Sep

7 2015

Israel Fighting Terror: a 6-week Mini-Course

7:00PM - 8:15PM  

Arnold Hall 96 Wentworth St.
Charleston, 29424
8439534930 swickmn@cofc.edu
http://jewish.cofc.edu

Contact Mark Swick
8439534930
swickmn@cofc.edu
http://jewish.cofc.edu

A SIX-WEEK MINI-COURSE: ISRAEL FIGHTING TERROR
DR. COL. (RES.) BARAK BEN ZUR

Mondays, September 7, October 5, November 2, November 9, November 30, and December 7, 2015
7:00—8:15pm in Arnold Hall

In the last three decades following the end of the cold war, terror has turned to be one of the major threats on a global scale. The threat was realized on American soil on 9/11, leaving three thousand casualties in one coordinated attack. Terrorism further erupted all over Europe, Africa and aggressively in the Middle East, characterized with mass killings, destruction of cultural treasures, and the relocation of millions of people throughout the region. This community course will deal with the Israeli experience of the threat of terror, and the ways Israel has responded to that threat. Participants in this mini-course are asked to attend as many sessions as possible. Dr. Ben Zur’s regular daytime class is full, with no availability for community participation, so Jewish Studies is offering this mini-course to accommodate that demand. Nor is registration necessary.

September 7 — Global Threat, the modern terror
October 5 — Emergence of the Arab armed groups – the Arab revolt 1936-1939
November 2 — Arab organized terror groups and their attacks inside Israel, along
the borders and abroad
November 9 — Islamic Terror: Hamas and the use of suicide attacks
November 30 — The Enemy Next Door; the Long Arm of Iran: Hisballah’s emergence from a Lebanese group to
a regional and global threat
December 7— Fighting Terror in a Democratic State: the balance between human rights and security needs

Dr. Col. (Res.) Barak Ben Zur is an expert in risk and threat analysis, strategic intelligence, Middle Eastern studies and counter-terrorism. From 1973 to 1996, Dr. Ben Zur pursued a long career in the Israeli Defense orces (IDF) while serving in the military intelligence branch in a variety of positions. He reached the rank of colonel, and from 1991 to 1994 served as the head of the terrorism branch. In 1994, Col. Ben Zur was appointed chief instructor in Israel’s National Security College, a position that he kept for two years. In 1996, Dr. Ben Zur joined the Israel Security Agency (ISA), and served in a variety of leadership positions. In 2000, he was appointed as head of the research unit, until 2003 when he became, special assistant to the director. He served as well as a member of the Prime Minister’s steering committee for negotiations with the Palestinians.

Following his distinguished career in the IDF and ISA, Dr. Ben Zur was a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy where he published, “Hizballah’s Global Terror Option” with Christopher Hamilton. Dr. Ben Zur has also served as lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya and at the Department of Political Sciences at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Dr. Ben Zur has a Bachelor of Arts in Middle East Studies and Arabic from Tel Aviv University and a Master of Arts in Political Science from Haifa University. He completed his Ph.D. in the Department of International Relations at Haifa University and is a recipient of the Roizman Prize in Intelligence Studies for his work on the influence of leaders on the performance of the intelligence community. Dr. Ben Zur is fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, English, and Romanian.