and has been translated into several languages, notably in the Middle East, including Arabic, in Beiruth,^[12] and Kurdish, in Kurdistan, in both Sorani and Kurmanji^[13] as well as Persian and French.^[14][15]

Prime Minister Advisor on Minority Affairs

Cooperating with minority leaders and confronting hate crimes

As the advisor on Israeli Arabs and minorities affairs to both the Israeli Prime Minister and the Ministry of Public Security, Mordechai Zaken maintained close contact with representatives of religious and ethnic minorities.^{[16][17][18][19][20]} He has been the standing up against hate crimes^[21] directed against minorities in Israel.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]}

The dispute over the Mosque in Nazareth

He was the coordinator of the third Ministerial Committee that resolved the dispute between Muslims and Christians in Nazareth, near the Basilica of the Annunciation. The public activity and daily presence of Muslim activists around the outdoor mosque, known as "Shihab al-Din," became an obstacle for the plan to built an open plaza for the expected visit of the Pope John Paul II in the year 2000.^{[36][37][38][39]} He constructed the final draft for the cabinet resolution,^[40] which was used by the State Attorney in the Supreme Court to repel the appeal against the government, in the years 2001-2003.^[41][42]

Public Security Ministry

The Israeli "Government-Christians Forum"

Dr. Zaken initiated two official forums enchancing cooperation with representatives of the minorities, the Government - Christians Forum and the Government - Arab Society Forum.^[43] in 2013 and 2015 respectively, within the Ministry of Public security. The Government-Christians Forum addresses the timely concerns of Christian leaders vis-à-vis the authorities.^{[44][45][46][47]} The Israeli "Government-Christians Forum" was initiated in Jerusalem in 2013, by Dr. Mordechai Zaken, in his role as head of the Minorities Affairs Desk, at the Ministry of Public Security, to address and promote concerns of Christians leaders and representatives in Israel. The decision to establish this forum followed many years of informal and private discussions with activists and leaders in an attempt to address their concerns vis-à-vis government agencies and ministries. Two of the prominent leaders in the side of the Christians helping in establishing this forum have been Rev. Charles (Chuck) Kopp, the prominent leader of the Baptist Church in Jerusalem and Rev. David Pillegi, Rector of the Christ Church.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][48][31][32]} On 27 September 2016, the Forum was held at the 7th time since its inauguration. The aim was not only to improve the relations with the Airport Authorities but also to promote a new idea to appoint “trusted liaisons” to the airport, in order to help reduce any potential negative experiences for Christian visitors. The meeting was attended by representatives of government ministries and more than 40 representatives of Christian groups and of NGOs. Dr. Moti Zaken the head of the Minority Affairs at the Public Security ministry concluded: "the idea promoted by us to appoint "airport trustees" by Christian groups has been received by the Airport Authority, in order to facilitate entry and exit of Christian tourists to Israel, and this is the first time that something like this is possible. This kind of initiative should not be taken lightly, it is a historic step."^[49]Report of the Christ Church in JerusalemReport of the Public Security Ministry in Jerusalem about the recent meeting of the Forum in 27 September 2016

The Institute of Students and Faculty on Israel (ISFI) in New York

National Director of ISFI

Moti Zaken served as the last National Director of ISFI, or "The Institute of Students and Faculty on Israel," in New York, an organization under the auspices of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Consulate in New York City (1989 -1991). is a flyer distributed by ISFI in universities during the late 1980s and early 1990s ISFI provided political and cultural resources, ideas and tools, for Jewish and pro-Israel student activists throughout the US and Canada, through which Israeli oriented activities and the message of Israel could be promoted in US campuses."ISRAEL ACTIVIST CALENDAR" was originated by ISFI leaders and activists to promote Israeli oriented activities in campuses and in communities in the US

Public Activity

Founding the Israeli-Kurdistan Friendship League

In 1993, he founded the Israeli-Kurdistan Friendship League, possibly the first and only friendship association between Jews and Muslim community in an Arab country, together with Moshe Zaken and Meir Baruch. With Michael Niebur and Mathew B. Hand he edited the newsletter Yedidut (i.e., friendship).^{[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]}This is the newsletter called "YEDIDUT" (Hebrew, "Friendship") initiated by the main activists of the Israeli-Kurdistan Friendship League and sent to Kurdish activists and organizatins worldwide.In 1994 he visited the Kurdish centers in London and met with exiled leaders and representatives of the Kurdish community and published it in north Hebrew and English.http://books.google.co.il/books?id=WwANI7eOBJoC&pg=PA174&dq=israeli+kurdish+friendship+league&hl=iw&sa=X&ei=XZz4U462I87n7Abbp4HgCg&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=israeli%20kurdish%20friendship%20league&f=false^[58]

