Mordechai Zaken

Mordechai Zaken also Moti Zaken (Hebrew: מוטי/מרדכי זקן‎; Arabic: مردخاي زاكين ‎), born 1958 in Jerusalem, is an expert on the Kurds and the 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 has been serving as advisor on Israeli Arabs and minorities to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his first term (1997–1999) and in successive Israeli governments (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 USA in both SUNY Binghamton and New York University (1987-1990). Among his influential teachers were Moshe Sharon, 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.[1] He published another Neo-Aramaic text in a book honoring Goldenberg's jubilee.[2]

Bringing to life New oral history sources on the Jews and the tribal Kurds

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.[3] This study forms a new set of historical records[4] and was commended Reviews of Thesis/book by his PhD judicial committee.[5] 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,[6] and Kurdish, in Kurdistan, in both Sorani and Kurmanji [7] as well as Persian and French.[8]

Advisor on Arab and Minority Affairs within the Government

Supporting co-existence with minorities 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.[9][10][11][12][13] He has been the standing up against hate crimes[14] directed against minorities in Israel.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] [27] [28] Dr. Zaken initiated two forums focusing on coexistence with the minorities, "Government - Christians Forum" and "Government - Arab Society Forum"[29] In 2013 and 2015 respectively, within the Ministry of Public security.[30][31]

The dispute over "Shihab al-Din" Mosque, Nazareth

He was the coordinator of the third Ministerial Committee that resolved the dispute in Nazareth, near the Basilica of the Annunciation. Muslim activists turned the main piazza into an outdoor mosque, called "Shihab al-Din," and opposed the plan to develop it as an open plaza for the expected visit of the Pope John Paul II in the year 2000.. [32] He constructed the final draft for the cabinet resolution , which was used by the State Attorney in the Supreme Court to repel the appeal against the government, in the years 2001-2003.[33][34]

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

National Director of ISFI

Betwwn January 1989 and October 1991, Moti Zaken served as the 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. ISFI provided political and cultural resources for Jewish and pro-Israel students and faculty throughout the US and Canada.

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).[35][36][37] [38][39] [40]

Media and Public Speaking

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.[41] [42] [43] [44][45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52][53][54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64]

Publications

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

Books (including translations)

