Bar-Ilan University Stands in Solidarity with Israel

BIU's Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) Plays Key Role in Hasbara Efforts - BIU's Weisfeld School of Social Work Provides Emotional First Aid to Sderot Residents
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Earlier this week,19 students and two senior staff members from BIU’s Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work set out to assist welfare services in Sderot, which are in danger of collapsing under the burden. The social workers knocked on the doors of dozens of apartments throughout the city to find residents in need: people living alone who are afraid to do their grocery shopping, the elderly, and those with physical disabilities who are unable to reach bomb shelters when alarms sound.

Five alarms sounded while the delegation visited Sderot. Since there were no bomb shelters in sight, they were forced to fall to the ground to protect themselves. One Qassam rocket fell in close proximity to where they were. Two students who were visiting with a handicapped couple when the alarms sounded, said, “The couple pleaded with us to find a place of shelter and protect our lives something that they are not able to do. We felt a sense of helplessness that we could not provide the help that they needed.”

BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh expressed his gratitude for the important mission carried out by the Weisfeld School. “During these difficult hours, I am deeply moved by your outstanding initiative to visit Sderot in order to uplift the human spirit and encourage those with physical limitations who are stuck inside their homes.”

As Israel’s operation against Hamas in Gaza unfolds, the scholars at the Bar-Ilan University (BIU) Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center) have been delivering in-depth and up-to-date analysis on the military and diplomatic situation. The American Friends of Bar-Ilan University (AFBIU) is proud of the work of the BESA Center, which has taken a leadership role in Israel’s Hasbara efforts during the current conflict.

Among the BESA Center associates who have been front-and-center in the Israeli and foreign media, offering learned commentary on Israel’s strategies and goals are Prof. Efraim Inbar, Dr. Mordechai Kedar and Prof. Gerald Steinberg. Prof. Stuart Cohen, and Drs. Hillel Frisch Tsila Hershco, Ze’ev Maghen and Max Singer have published important analysis pieces as well.

Efraim Inbar provided a strong defense of Israel’s actions in Gaza during his interview on Al Jazeera Television. His article a Realistic Goals for Operation Cast Lead has appeared in The Jerusalem Post and Yisrael Hayom. He was interviewed on BBC TV and radio, and by Der Spiegel, The Washington Post, AP,Toronto Star, Xinhua of China, and Zaman of Turkey.

Mordechai Kedar, who will be speaking in New York City on February 11th, published Shut Down al-Jazeera on Yediot Ahronot’s widely-read Ynetnews web site. He was also interviewed by the BBC Arabic radio service, CBC Arabic, al-Hurra TV, Israel Radio andThe New York Jewish Week. To learn
more about his NY appearance, email gary.baskind@afbiu.org.

Ze’ev Maghen’s BESA Center study entitledFrom Omnipotence to Impotence: A Shift in the Iranian Portrayal of the ‘Zionist Regime was republished by Commentary Magazine, and excerpted by The Wall Street Journal under the title Eradicating the ‘Little Satan ‘: The West should take Iran’s threats to Israel seriously.

Gerald Steinberg published Czechs lead divided European delegation, The Cease-Fire Game, and Can Israel win the ‘soft power’ war in Gaza? in The Jerusalem Post, and No good options on the Bitterlemons site. He was interviewed on CNN, BBC, Bloomberg Television, and Fox News; and by Newsweek, The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Jewish Week, and the London Jewish
Chronicle.

Prof. Hillel Frisch argues in this week’s Perspectives Paper The Need for a Decisive Israeli Victory Over Hamas that Israel’s pursuit of the enemy into its hideouts in Gaza urban areas and refugee camps and bringing about its surrender is critical to rolling back the march of Islamic fundamentalism and political power in the Middle East.

If you missed last week’s e-alert from AFBIU, here once again are the key analysis pieces published in the BESA Center Perspectives Papers
series: Why Israel Must Have Victory in Gaza by Dr. Max Singer,Hamas: A Case of Strategic Suicide by Prof.Hillel Frisch,Has the IDF Earned the Support of the Israeli Public ? by Prof. Stuart A. Cohen, Israel’s Operation Against Hamas in Gaza: The Need for Realistic Goals by Prof. Efraim Inbar. These sharp analyses, which differ in their boldness and unapologetic tone from much of the chatter that makes for commentary about Israel, were also prominently featured in The New Republic .

Bar-Ilan University Stands in Solidarity with Israel

BIU's Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) Plays Key Role in Hasbara Efforts - BIU's Weisfeld School of Social Work Provides Emotional First Aid to Sderot Residents
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