Journalism, Media and Public Speaking

In 1982, as Chief-Editor of the students' newspaper at the Hebrew University "Pi-Ha'aton" (Heb., "The donkey's mouth," taken from the Book of Numbers, 22:28), one of his main journalistic achievements was the unearthing of an old photograph from 1948, taken by Arabs and showing mutilated faces and bodies of Jewish soldiers that were part of an army unit that later became known as "Nabi Daniel caravan." He published the photograph and the story behind its discovery in a special Independense Day Edition, on 26 April 1982. As a scholar, Dr. Zaken has been a frequent guest in radio and TV programs, speaking mostly on the Kurds and the minorities in the Middle East, and has been interviewed by newspapers as an expert on these subjects. He also speaks in public on these topics.radio interview radio interviewradio interviewradio interviewradio interview radio interview ^{[59][60][60][61][62] [63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82]}

Publications

Thesis (Ph.D.), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2003

• "Tribal Chieftains and their Jewish Subjects in Kurdistan: A Comparative Study in Survival," PhD dissertation, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2003.

Books (including translations)

• Jews of Kurdistan & Their tribal Chieftains: A study in survival," by Mordechai (Moti) Zaken, 2nd and Revised EBook Edition, "(Jerusalem:2015).^[83]
• Jewish Subjects and their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A Study in Survival, in Jewish Identities in a Changing World, vol. 9 (Leiden and Boston): Brill, 2007. (Review of the book)
• Arabic translation: Yahud Kurdistan wa-ru'as'uhum al-qabaliyun: Dirasa fi fan al-baqa'. Transl., Su'ad M. Khader; Published by the Academic Center for Research, Beirut, 2013; يهود كردستان ورؤساؤهم القبليون : (دراسة في فن البقاء) / تأليف مردخاي زاكن ؛ ترجمة عن الانكليزية سعاد محمد خضر; بيروت, 2013  : المركز الأكاديمي للأبحاث.^[84]
• Sorani translation: D. Mordixai Zakin, Gulekekany Kurdistan, Sulaimaniyya and Arbil: 2015.
• Kurmanji translation of one part of the book: "Jews, Kurds and Arabs, between 1941 and 1952", by Dr. Amr Taher Ahmed Metîn n° 148, October 2006, p. 98-123.
• French translation of one part of the book: "Juifs, Kurdes et Arabes, entre 1941 et 1952," Errance et Terre promise: Juifs, Kurdes, Assyro-Chaldéens, etudes kurdes, revue semestrielle de recherches, 2005: 7-43, translated by Sandrine Alexie.

Selected lectures or conference participation

• The third World Kurdish Scientific Congress, Stockholm, October 11–13, 2013.^[85]
• The Second World Kurdish Scientific Congress, Erbil, Kurdistan, October 11–15, 2012.
• Keynote Speech; "Genocide, Minorities and Memories", Symposium and Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 22 April 2012.
• "Jews, Kurds and Palestinians", address to the German Parliament in Berlin, 22 October 2010.^[86][87]

Selected articles

• The Lost from the Land of Ashur - the migrations from Kurdistan and the settlement in Eretz-Israel, in A. Mizrahi and A. Ben-David, eds., The Tribes - Evidence of Israel, Exile, Immigrations, Absorption, Contribution and Integration, 2001: 340-373, Hebrew.^[88]
• Inventors’ Fate" A Folk-Tale in the Neo-Aramaic of Zakho, in M. Bar-Asher (ed.), Massorot: Studies in Language Traditions and Jewish Languages, vols. 9, 10, 11 (1997): 383-395, Hebrew.^[89]
• The Book of Ruth in Neo-Aramaic, by Gideon Goldenberg and Mordechai Zaken, in W. Heinrichs (Ed.), Studies in Neo-Aramaic, Cambridge: Harvard Semitic Studies Series (1990): 151-157.

References

External links

• Dr Mordechai (Moti) Zaken at the World Kurdish Congress, Stockholm, 13 October 2014: 1,2, 3, 4
• Information and reviews of the book by Mordechai Zaken
• Review of the book by Mordechai Zaken
• networks.h-net.org
• On YouTube: 1, 2, 3