Selected lectures or conference participation

Selected articles

External links

References

  1. ↑ "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.
  2. ↑ "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.]
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ "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
  5. ↑ The PhD committee was composed by Prof. Moshe Sharon of the Hebrew University, Prof. Joyce Blau previously of INALCO, Paris, and Prof. Yona Sabar of UCLA
  6. ↑ 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, Beiruth, 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
  7. ↑ /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.
  8. ↑ , "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.
  9. ↑ Raphael Israeli, Green Crescent Over Nazareth: The Displacement of Christians by Muslims in the Holy Land, London: Frank Cass & Co., 2014; first edition 2002: pp. 89, 100, 183,194.
  10. ↑ http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1998/Israeli-Arabs-Protest-Demolition/id-debabd28296ea20a9d9a26c5de57ad57
  11. ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr/07/news/mn-36961
  12. ↑ Michael R. Fischbach, Jewish property claims against Arab countries, Columbia University Press, 2013, P.205
  13. ↑ "Report on the Government Activities in the Non-Jewish Sector in 1997". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  14. ↑ "Christians, Israeli Jews Fight Persecution Together | Christian Coalition of America". Cc.org. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  15. ↑ http://www.voiceofisrael.com/christians-in-israel-must-be-treated-with-respect/. Retrieved 2015-09-09. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ "Jews, Non-Jews and Other Intra-Israeli Conflicts". Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  17. ↑ "Government Official Visits Vandalized Church". Mezila.mops.gov.il. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  18. ↑ "Israeli Christians Condemn Acts Of Vandalism". Armeniandiaspora.com. 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  19. ↑ "Arabs Clash at Temple Mount | Sid Roth - It's Supernatural". Sid Roth. 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  20. ↑ "Iran Has Declared War Against Israel And The Jewish People!-News & Politics اخبار و سياست". Iranjoo. 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  21. ↑ "Jerusalem News Network". Jnnnews.com. 2012-02-28. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  22. ↑ Sid Roth, a Christian Mesianic commentator, writes about Zaken the following, quoting from Psalms 16:3, "As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all My delight."
  23. ↑ outusenglish/news/pages/greek-orthoarson_3.15.aspx
  24. ↑ "Israeli gov. official in solidarity with vandalized church - Israel Today | Israel News". Israel Today. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  25. ↑ "Anti-Christian graffitti discovered". 24hourcampfire. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  26. ↑ "NL 2012-03-01_Email NL Pages Template" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  27. ↑ http://www.iranjoo.com/ml/view.php?id=80536
  28. ↑ http://lyricsmp3skull.info/download/3748834141/dr-moti-zaken-df72ab5d.html
  29. ↑ al-Akhbar, 4 November 2015; al-akhbar, 11 November 2015.
  30. ↑ "Israel Steps Up Efforts to Protect Christian Community - Inside Israel - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com". mycbn.com. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  31. ↑ "Israel Steps Up Efforts to Protect Christian Community". www.cbn.com. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  32. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/20/world/israel-sets-forth-compromise-plan-on-nazareth-mosque-dispute.html
  33. ↑ http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=17590
  34. ↑ http://istanbul.indymedia.org/tr/news/2011/02/271295.php
  35. ↑ http://israeli-kurdish-friendship-league.blogspot.co.il/
  36. ↑ Turkey and the World: A Complete English Bibliography of Turkey and Turks, p. 174, at Google Books
  37. ↑ Eşref Günaydın , Yahudi Kürtler, Babil´in Kayıp Çocukları, 2003, p. 55.
  38. ↑ Israel Shahak , Open Secrets: Israeli Foreign and Nuclear Policies, Pluto Press, 1997 , p.77.
  39. ↑ http://www.m.ahewar.org/s.asp?aid=429050&r=0&cid=0&u=%DA%C8%CF%C7%E1%E1%E5+%CC%C7%D3%E3+%D1%ED%DF%C7%E4%ED&i=0&q=
  40. ↑ http://www.hakikat.com/dergi/83/sevr.html
  41. ↑ http://www.i24news.tv/en/tv/replay#/interview/3737556857001
  42. ↑ http://www.iba.org.il/aleph/player.aspx#!/style/popAudio/ar/1681155/audio/yes
  43. ↑ http://192.118.60.6/radio/2014/06/22/5737482.wmv
  44. ↑ http://192.118.60.6/radio/2014/06/22/5739915.wmv
  45. ↑ http://192.118.60.6/radio/2014/08/10/5830784.mp3
  46. ↑ http://www.iba.org.il/aleph/player.aspx#!/style/popAudio/ar/1681155/audio/yes
  47. ↑ http://192.118.60.6/radio/2014/07/01/5753975.mp3
  48. ↑ https://youtube/8xh9hY1q0kE?list=PL8P_aJLSD4dPEZIZllUEb12cJp4Nv0r3b
  49. ↑ http://www1.biu.ac.il/File/news/file_biu_14_12_31_10_26.pdf
  50. ↑ A conference on the Jews of Kurdistan, Ben-Zvi Institute for the study of Oriental Jewry, 15 October 2015
  51. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xh9hY1q0kE
  52. ↑ https://soundcloud.com/voiceofisrael/yazidi-aug17-2014
  53. ↑ "Tehran seeks to overcome Western influence by supplying weapons to Kurds". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  54. ↑ "Dr Mordechai Zaken, Kurds and Kurdish Jews Hebrew Interview". Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  55. ↑ http://www.jpost.com/landedpages/printarticle.aspx?id=423903
  56. ↑ http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Iran-deal-could-lead-to-improved-covert-Arab-Israel-cooperation-408851
  57. ↑ http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/So-are-there-Jews-in-Kurdistan-432756
  58. ↑ http://www.amazonbug.com/so-are-there-jews-in-kurdistan/
  59. ↑ http://newstral.com/en/article/en/1008461827/so-are-there-jews-in-kurdistan-
  60. ↑ http://www.onenewspage.com/n/Middle+East/755bm0qes/So-are-there-Jews-in-Kurdistan.htm
  61. ↑ http://israel.cnninternasional.co/so-are-there-jews-in-kurdistan/
  62. ↑ http://waytojesus.org/so-are-there-jews-in-kurdistan/
  63. ↑ http://kurdistan.trendolizer.com/2015/11/so-are-there-jews-in-kurdistan.html
  64. ↑ http://www.unitedjerusalem.org/index2.asp?id=1966509
  65. ↑ "Rev., 2nd. New eBOOK Ed.: Jews of Kurdistan & their Chieftains, By Mordechai (Moti) Zaken, 2015". Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  66. ↑ Zaken, Mordechai (2013-01-01). يهود كردستان ورؤساؤهم القبليون: (دراسة في فن البقاء) (in Arabic). ISBN 9789953887555.
  67. ↑ http://kurdishcongress.org/PreProgwkc13.pdf
  68. ↑ "Kurdinberlin kurd in Berlin کورد له‌ به‌رلین". Kurdbe.de. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  69. ↑
  70. ↑ at Google Books
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