The isolation of house arrest, film as a tool for political expression, and the serpentine nature of Iranian cinema all arise in this thoughtful conversation about Jafar Panahi’s documentary, This is Not a Film (2011) between Anna Brusutti (UCSB) and Hamid Naficy (Northwestern University). Naficy and Brusutti’s wide-ranging discussion explores the wit and creativity of the film, the state of Iranian filmmaking, and the importance of cinema to engage entrenched political power. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 35342]

Conflict and tensions in the Middle East have reached their highest point in years. Tensions and the risk of confrontation are growing between the U.S. and Iran, as well as between Iran and U.S. regional allies. Tzipi Livni, former Foreign Minister of Israel, reflects on whether increased tensions in the region can help create new opportunities for peace and stability. She explores, in particular, the threats Israel faces that may threaten an already fragile status quo. Tzipi Livni is the featured speaker for the 2019 Herb York Memorial Lecture, presented by UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation at UC San Diego. Series: "Herb York Memorial Lecture" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 35319]

The Trump Administration has an anti-ISIS military policy but has zeroed out reconstruction support for areas that have been liberated from ISIS in Syria. It has an anti-Iranian policy both rhetorically and economically, but it leaves containing the spread of Iran and the Shia militias in Syria to Israel and to the Russians and leaves Israel on its own to deal with the Russians. It has declared it will present a peace plan for the Israelis and Palestinians but at this point is unable to deal directly with the Palestinian Authority. In all these areas, there are elements of a policy but inconsistencies as well. The gap between objectives and means remains wide. Can it be bridged? Will we see an effective strategy for the area? And, what would an effective strategy look like? Dennis Ross will cover all this in his lecture. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 34373]

Author and Boston University law professor Pnina Lahav discusses her forthcoming biography, "Golda Meir: Through the Gender Lens." She explores the first and only woman prime minister of Israel, and her complex relationship with her role as a female leader in a man’s world. During the course of her legal career, Pnina Lahav has published nearly 50 journal articles and three books, including the critically acclaimed 'Judgment in Jerusalem: Chief Justice Simon Agranat and the Zionist Century'. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33257]

The political atmosphere of the Middle East may change with the new administration. David Makovsky Ziegler, Distinguished Fellow and Director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Ghaith Al-Omari, Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, discuss how the new administration's policies may impact the Israeli and Palestinian people and region. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 32098]

How did Zionist immigrants to early 20th century Palestine conceive of their new Arab neighbors, and how did the Arab natives make sense of the Jews arriving on Palestine’s shores? Drawing on his book Defining Neighbors: Religion, Race, and the Early Zionist-Arab Encounter, Jonathan Marc Gribetz argues that this fateful encounter was initially imagined very differently from the way it ultimately developed. The Late Ottoman period in Palestine was no utopia, but exploring this moment reveals that today’s hardened dividing lines are far from timeless; they have a fascinating history. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 31660]

Eli Berman, a former soldier for the Israel Defense Forces and now the research director for security studies for the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation and chair of the Economics department at UC San Diego, details the consequences of providing development assistance to areas in conflict, such as Syria or ISIS-controlled territories, and offers ideas on fight in asymmetrical civil wars in this talk presented by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UC San Diego. Series: "Osher UC San Diego Distinguished Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 31828]

Hasan Kayali, an associate professor of History at UC San Diego, surveys reaction in the Middle East to the election of Donald Trump. Trump. Series: "What's Next for Washington?" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 31745]

Bashar Matti Warda, a Chaldean Catholic cleric and the current Archbishop of Erbil, speaks on the role that the Christians of northern Iraq are playing in removing ISIS and fostering peace and forgiveness in this long-troubled region. Archbishop Warda is presented by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego. Series: "Peace exChange -- Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 31463]

Born in Jerusalem to parents who had fled Nazi Germany, Israeli journalist Tom Segev is a leading figure among the so-called New Historians, who have challenged many of Israel’s traditional narratives or “founding myths.” His books include, “The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust” (2000); “One Palestine Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate” (2000); “1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East” (2006); and “Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends” (2010). Segev is presented by the Holocaust Living History Workshop, a joint program of the UC San Diego Library and the Jewish Studies Program. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30122]