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Mordechai Zaken

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Mordechai Zaken
מוטי/מרדכי זקן
BornApril 26, 1958
DiedMay 14, 2021
Other namesMoti Zaken
EducationPhD, 2003
Alma materHebrew University of Jerusalem
OccupationAdvisor to the Prime Minister on Arab & Minority Affairs
Years activeMay 1997 – November 1999
EmployerIsrael
OrganizationThe Israel-Kurdistan Friendship League

Mordechai Zaken also Moti Zaken (Hebrew: מוטי/מרדכי זקן; Arabic: مردخاي زاكين) (April 26, 1958 – May 14, 2021)[1] was a historian and the 2019 laureate of "the Prime Minister Prize for the research of the Jews of the Orient."[2][3][4][5] He was an expert on the Kurds and Middle Eastern minorities both as academic – he was historian of the Jews, the Kurds in Kurdistan[6] and as professional - serving as the advisor on Israeli Arabs and minorities to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (1997–1999), and to the Ministry of Public Security from 2001.[4]

Education, expertise, prizes

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Zaken earned his BA, MA, cum laude, and PhD (2003) in Islamic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He studied as well in the US in both SUNY Binghamton and New York University (1987-1990). Among his influential teachers were Moshe Sharon,[7] Benjamin Z. Kedar and the late semitic linguist Gideon Goldenberg [he], with whom he published the Book of Ruth in Neo-Aramaic.[8] He published another Neo-Aramaic text in a book honoring Goldenberg's jubilee.[9]

On 6 March 2019, he was announced as the laureate of "the Prime Minister Prize for the Empowerment of the research of the Jews of the Orient and Iran."[10][11]

New oral history documentation on the Jews of Kurdistan

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The severe dearth of written sources on Kurdistan, drove him as a student to embark on oral history fieldwork research, conducting altogether hundreds of in-depth oral interviews with more than sixty elderly Jewish Kurdish informants, whose excellent memory was the product of oral culture. He thus saved their memories from being lost forever.[12] This study forms a new set of historical records. His book on the Jews and the tribal Kurdish society has received wide attention and commended even in its Arabic translation, published in Beirut, as an "innovation,"[13][14][15][16][17][18] and has been translated as well into Kurdish, in both Sorani and Kurmanji, Persian and French.[19][20][3][4]

Prime Minister's Advisor on Arabs & Minorities Affairs

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Expertise in the Arab Minorities in Israel

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As advisor to the Prime Minister on Arab affairs at the Prime Minister ministry (May 1997 – November 1999) he was engaged in the complex relations between the government and the communities of minorities. In 2016, within the Public Security Ministry, he formed a new governmental forum for dialogue with local Arab leaders.[21][22][23][24][25]

Forming the Government-Christian Forum

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As an advisor on minorities to both the prime minister and the ministry of Public Security[26] he has been standing up against hate crimes.[27][28][29][30][31][32]

In 2013 he initiated with Christian leaders the Government – Christians Forum that addresses the concerns of the Evangelical Christian community vis a vis the government.[33][34][35] Two prominent Christian leaders in this forum have been Rev. Kopp, of the Baptist Church and Rev. David Pillegi, Rector of the Christ Church in Jaffa Gate.[27][28][29][30][31][36]

Founding the Israeli-Kurdistan Friendship league

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A newsletter entitled "Yedidut [he]" (Hebrew, Friendship) edited in 1993 in Jerusalem, as one of the first steps of the newly established "Israeli-Kurdistan Friendship League", to send the message across to the Kurdish people in Kurdistan and the diaspora.

In 1993, he founded the Israeli-Kurdistan Friendship League, possibly the first friendship association between Jews and any community in the Arab states, together with Moshe Zaken and Meir Baruch, Michael Niebur and Mathew B. Hand, the last two with whom he edited the newsletter Yedidut.[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]

In October 2012 he visited Kurdistan at the invitation of the World Kurdish Forum and in October 2013 participated in, and delivered a presentation for this forum that was held in Stockholm, Sweden.[47]

The dispute between Muslims and Christians in Nazareth

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He was the coordinator of the third Ministerial Committee set to resolve the dispute between Muslims and Christians in Nazareth regarding a dispute near the Basilica of the Annunciation, a dispute that concerned leaders throughout the world, such as the US president George W. Bush and the Pope John Paul. The daily presence of Muslim activists in the plaza near the old mosque, known as "Shihab al-Din," became an obstacle for the plan to build an open plaza for the historical visit of the Pope John Paul II in the year 2000.[48][49][50][51] He constructed the final draft for the cabinet resolution,[52] which was used by the State Attorney in the Supreme Court to repel the appeal against the government, in the years 2001–2003.[53][54]

Director of the Institute of Students and Faculty on Israel, in New York

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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). 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.

