Zoom Webinar ID: 917 5897 1523
Passcode: bustani 

"Gaza: Reflections on Decades of Research"

Sara Roy
Senior Research Scholar, Center for Middle East Studies, Harvard University

In this lecture, Dr. Sara Roy examines the major (and often recurring) themes that have run through her research on Gaza specifically, and on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more generally, over the last nearly four decades. They include (among others) the use and misuse of the “both sides” vocabulary and its core analytical concepts—symmetry, balance, and objectivity—and the consequences therein; the meaning of violence and how it is defined and by whom; the positioning of Palestinians as a political provocation; the dehumanization of the other and its impact on Palestinians and on Israelis; the acceptance by the international community of occupation as a manageable if not preferable status quo; and the meaning of Jewish power after more than a half century of occupation.

Sara Roy (Ed.D. Harvard University) is a senior research scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies specializing in the Palestinian economy, Palestinian Islamism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dr. Roy is also co-chair of the Middle East Seminar, jointly sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and co-chair of the Middle East Forum at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

Dr. Roy began her research in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in 1985 with a focus on the economic, social, and political development of the Gaza Strip and on U.S. foreign assistance to the region. Since then, she has written extensively on the Palestinian economy, particularly in Gaza, and on Gaza’s de-development, a concept she originated. Dr. Roy has authored and edited a number of books, and authored over 100 publications dealing with Palestinian issues and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her writings have appeared in Postcolonial Studies, the Middle East Journal, and Middle East Policy, among others. Dr. Roy has lectured widely in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia.

In addition to her academic work, she serves on the International Advisory Council of American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) and The Board of Directors of the Gaza Mental Health Foundation. She also has served as a consultant to international organizations, the U.S. government, human rights organizations, private voluntary organizations, and private business groups working in the Middle East.