Presented by The Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Foundation Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies Sunday, February 2 / 1:00 P.M. / Free UCSB Corwin Pavilion Description: Two years of Palestinian terrorism have revived Israel's famous siege mentality and tribal togetherness. Yet the recent elections have shown that the Israelis are still deeply divided over basic issues, first and foremost the future of their conflict with the Palestinians. In all probability this conflict cannot be solved at this time, but it can be managed in a much more rational way. Biographical Profile: Tom Segev, Israeli journalist and historian, was born on March 1, 1945 in Jerusalem. Both parents came to what was then Palestine in 1935 as refugees from Nazi Germany. His father was killed during the first Arab Israeli war, in 1948. Segev grew up in Jerusalem and performed military service at the National Defense College. He studied at the Hebrew University (BA-History and Political Science) and at Boston University (Ph.D. History). One of Israel’s best- known journalists, Segev’s weekly column is being published in Ha’aretz, Israel’s leading daily newspaper. The column deals mainly with the politics of culture and with human rights. Segev’s views, which are often controversial, made him one of Israel’s most often quoted journalists in the international media. Segev’s first book – 1949: The First Israelis, became an immediate bestseller in Israel. Considered the corner stone of Israel’s so called “new historiography” it is still on print in various languages. Best known, however, widely acclaimed and most controversial, is Segev’s The Seventh Million – The Israelis and the Holocaust (Hebrew, English, French, German and Italian) also shown as a two-part TV documentary in several countries, with Segev himself as presenter. Segev is also the author of Soldiers of Evil – a collective profile of the commanders of Nazi concentration camps. Based on his Ph.D. dissertation, it was the winner of the MASUA prize for Holocaust studies. Segev’s next book One Palestine, Complete, dealt with the history of the British Mandate in Palestine. Selected as The New York Times editors’ choice “Best Books 2000,” it also received the National Jewish Book Award in 2001 and the JDC Katzky Award for archival excellence. Segev’s most recent book is Elvis in Jerusalem – Post-Zionism and the Americanization of Israel. Segev has been a guest professor at the Hebrew University. In the Fall of 2001 he has been Senior Fellow at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers University, NJ. In 2002 he has been a Stewart Short-Term Fellow of the Humanities Council and the History Department of Princeton. The Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Foundation Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara is cosponsored by UCSB Arts & Lectures, Department of Religious Studies, Hillel, and Interdisciplinary Humanities Center. This event is cosponsored by UCSB Affiliates and UCSB Bookstore. It is put on in partnership with the Santa Barbara Jewish Federation. Top of Page <<Back