Palestine: A Place of Longing

Palestinian Universities and Their Special Relationship with Germany: A Lecture Series

The land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is a place of universal longing. From a Christian perspective, it is the land of Christ’s birth, passion, and resurrection; from a Jewish perspective, the Promised Land and the land of Israel; from a Muslim perspective, the land of the Night Journey and the Ascension; for all three, the land of the Resurrection at the end of time; and from a secular perspective, especially the land of social justice. Long a place of longing for ever-widening circles, it is today globally omnipresent and yet strangely unknown. Accordingly, the concepts just mentioned are unclear, even undefined. For all those there and from there, the global longing for their land is both a promising opportunity and a heavy burden.

Presentations

• Prof. Dr. Andreas Kaplony (LMU Munich, Arabic and Islamic Studies): “If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand wither”: Palestine, a place of longing for 2,500 years.
• Prof. Dr. Tamar Novick ( Technical University of Munich, History of Technology): “Palestine is a Natural Garden and Must Be Restored to Its Original Condition”: Colonial Visions and Settler Technologies in the 20th Century.
• PD Dr. Stephan Milich (University of Cologne, Islamic Studies): “Dwell, with me, in my body”: Definitions of Home in Contemporary Palestinian Poetry.

Organizer: Prof. Dr. Andreas Kaplony (LMU Munich, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies)