Established 1826 — Oldest College Newspaper West of the Alleghenies

Counterterrorism expert to speak on state of Israel, Middle East

Ellison Hitt

Miami University and Miami Students for Israel (MSI) are welcoming Jonathan Schanzer Tuesday, as he speaks on the role of Israel and the state of the Middle East in "American Policy in the Middle East: Dangerous Times in a Dangerous Neighborhood."

Schanzer, who will speak at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in 100 Laws Hall, is a former counterterrorism analyst for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as well as the author of the book, Al-Qaeda's Armies: Middle Easy Affiliate Groups and the Next Generation of Terror.

According to MSI president, Ilya Budik, MSI is a student organization that promotes Israel's place as a universal home for the Jewish community and supports the need for democracy abroad. According to Budik, the organization was started nearly five years ago as a bi-partisan group to educate Miami students and the surrounding Oxford community about what they see as common misconceptions concerning Israel, Israel's relationships and Israel's place in the Middle East.

Budik said MSI is trying to educate the public by bringing in speakers aimed at exploring the diversity of the country. Budik said that it is hard to go a week without seeing a topic on Israel covered in a national newspaper and that often many people's conceptions associated with the country are fallacies. Some of these fallacies, Budik said, include terrorist practices and issues concerning Israel and Palestine.

Budik said he hopes that Schanzer's lecture will help clear up these misconceptions and better demonstrate the need for acceptance of the Israeli culture.

Besides Schanzer's accomplishments as a counterterrorism analyst and author, Budik said his education (he holds a master's degree in Middle East studies, is currently Ph.D. candidate at King's College, and is fluent in Arabic, Hebrew and English) and global viewpoints make him an expert on Middle Eastern conflicts and its current relevance to the United States. Schanzer was also a Research Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and participated in a fact-finding mission in Iraq.

The content of Schanzer's lecture, Budik said, may be especially interesting to a variety of students across Miami's campus, since it could appeal to people interested in not only the cultural and political impacts of Israel, but also Israeli's role in the Middle Eastern business affairs. Business within Israel and the Middle East has a direct impact in the U.S. and Budik said that Schanzer recognizes this.

"Money speaks," Budik said. "When students leave Miami they must consider where their business is going."

MSI's Vice President of Programming Leo Nayfeld also believes that attendance by Miami students would be extremely beneficial due to the globalizing impact of the Middle East.

"Every action on the other side of the world impacts us-the Middle East impacts us," Nayfeld said.

Nayfeld hopes that Schanzer will help clear up misrepresentations that may be accepted as truths by Miami students concerning Israel.

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

Junior Cynthia Mangla said she would enjoy hearing the words of Schanzer because he has personally dealt with terrorism and the Middle East.

"I'd be really interested in hearing someone's opinion who is as accomplished as Mr. Schanzer," Mangla said.

Budik said he expects between 100-200 people to attend the lecture and hopes that people with a strong interest in the direction of international policy will be in attendance.