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ABSTRACT
Israel Studies is a rather recent and fragmented discipline in the Italian academic system. Nonetheless, the interest in Israel’s geopolitical history has progressively emerged from Middle East and International Relations scholars as well as from some non-academic actors seeking to understand the Israeli-Arab conflict and later on Israel’s own sociopolitical complexity. Universities such as Venice and Pisa include Israeli history in various academic curricula while Florence University offers a specific course on Israel’s History. The article reconstructs the development of Israel Studies in Italy by examining the decentralized academic dynamics and by contextualizing it within local academia and society.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Four public mega-universities (above 40,000 students) result first in the Ministry of Education’s annual classification (academic year 2020–2021) as institutions of excellence (Bologna, Padua, Florence and Rome- La Sapienza). See https://www.censis.it/formazione/la-classifica-censis-delle-universit%C3%A0-italiane-edizione-20202021/gli-atenei-statali. Accessed January 7, 2024.
2. Bourdieu, Distinction, 101.
3. Bourdieu and Wacquant, An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology, 127.
4. Bourdieu, Homo Academicus, and ibid., Practical Reason. In both works, Bourdieu elaborates the structuration of fields and the struggles which engender their autonomization.
5. Bourdieu and Wacquant, An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology.
6. Pacouret and Hauchecorne, “Autonomies des arts et de la culture.”
7. Noteworthy is the fact that the Franciscan order, who are custodians of the Holy Land, finds expression in the high number of Italian friars (approx. 30%). Moreover, the interest of Italian religious figures vis-à-vis Judaism has also produced the Federation of Jewish-Christian Friendship (Federazione AEC).
8. 2019 statistics show that the number of Jews registered as a religious minority in Italy amounts to 36,500 individuals to whom are added 4,900 foreign Jews (e.g., Israeli students, American Jews residing in Italy etc.). See the collected data: https://cesnur.com/dimensioni-del-pluralismo-religioso-in-italia/. Accessed January 7, 2024.
9. The communities in alphabetical order are: Ancona, Bologna, Casale Monferrato, Ferrara, Florence, Genoa, Livorno, Mantua, Merano, Milan, Modena, Naples, Padua, Parma, Pisa, Rome, Turin, Trieste, Venice, Vercelli, Verona.
10. Italian Jewry is highly diversified. In addition to the local and regional identities that characterize them as Italians, Italian Jews present different liturgical and cultural heritages: the medieval Italian rite (“italki[m]”), the Ashkenazi tradition and the post-1492 Sephardic Jewry as well as the more recent post-colonial Tripolitan\Libyan Jewish community that found a new home in Rome and even Persian Jewish immigrants who settled in Milan (including the descendants of San Nicandro converts (“gerim”) in Apulia). See: www.ucei.it. Accessed January 7, 2024.
11. The case of Giuntina is paradigmatic. The publishing house was the first one to translate and publish A.B. Yehoshua’s short stories (Il poeta continua a tacere, 1988) as well as Ellie Wiesel’s novel The Night (La Notte, 1992).
12. On the contemporary sociological profile of Italian Jewry, see Campelli, Comunità va cercando ch’è si cara.
13. This is not to say, however, that prior to the 1990s the Italian public or Italian scholars had been indifferent to Israel, as astonishment and enthusiasm in light of the triumphant 1967 Six-Day War, the concern around the 1973 Kippur War and the growing preoccupation vis-à-vis the repercussions of the 1982 War in Lebanon (i.e., Sabra and Shatila massacre) and those of the First Intifada (1987–1993) had been part of general discourse.
14. See the society’s profile: http://www.sesamoitalia.it/chi-siamoabout-us/foglio-di-presentazionepresentation-sheet. Accessed January 7, 2024.
15. The interview took place telephonically on October 29, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was conducted with the aim to enquire the academic field and genealogy of Italian scholars who promoted Israel studies.
16. This trend has a little to do with the long-time and solid tradition of the prestigious Italian review Oriente Moderno founded by the Roman Istituto per l’Oriente (Institute for Oriental Studies) in 1921 by orientalist prof. Carlo Alfonso Nallino; a renowned expert of medieval Arabic manuscripts who dedicated much of its scholarly vigor to Arab language and culture.
17. Yet it is only from 1985 that Italy has a standardized PhD programs. Beforehand, scholarly specialization took place within universities (until 2004 most Italian degrees were based on 4-year programmes, called nowadays vecchio ordinamento).
18. A quick enquiry reveals the initial topics that have been treated in the period 1961–1998: Jewish theology (1961); the 1937 Peel Partition Plan (1974); the Palestinian national struggle (1969); the 1967 War (1977, 1989, 1993); literary memories (1986); Negev Bedouins (1998); while all the rest date from 2004 onwards.
