Center for Interpretive and Qualitative Research

Center for Interpretive & Qualitative Research Event

Sept. 21 (Thurs.), 2006

3:15-4:00PM: Meeting

4:00-5:30PM: Presentation

Berger Gallery, 207 College Hall, Duquesne University.

Agenda: After the organizational meeting (3:15-4:00PM), a presentation will be given: Dr. Daniel Lieberfeld, Social and Public Policy: "Engendering Dissent: Israel's Four Mothers Movement and the War in Lebanon.”

Abstract:

The Israeli protest movement Four Mothers: Leaving Lebanon in Peace is widely credited with having shifted public opinion against Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon in the late 1990's, and with helping to precipitate Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. Four Mothers, which was founded by mothers of soldiers fighting in Lebanon, also broke the taboo against Israelis outside of the government and military claiming a voice in national security debates. This paper considers how the group changed public opinion, and the implications of the case for other anti-war movements. It draws on original interviews and journalistic sources to analyze and evaluate Four Mothers' effectiveness as a social movement.

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MINUTES of Sept. 21, 2006 meeting:

After an organizational meeting (minutes to be reported separately), Prof. Dan Lieberfeld, Social and Public Policy at Duquesne, gave a presentation entitled "Engendering Dissent: Israel's 'Four Mothers Movement' and the War in Lebanon." The presentation concentrated on how this group was able to change public opinion in Israel concerning the war and break the taboo against Israelis outside of the gov't. and military claiming a voice in national security. The discussion following the talk was lively and concentrated on the relationship between subjective, objective, and discursive components of the movement and its social-cultural surroundings. It also focused on Dr. Lieberfeld's methodological use of original interviews and journalistic sources. Finally, many of the participants related the Four Mothers' movement to anti-war efforts in the U.S.