At the end of this month, the IBI (Instituto Brasil-Israel) is launching the book “Conflicts and religions: Israel, Palestine and Jewish studies in Brazil” (R $ 39.90, 344 pages). The volume, published in partnership by the institute and the University of Pernambuco, is organized by professors Karl Schurster, Michel Gherman and Omar Thomaz. There are 12 articles, including a study on the memory of soldiers during the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and research on a Judeo-Pentecostal church in Recife.
It is an important contribution to the field of Jewish studies in Brazil, which dates back to the 1960s with research on migration and anti-Semitism. The book’s blurb provides an excellent summary of this tradition, highlighting its main contributions to the academy – and its shortcomings. “The rise of a new (and frightening) right, in Brazil and around the world, was bound to have a profound impact on Jewish studies,” the authors write. “In the realm of international relations, the already traditional centrality of Israel, in particular, and the Middle East, in general, is resized according to the performance of leaders such as Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro.”
The book launch will be formalized during an online event on the 26th from 2pm to 5.30pm. There will be three tables with guests: one on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, another on memory and narratives and finally the last on local identities. Participation is free.
The book “Conflicts and Religions” is a product of the research laboratory opened by IBI in 2020. It is a partnership with the Jewish Studies Centers of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the Pontifical Catholic University de SP, the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and the University of Pernambuco.