19. Based on the catalog of the National Central Library (both locations: Rome and Florence) in which PhD dissertations are deposited and registered, according to Italian legal norms. The data includes dissertations containing the words Israele, israeliano\a, israeliani\e. The number of monographs containing “Israel” or “Israeli” is 1225 in the period 1959–2019 (of which 460 present the adjective “Israeli” in its Italian masculine\feminine\plural variations) with 4 monographs by local scholars concerning the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” It is difficult to map the corpus of manuscripts due to different disciplinary usage and scholarly domain (theology, politics, literature, geography, architecture etc.). The specific content of those dissertations goes beyond the scope of this article but would certainly deserve further enquiry.
20. The total monographs, cataloged by the National Central Library, containing “Zionism” or “Zionist” (in either English, Italian or French) in the title is 131.
21. Blaff, “Israel Studies Has an Israel Problem.”
22. On the dynamics in the USA regarding Israel Studies, see Cohen, “The Fight for the Future of Israel Studies.”
23. This assertion is, of course, general. History of the Middle East cannot ignore Israeli-Palestinian relations. Nevertheless, seldom are university courses dedicated to this topic alone. Yet, there are courses on relevant topics such as those held by prof. Lorenzo Kamel (1980) in Contemporary History at the History Department, University of Turin (i.e., “Colonial Spaces and Post-Colonial Studies: History and Methodologies;” “Entangled Histories: India, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East” and “Medio Oriente contemporaneo: storia, culture, religioni.” Kamel earned his PhD from University of Bologna after having completed his MA in Israeli Society & Politics at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a four-year degree (vecchio ordinamento) in Philosophy at University of Rome-La Sapienza. Among his published works in English: L. Kamel (2019): this should be in the bibliography The Middle East from Empire to Sealed Identities, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press [Paperback edition: 2020]; id. (2015): Imperial Perceptions of Palestine: British Influence and Power in Late Ottoman Times, London: New York, I.B. Tauris (1st prize of the 2016 “Palestine Book Award;” academic section). See https://storia.campusnet.unito.it/do/docenti.pl/Show?_id=lkamel#tab-profilo.
24. Trevisan Semi’s institutional webpage: www.unive.it/data/people/5592041 Accessed January 7, 2024.
25. Trevisan Semi’s research was the rediscovery of Ethiopian Jewry. The first Italian scholar to have documented and researched that community was Carlo Alberto Viterbo (Florence, 1889 – Florence, 1974) a prominent member of Italian Jewry and a trained jurist (1911), one of the founders of the Jewish Studies Conventions (1921–38) and of the local Zionist youth conferences. An active member of the Union of Italian Jewish communities, Viterbo encountered the problem of the Falashas in occupied Ethiopia. In 1936 he was entrusted by the president of the Union, Felice Ravenna, to document and report about that hitherto unknown community.
26. The course is portrayed as consisting in the acquisition of historical, critical, cultural and humanistic competences. The main objectives of the course are to “acquire a critical knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its narratives; to acquire the tools to analyze and deconstruct the historical-political and propaganda narratives, with particular reference to 1947–49, date of the establishment of the State of Israel and of the Palestinian Nakba […]” (italics are mine). See the course’s syllabus https://www.unive.it/data/insegnamento/333867/programma. Accessed January 7, 2024.
27. Marcella Simoni’s institutional webpage provides detailed information regarding her education, teaching activities and publications: https://www.unive.it/data/people/5589965/curriculum. Accessed January 7, 2024.
28. The course’s webpage reads: “[T]he purpose of this course is to allow students to develop a critical approach to the complex history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to understand its roots, to have a first basic comprehension of the political, diplomatic, economic aspects, as much as of the cultural and psychological implications, and to be familiar with the different narratives of the conflict, both the pro-Palestinian and the pro-Israeli […]” (italics are mine). The course’s programme and reading list is detailed at: https://esami.unipi.it/esami2/programma.php?c=36112&docente=MARZANO&insegnamento. Accessed January 7, 2024.
29. The list of publications is taken from prof. Esu CV as it appears on her webpage at: https://web.unica.it/unica/page/it/aide_esu.
30. The latter’s focus is summarized as follows: “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is among the most protracted and seemingly irresolvable conflicts of modern times […] While the course is structured chronologically, special attention will be paid to the different interpretations of history and contrasting narratives of the conflict. Of central importance are the questions of why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has not been solved yet, and whether peace is possible. (Cross listed Middle East Studies/International Development/International Relations)” (italics are mine).
31. For the full CV and list of publications, see Raffaella A. Del Sarto webpage on SAIS: https://sais.jhu.edu/users/rdelsar1 as well as her personal website: https://sites.google.com/view/raffaella-delsarto. Accessed January 7, 2024.