Journalism, media and public speaking

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In 1982, as Chief-Editor of the students' newspaper at the Hebrew University Pi-Ha'aton (פי האתון [he]) ("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" (שיירת נבי דניאל). He published the photograph and the story behind its discovery in a special Independence Day Edition, on 26 April 1982. He was also the Co-Chief editor of "Tipul Shoresh" (Heb., root canal treatment) an annual newspaper of the public activists' program at the Hebrew University, the circulation of which was stopped by the directors and university administration, due to its critical approach towards the university policy regarding social issues.[55][non-primary source needed] As a scholar, 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.[56][57][58][59][60]

He also spoke in public on these topics.[61][62][63][64][65][66][24][23][25][67][excessive citations]

Publications

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Thesis

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

Books (including translations)

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  • Jews of Kurdistan & Their tribal Chieftains: A study in survival, by Mordechai (Moti) Zaken, 2nd and Revised EBook Edition, (Jerusalem:2015).
  • Zaken, Mordechai (2007). Jewish Subjects and their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A Study in Survival. Jewish Identities in a Changing World. Vol. 9. Leiden and Boston: Brill. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004161900.i-376. ISBN 978-90-47-42212-9. S2CID 128667433.
  • Arabic translation:Yahud Kurdistan wa-ru'as'uhum al-qabaliyun: Dirasa fi fan al-baqa' هود كردستا ورؤساؤهم القبليون: (دراسة في فن البقاء) (in Arabic). Translated by Khader, Su'ad Muhammad. Beirut: Academic Center for Research. 2013. ISBN 9789953887555.
  • 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

