"und es wurde Licht!" Jüdisch-arabisches Zusammenleben in Israel. Reisebericht, Vortrag und Gespräch mit Igal Avidan

In the organizer's words:

On October 31, 2025, journalist and author Igal Avidan will be presenting his latest book "...and there was light!" Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel at the Akademie Franz Hitze Haus. In it, he reports on numerous conversations with people who are committed to the peaceful coexistence of Jewish and Arab Israelis.

The fact that around a fifth of Israeli citizens are of Arab origin is not widely known. The relationship between Arab (Muslim or Christian) and Jewish Israelis is a major challenge for the state of Israel, which sees itself as both democratic and Jewish. Since the state was founded in 1948, it has been characterized by a variety of tensions, which have sometimes erupted into violence - for example in riots and street clashes in May 2021. This internal conflict is closely linked to the conflict over statehood for the Arab Palestinians, which is currently reaching a sad climax: since the brutal murders committed by Hamas during the attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the massive military offensive against the Palestinians, there has been no let-up in the violence. Since the brutal murders by Hamas during the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the massive military response by the Israeli armed forces with countless civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, peaceful coexistence currently seems almost unimaginable.

In the midst of these decades of ongoing conflict, Igal Avidan nevertheless searches for small oases of peace, for personal encounters between Jewish and Arab Israelis. He focuses on the relationships between people, not on the major conflict, and wants to tell an unknown story with his book "...and there was light!". A story that gives hope for a peaceful coexistence of both peoples in the state of Israel and in the region.

Price information:

Free of charge with the cultural semester ticket