32. Among Vercelli’s publications on Israel: Israele e Palestina: una terra per due. Le radici della guerra [Israel and Palestine: A Land for Two. The Roots of War], le parole del conflitto, Ega edizioni, Torino 2005;. Il conflitto israelo-palestinese tra passato e presente. Alcune riflessioni di merito e di metodo [The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Between Past and Present], in Piero Barberis (editor), Studiare il presente, Quaderno n° 2 del Centro Studi Polis, Saviolo Edizioni, Vercelli 2006; Israele. Storia dello stato (1881–2007. Dal sogno alla realtà) [Israel. History of the State (1881–2007). From the Dream to Reality], Editore Giuntina (Firenze, 2007); Breve storia dello Stato d’Israele (1948–2008) [Short History of the State of Israel (1948–2008)], Carocci, Roma, 2008; Storia del conflitto israelo-palestinese [History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict], Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2010 (new edition also published in 2020) etc. See CV: https://www.comune.suzzara.mn.it/upload/Suzzara_ecm10/gestionedocumentale/CurriculumClaudioVercelliinizio2020_784_90518.pdf.
33. Born in Palermo (1951), Maria Grazia Enardu obtained a degree in Political Sciences from University of Florence in 1974. In the academic year 1975–76 she was appointed a junior associate Member at St Antony’s, Oxford. In 1976, she became a researcher at the Faculty of Political Sciences, Florence, and since 1982 a lecturer in History of International Relations. Though retired in 2012, Enardu served as an adjunct professor and taught the course “History of Modern Israel” till the academic year 2021–2022. She passed away on November 1, 2022.
34. Its program reads: “From the early Hebrews in Canaan and how exiles formed several communities, especially in Eastern Europe […].” Then the course focuses on the growth of Zionism, among other things; the return to Palestine, the creation of the State of Israel, with its structure, politics, foreign policy, society, the military, the wars and the 1967 occupation and its effects […]. Given the very long history of the Jewish people, of which the state of Israel is just the last chapter and the persistence, throughout its history, of values and characters that, in developing but continuous form, shape the politics of today’s state.” See https://www.unifi.it/index.php?module=ofform2&mode=1&cmd=3&AA=2021&afId=551528. Accessed January 7, 2024.
35. Those dissertations were written prior to and not exclusively within the International Relations and European Studies master’s program (chiefly discussed in history, literature and education). The word “Israel” appears in the title of 76 final dissertations as early as 1976 (the first year of cataloging). Surprisingly enough, 21 dissertations were dedicated to Israel architecture (with five on the archeological site of Masada); including the first one cataloged in 1976. A dissertation about Herzl and Zionism (“Theodor Herzl e Il Movimento Sionista” [Theodor Herzl and the Zionist Movement] had already been written in 1992 at the faculty of foreign literature and languages. Three dissertations about Israeli Prime Ministers (i.e., Ben-Gurion, Begin and Shamir) and seven about Zionism and Zionists (out of 12 in total) had been written at the faculty of Political Sciences “Cesare Alfieri” before the initiation of the course “History of Modern Israel”; thus, attesting the potential and the general interest of graduate students that would be largely channeled into the course itself. Already in its first year 2008, Enardu supervised two final dissertations inaugurating, so to speak, the first round of MA graduates: “SE QUESTO E’ IL MESSIA, NON VOGLIO ASSISTERE AL SUO ARRIVO!” IL SIONISMO BI-NAZIONALE DA AHAD HA -AM A MARTIN BUBER” [This is the Messiah, I don’t Want to Witness His Arrival! Bi-National Zionism from Ahad Ha’am to Martin Buber] and “DAI PALESTINESI AI TAILANDESI: KAV LA OVED E LA DIFESA DEI LAVORATORI IN ISRAELE” [From the Palestinians to the Thais: Workers’ Line and the Protection of Workers in Israel].
36. The article is the product of an explorative field work, internet-based research and ethnography (in-depth interview to Maria Grazia Enardu and the survey-talk involving her students). No literature is currently available on the specific case of Israel Studies in Italy.
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Notes on contributors
Alon Helled
Alon Helled, PhD in political and social sciences, is a postdoctoral fellow and a teaching assistant at the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin. He is also a member of the scientific committee of the Shoah teaching program for high school teachers at the University of Florence. Dr. Helled is a member of the Italian Society of Political Studies (SISP), a member of several permanent groups of the European Consortium for Political Research (Ecpr). He is also a member of the Norbert Elias Foundation and a member of the Association for the Study of Israel (AIS) and of the European Association of Studies on Israel (EAIS).