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Book Talk - "Reading Herzl in Beirut: The PLO Effort to Know the Enemy" with Jonathan Gribetz

  • Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies 617 Kent Hall, 1140 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10027 United States (map)

Join the Institute in-person at 617 Kent Hall on Monday, September 16, at 12:00 PM for a lecture with Jonathan Gribetz (Princeton University). Prof. Gribetz will be discussing his latest book, Reading Herzl in Beirut: The PLO Effort to Know the Enemy.

In Reading Herzl in Beirut, Jonathan Marc Gribetz tells the story of the PLO Research Center from its establishment in 1965 until its ultimate expulsion from Lebanon in 1983. Gribetz explores why the PLO invested in research about the Jews, what its researchers learned about Judaism and Zionism, and how the knowledge they acquired informed the PLO’s relationship to Israel.

Jonathan Gribetz is Professor of Near Eastern Studies and Judaic Studies at Princeton University. He directs the Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia and co-edits the AJS Review, the journal of the Association for Jewish Studies. Gribetz is the author of Defining Neighbors: Religion, Race, and the Early Zionist-Arab Counter (2014) and Reading Herzl in Beirut: The PLO Effort to Know the Enemy (2024). He earned his BA from Harvard University, an MSt in Modern Jewish Studies from the University of Oxford, and his PhD in History from Columbia University. 


Supported by the generosity of the Radov and Kaye families.

While all IIJS events are free and open to the public, we do encourage a suggested donation of $10.