Asaf Romirowsky

Asaf Romirowsky is a political commentator, administrator of pro-Israel organizations, and Middle East historian. He is the Executive Director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.[1]

Biography

Asaf Romirowsky received his PhD from King's College London.[2] He is the executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME).[3][4]

Trained as a Middle East historian he holds a PhD in Middle East and Mediterranean Studies from King's College London and has published widely on various aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict and American foreign policy in the Middle East, as well as on Israeli and Zionist history.

Romirowsky is co-author of Religion, Politics, and the Origins of Palestine Refugee Relief and a contributor to The Case Against Academic Boycotts of Israel.[5] Romirowsky's publicly-engaged scholarship has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The National Interest, The American Interest , The New Republic, The Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, Ynet and Tablet among other online and print media outlets.[6]

Romiriwsky is a critic of Palestinian terrorism.[7]

In late 2007, his invitation to take part in an academic panel at the University of Delaware was rescinded by student organizers after another member of the panel, political science professor Muqtedar Khan, objected to sharing a podium with a former Israeli soldier.[8][9][10][11]

UNRWA and Palestinian "refugees"

Religion, Politics, and the Origins of Palestine Refugee Relief, the 2013 book Romirowsky co-authored with Alexander H. Joffe,[12] examines the origins of the UNRWA in the endorsement by the British authorities in Mandatory Palestine of efforts by the American Friends Service Committee to assist Arab refugees during and after the 1947–1949 Palestine war. Romirowsky and Joffe argue that the UNRWA's attitude towards Israel is rooted in the "foundational belief" of the American Friends Service Committee "in a supersessionist Christianity that could not reconcile the possibility of a rebirth of Jewish nationhood in the Land of Israel."[13][14]

Romirowsky argues that because of the tendency of UNRWA schools and personnel to abet terrorism, especially in Gaza, many of its functions should be turned over to the Palestinian Authority.[15] According to Ruth Wisse, Romirowsky argues that the "unique nature" of the UNRWA, which perpetuates the refugee status of Palestinian Arabs rather than resettle them, has had the effect of prolonging "suffering and anger" which then becomes "a weapon to encourage [generations] toward terrorism and intransigence."[16]

Romirowsky is in favor of normalizing the definition of Palestinian refugees to conform with the usual practice of defining only persons who fled, and not their descendants, as "refugees."[17] Marouf Hasian Jr., who supports the inclusion of all descendants of Palestinian refugees as "refugees," accuses Romirowsky of minimizing the difficulties faced by Palestinian Arabs and the "horrors of refugee life."[18]

References
  1. Redden, Elizabeth (19 August 2014). "Boycott Battles Ahead". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  2. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: Asaf Romirowsky
  3. "Staff". Middle East Forum. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  4. Parente, Audrey (18 August 2011). "Middle East analyst to talk at temple". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. ProQuest 884230752.
  5. Wise, Christopher (2017). "Deconstruction, Zionism and the BDS Movement". Arena Journal. ProQuest 1953316313.
  6. "Articles authored by Asaf Romirowsky - SPME Scholars for Peace in the Middle East". SPME. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  7. Tabachnick, Toby (10 July 2014). "Third intifada? It's happening, says scholar, and Hamas' strategy (kidnappings) is set". The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh. ProQuest 1551728649.
  8. Vasoli, Bradley (2007-10-30). "Professor Kicked Off Panel For Military Record". The Bulletin - Philadelphia's Family Newspaper. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  9. Jaschik, Scott (2007-10-31). "Israeli Booted". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  10. "Israeli veteran disinvited from panel". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2007-10-30. Archived from the original on 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  11. Militano, Alison (2007-11-09). "Controversy surrounds speakers at Middle East panel". The Review (University of Delaware's Independent Student Newspaper Since 1882). Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  12. "Failed Religious Diplomacy at the Birth of Israel". The National Interest. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  13. Shwayder, Maya (20 May 2014). "Prosor publicly blasts UNRWA. Envoy to UN: NGO fuels 'fiction' of Palestinian 'right of return'". The Jerusalem Post. ProQuest 1535197662.
  14. Brackman, Nicole (23 May 2014). "When other interests get in the way (book review)". The Jerusalem Post. ProQuest 1541634067.
  15. Guttman, Nathan (15 August 2014). "Bombings or No, UN Agency Wins Respect From Israel". The Forward. ProQuest 1556347832.
  16. Ruth Wisse (21 November 2011). "The Suicidal Passion". The Weekly Standard. ProQuest 908435231.
  17. Guttman, Nathan (15 June 2012). "U.S. Senate Enters Fraught Debate on Who Is a Palestinian Refugee". The Forward. ProQuest 1022716221.
  18. Hasian, Marouf (2016). Israel's Military Operations in Gaza: Telegenic Lawfare and Warfare. Routledge. p. 194. ISBN 9781317298632. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
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