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Selected book chapters

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References

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  1. ^ המשרד לביטחון הפנים, death notice by the Ministry of Homeland Security on Facebook
  2. ^ Israel Hayom, 6 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b Siani, Simcha. "Awarding of the Prime Minister's Prize for the Study of Israeli Communities" (in Hebrew).
  4. ^ a b c "פרס רה"מ לחקר מורשת יהודי המזרח הוענק לזוכים". Inn.co.il. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  5. ^ "פרס ראש הממשלה לעידוד והעצמת חקר קהילות ישראל בארצות ערב ואיראן לשנת תשע"ט הוענק עבור מחקריהם של הרב פרופ' משה עמאר, פרופ' יהודית הנשקה ודר מרדכי זקן".
  6. ^ His research is quoted and referred to by many scholars who deal with different subjects touched upon by Zaken. See for instance the following publications: Nader Entessar, Kurdish politics in the Middle East, Lexington Books, 2009:213; Michael Fischback, Jewish Property Claims Against Arab Countries, Columbia University Press, 2010: 215, 355.
  7. ^ "Professor Moshe Sharon". Archived from the original on 2018-11-18. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
  8. ^ "The Book of Ruth in Neo-Aramaic," [By] G. Goldenberg and M. Zaken, in W. Heinrichs (Ed.), Studies in Neo-Aramaic, Cambridge: Harvard Semitic Studies Series(1990): 151-157.
  9. ^ "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 [Heb.]
  10. ^ Israel Hayom, 6 March 2019. [verification needed]
  11. ^ Israel Hayom, 6 March 2019. [verification needed]
  12. ^ The Jews of Kurdistan & their Tribal Chieftains: A Study in Survival, by Mordechai (Moti) Zaken (Jerusalem, 2015), Rev. & 2nd EBook edition; 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; The book has recently published into Arabic by the Center for Academic Research in Beirut, 2013. Its importance may be viewed in the introductions of the editors of the book. The translator into Arabic Dr. Suad M. Khader explains: "This book is considered an important contribution to both the Kurdish and the Arabic library…the translation of this kind of book is considered an important necessity… the author introduced an important picture of this era of Kurdistan." Dr. Nasir al-Ka’bi, Director of the Center for Academic Research in Beirut wrote: "The major innovation of this study is the use of the verbal narrative (oral history) as it was clear that the other traditional and archival sources were not sufficient…" This study is distinct from other studies of the Jews of the Orient, as it concentrates on the nature of the relations of the Jews with their vicinities, namely the aghas and the masters; their relations with the authorities, the rulers and the leaders of the towns, which permits the political dimension, and their relations with the Muslims, including the religious dimension…"His book on the Jews and the tribal Kurdish society has received wide attention and commended even in its Arabic translation, published in Beirut, as an "innovation."
  13. ^ "the study is very detailed and provides much hitherto unknown information on Kurdish Jews and their relations with their Muslim neighbors... according to Rachel Simon of Princeton University, at the Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter, May/June 2008, Volume XXVII, No. 4 (PDF)". Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  14. ^ Jewish subjects and their tribal chieftains in Kurdistan : a study in survival. OCLC 646789877.
  15. ^ Zaken, Mordechai (January 2007). Amazon.com: Jewish Subjects and Their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan (Jewish Identities in a Changing World) (9789004161900): Mordechai Zaken: Books. BRILL. ISBN 978-9004161900.
  16. ^ The Ph.D. committee was composed by Prof. Moshe Sharon of the Hebrew University, Prof. Joyce Blau previously of INALCO, Paris, and Prof. Yona Sabar of UCLA
  17. ^ Zaken, Mordechai. "Announcesment of the publication of "Jewish subjects and their tribal chieftains in Kurdistan" in Arabic, in Beirut, 2013 - Jews of Kurdistan".
  18. ^ Yahud Kurdistan wa-ru'as'uhum al-qabaliyun: Dirasa fi fan al-baqa'. Transl., Su'ad M. Khader; Reviewers: Abd al-Fatah Ali Yihya and Farast Mir'i; Published by the Center for Academic Research, Beirut, 2013; يهود كردستان ورؤساؤهم القبليون : (دراسة في فن البقاء) / تأليف مردخاي زاكن ؛ ترجمة عن الانكليزية سعاد محمد خضر ؛ مراجعة عبد الفتاح علي يحيى، فرست مرعي. زاكن، مردخاي، ١٩٥٨م-;خضر، سعاد محمد; بيروت, 2013: المركز الأكاديمي للأبحاث;
  19. ^ D. MORDIXZI ZAKIN, CULEKEKANY KURDISTAN, ERBIL, 2015; French into Kurmanji translation of an article by Moti Zaken, "Jews, Kurds and Arabs, between 1941 and 1952", by Dr. Amr Taher Ahmed Metîn n° 148, October 2006, p. 98-123.
  20. ^ Juifs, Kurdes et Arabes, entre 1941 et 1952, Errance et Terre promise: Juifs, Kurdes, Assyro-Chaldéens, études kurdes, revue semestrielle de recherches, 2005: 7-43, translated by Sandrine Alexie.
  21. ^ al-akhbar (Nazareth, Arabic newspaper) 11 March 2016, front page article.
  22. ^ "Temple Mount Terror Attack Highlights Key Role of Israeli Druze Community". Algemeiner.com.
  23. ^ a b Solomon, Ariel Ben (19 July 2017). "Jerusalem terror and the split between minorities". The Jewish Star.
  24. ^ a b Solomon, Ariel Ben (2017-01-23). "After Bedouin Riots, Israeli Arabs Set Violent Precedent for Future Demolitions of Illegal Communities". Jewish News Syndicate.
  25. ^ a b Solomon, Ariel Ben (2017-01-03). "Israeli Arabs living the good life, but some are still working to undermine the state". Jewish News Syndicate.
