Voices from Holy Land Online Film Salon: "Pogroms and Ethnic Cleansing - Now on Our Watch"

“We must expel the Arabs and take their place,” wrote David Ben-Gurion, one of Israel’s founding fathers and its first president, in a 1937 letter to his son.

That objective is euphemistically referred to as “transfer” in Israeli politics and policy. At our May Salon, a panel of experts will compare ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory with other forced removals of indigenous and ethnic groups in the 20th century. What are the legal definitions of “forced displacement”? How does it relate to “crimes against humanity” and “genocide”? What is the role of forced removal in the processes of colonization and nation-building? Does it always involve cultural erasure?

Watch the curated videos at your convenience before the event. Then join us with your thoughts and questions for our speakers at the Q&A Discussion with:

Peter Balakian-Professor, Colgate University; Pulitzer Prize winner for Ozone Journal book of poetry; author, The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response

William A. Schabas-Professor, Middlesex University; author; former Chairman, UN Commission of Inquiry into the Gaza conflict

Omar Haramy-Director of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem

Dina Matar-Director, Centre for Global Media and Communication, School of Law, SOAS, University of London

James Zogby (moderator)--co-founder and President of the Arab American Institute; author; political pollster