Mordechai Kedar, Israeli Expert on Islam, Coming to San Diego

By Pamela Nathan

SAN DIEGO — Combat Anti-Semitism Now (CAN), a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to fighting antisemitism, in collaboration with the South African Jewish American Community (SAJAC), will host Professor Mordechai Kedar in San Diego at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Kedar, an expert on Middle Eastern politics and Arab culture, will hold discussions with students, strategic meetings with local leadership and media, and speak that evening at a location in La Jolla that will be disclosed to those who register.

Professor Kedar is an esteemed Israeli scholar of Arabic culture and a long-time lecturer at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, where he has spent decades honing his expertise in Arab political discourse and Islamic movements. After completing his bachelor’s degree in both Arabic and Political Science in the early 1980s, Dr. Kedar pursued his doctorate at Bar-Ilan University, where he studied the political language of the Assad regime in Syria, analyzing how authoritarian regimes in the Arab world communicate their policies. His dissertation titled “The Public Political Language of the Assad Regime in Syria: Messages and Ways of Expressing Them” remains a foundational text in understanding Syrian political rhetoric.

Kedar’s career includes a 25-year tenure in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), where he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. Specializing in Islamic groups, Arab political dynamics, and media, he has been one of the few Israeli experts regularly featured on Arabic satellite channels, where he defends Israel in discussions about the region’s complex politics.

Kedar currently serves as Vice President of Newsrael.com, a cutting-edge pro-Israel news platform that provides real-time coverage of Israeli politics, security, culture, and international news. The platform’s content seeks to counterbalance anti-Israel media narratives by delivering fact-based reports and commentary.

A notable aspect of Kedar’s work is his refusal to embrace the concept of “narrative” when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He asserts, “I don’t believe in the word ‘narrative.’ I believe in facts. The Jewish claim to this country is based on facts, while the Palestinian claim is based on lies. There is no such thing as a narrative—there are truths versus lies, falsification of history, and the creation of a new people which had no existence until the mid-1900s.”

Kedar is known for his uncompromising stance on issues related to Israel’s legitimacy. He often references the British Mandate period, highlighting how the term “Palestine” was revived by the British in the early 20th century, despite its historical use as a derogatory term given by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the second century CE. He notes that the Philistines, whom the Romans named the region after, were not Arabs but of Greek origin. According to Kedar, the Arab inhabitants of the region never referred to themselves as “Palestinians” until the 20th century, but rather as citizens of Greater Syria, encompassing the territories now known as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel.

Kedar is also a fervent advocate for Zionism, arguing that it is the Jewish national movement, just as other peoples around the world have their own national movements. He contends that denying the Jews the right to a homeland in their ancestral lands is tantamount to antisemitism, particularly when such a right is granted to all other nations.

Kedar’s talk in La Jolla will be an opportunity to gain insights into the ideological forces shaping the Middle East today. He will discuss the political landscape, Islamist movements, and the history of Zionism.

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Pamela Nathan is the president of the South African Jewish American Community (SAJAC) in San Diego and a cofounder of Combat Anti-Semitism Now (CAN).