  26. ^
  27. ^ a b "Christians, Israeli Jews Fight Persecution Together". Christian Coalition of America. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  28. ^ a b "Christians in Israel Must Be Treated with Respect". Voice of Israel. Archived from the original on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  29. ^ a b "Government Official Visits Vandalized Church" (Press release). Ministry of Public Security. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  30. ^ a b "ISRAELI GOVERNMENT IN SOLIDARITY WITH VANDALIZED CHURCH". Jerusalem News Network. 2012-02-28. Archived from the original on 2014-06-07. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  31. ^ a b "Israeli gov. official in solidarity with vandalized church". Israel Today. Archived from the original on 2015-11-27. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  32. ^ "Jerusalem Church Defaced With Hateful Graffiti" (PDF). 2012-03-01. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-09. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  33. ^ al-Akhbar, 4 November 2015; al-akhbar, 11 November 2015.
  34. ^ Mitchell, Chris (30 June 2015). "Israel Steps Up Efforts to Protect Christian Community". CBN.com. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  35. ^ Solomon, Ariel Ben (2015-10-14). "Analysis: Arab-Israeli MKs of Joint List opting for conflict instead of cooperation". The Jerusalem Post.
  36. ^ "al-Akhbar", Arabic newspaper printed in Nazareth, writes extensively about the Forum, in its front page and page 5, on October 14, 2016
  37. ^ "Israeli-Kurdish Friendship League". Israeli-kurdish-friendship-league.blogspot.com. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  38. ^ Turkey and the World: A Complete English Bibliography of Turkey and Turks, p. 174, at Google Books
  39. ^ Eşref Günaydın, Yahudi Kürtler, Babil´in Kayıp Çocukları, 2003, p. 55.
  40. ^ Israel Shahak (1997). Open Secrets: Israeli Foreign and Nuclear Policies. Pluto Press. p. 77.
  41. ^ "عبدالله جاسم ريكاني".
  42. ^ "Türkiye Yeni Bir "SEVR"e Doğru Gidiyor". Hakikat.com. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  43. ^ "Foremost expert on Kurdish Jews, Mordechai Zaken, dies". Point of No Return. 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  44. ^ Ofra Bengio (June 2014). "Surprising Ties between Israel and the Kurds". Middle East Forum.
  45. ^ Laçiner, Sedat (6 January 2019). Turkey and the World: A Complete English Bibliography of Turkey and Turks. USAK Books. ISBN 9789756698082 – via Google Books.
  46. ^ "The Wandering Kurd," (Hebrew) Davar, 2 December 1994.
  47. ^ admin. ""The Jews their Aghas," Dr. Moti) Zaken, the 3rd "World Kurdish Congress," Stockholm 2013 - Jews of Kurdistan".
  48. ^ "4 IDF Soldiers Dead, At Least 10 People Wounded by Hamas; 40 Rockets Fired By Hezbollah | VFI News". vfinews.com. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  49. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-06-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  50. ^ Elaine Ruth Fletcher, SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER (23 April 1999). "Nazareth mosque plan splits Muslims, Christians". SFGate.
  51. ^ "Israel Sets Forth Compromise Plan on Nazareth Mosque Dispute". The New York Times. 20 April 1999.
  52. ^ "Israel Sets Forth Compromise Plan". The New York Times. April 20, 1999.
  53. ^ "Missing Page Redirect". Cwnews.com. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  54. ^ "271295". istanbul.indymedia.org. February 2011.[dead link]
  55. ^ "טיפול שורש". Arabjewsarchive.wordpress.com. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  56. ^ Zaken, Mordechai (2016-10-14). "Minderheiten in Israel: Zwischen staatlicher Fürsorge und langsamer Assimilierung" [Minorities in Israel: Between state care and slower Assimilation]. Gelleschaft für bedrohte Völker (in German).
  57. ^ Frantzman, Seth J. (29 November 2017). "MKs unite to support Kurdish people at Knesset". The Jerusalem Post.
  58. ^ Solomon, Ariel Ben (18 July 2017). "Temple Mount terror attack highlights sharp dichotomy between Israeli minorities". Jewish News Syndicate.
  59. ^ Sherwani, Leyla H. (2017-07-08). "Remnants of Jewish Neighborhood in Zakho on Verge of Collapse". BAS News. Archived from the original on 2017-08-10.
  60. ^ Gil, Ines (5 October 2017). "Au Kurdistan irakien, la difficile renaissance du judaïsme (2/2)" [In Iraqi Kurdistan, the difficult rebirth of Judaism (2/2)] (in French).
  61. ^ Zaken, Mordechai (2015-01-15). מרכז דהאן - יהודי כורדיסטן: זהות ומורשת - ד"ר מוטי זקן [Dahan Center - The Jews of Kurdistan: Identity and Heritage - Dr. Moti Zaken] (Symposium) (in Hebrew). Dahan Center – via YouTube.
  62. ^ A conference on the Jews of Kurdistan, Ben-Zvi Institute for the study of Oriental Jewry, 15 October 2015
  63. ^ Solomon, Ariel Ben (26 August 2014). "Tehran seeks to overcome Western influence by supplying weapons to Kurds". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  64. ^ Lowenstien, Nitza (2015-08-28). Dr Mordechai Zaken, Kurds and Kurdish Jews Hebrew Interview (Podcast Interview) (in Hebrew).
  65. ^ Solomon, Ariel Ben (13 July 2015). "Iran deal could lead to improved covert Arab-Israel cooperation". The Jerusalem Post.
  66. ^ Solomon, Ariel Ben (12 November 2015). "So are there Jews in Kurdistan?". The Jerusalem Post.
  67. ^ Alesvich, Matt (2018-08-15). "Iraq's Kurdish Jews look to the future with hope and scepticism". Middle East Eye.
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