Tuesday, Nov. 27, 7 pm
The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, along with community partners including all area synagogues, agencies and many organizations, kicks off its 2012-2013 Israel Today Series with Dr. Amos Guiora, an expert in geopolitics, global counterterrorism, and international law.
In a free community event at the Sandler Family Campus, Guiora will speak about the first topic in the three-part CRC series: morality.
An Israeli-American, Guiora is a professor of law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. Frequently called upon for commentary in the media and government for his expertise in the subjects he teaches–perspectives on counterterrorism, religion, and terrorism—Guiora is also well versed in the difficult, relatively new topics of drone use and targeted killing.
“One of the great questions facing the nation state—whatever nation state it is—is how on the one hand to protect the innocent population, and on the other hand, to proactively and aggressively to minimize the threat posed by terrorists,” Guiora said in an interview given to the Jewish Federations of Canada last May.
Israel today, Guiora says, is experienced in both terrorism and the limits of counterterrorism, while the American experience with terrorism is largely new, and to that extent more reflective of a panic response than a policy approach. Policy, he says, needs to be developed that is firmly rooted in the law.
Guiora’s breadth of knowledge is derived, in part, from his 19 years of service with the Israel Defense Forces. He held a number of senior command positions, including commander of the IDF School of Military Law, before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. As well as teaching, Guiora is a prolific and published writer. His books include Global Perspectives on Counterterrorism, and Homeland Security: What is it and Where is it Going?
“For the intellectually curious, the Israel Today series provides excellent, current information that we can’t read about in newspapers or see on television,” says Miriam Seeherman, CRC chair. “After last year’s series, which featured insight and advice from Neil Lazarus, Mitchell Bard and Will Recant, the feedback we got was, ‘We want more of this.’ This series gives us incentive to want to learn more, and to be better spokespeople for Israel.”
The Israel Today series continues on Feb. 13 with a second appearance by Neil Lazarus, an internationally acclaimed expert in the fields of Israeli advocacy, Middle East politics and effective communication training.
The series concludes in March with a special visit from Ambassador Yehuda Avner, who will discuss leadership in Israel. For decades, Avner served in diplomatic posts outside of Israel, and in Israel was a speechwriter, secretary and/or advisor to five Israeli Prime Ministers. His experiences are documented in the bestselling memoir The Prime Ministers, a finalist for the 2011 National Jewish Book Award and the basis for two upcoming films.
For more information, or to RSVP to the events, visit www.jewishva.org/CRC or contact Jan Johnson at 321-2323 or jjohnson@ujft.org.
by Laine M. Rutherford