Hen talks about his family arriving from Iraq and Tunisia in the 1950s, the miracle of having a home for Jewish people to return to, and a close call with a suicide bomber at age 12.
WATCH ›Making Zionism a Model for Everyone
"Zionism is a model for everyone," says Hen Mazzig, an Israeli writer, international speaker, social media activist and Israel advocate. In Defining Zionism, Hadassah's provocative dialogue series, the former IDF commander speaks about finding common ground to promote Zionism and fight BDS, moving beyond misconceptions, and how his deeply personal version of Zionism has been shaped by the history of his family, Berber Jews from Tunisia who were among 850,000 Jewish refugees from Arab countries, and by his experience in a special IDF humanitarian unit where he was able to protect Palestinian civilians while taking care of our homeland and working for peace.
DISCLAIMER: Hadassah is not affiliated with the featured speakers who participate in the Discussing/Defining Zionism series, or with their affiliated organizations. The opinions and viewpoints expressed by the speakers do not necessarily reflect Hadassah’s positions and Hadassah does not endorse or make any representations regarding the speaker or information presented by such speaker.
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Join Hen Mazzig as he discusses the following topics:
My Israel, My Zionism
Pride in Service: Working for Peace in the IDF
Hen recounts his experience in a special IDF humanitarian unit where he was able to protect Palestinian civilians while taking care of our homeland and working for peace.
WATCH ›
Wearing Zionism on My Sleeve
"Zionism is a model for everyone, a story of resilience, of people overcoming challenges," says Hen.
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The Biggest Misconception
Ironically, Israeli and Palestinian civilians too often hold the exact same misconceptions of each other. Watch to see what Hen’s take is.
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Israelis, Palestinians: Listening to Each Others' Narratives
“My main focus it to bring people together. That’s what I’m trying to do.” That’s why, he says, he tries to stress human connections, and shared values, that often get lost in Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
WATCH ›
Campus BDS: Promoting a False Narrative
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BDS appropriates every narrative out there. Every person who cares about Zionism needs to find ways to share the story of Israel with non-Jews, with an emotional connection.
WATCH ›
Defining Zionism in Easy-to-Watch Segments
The subject of Zionism is too important to rush through. Now you can enjoy Defining Zionism at your convenience.
Speakers are filmed in several short (3 to 5 minute) segments. Each segment is a different topic. This means you can “binge watch” a speaker’s videos all at once, or a couple at a time.
We encourage you to use the comment section to discuss these engaging videos and to let us know how you like the new format.
Comments
From: Sunny on December 3, 2016
This is a fantastic way to gain the trust of many different groups of people who have no idea why there IS an Israel . It is astounding but within my lifetime I have seen the general public go from believing that any comments against Jews - at least publicly - was poor form. (50's-60's) To actual hatred of Israel and probably hate and distrust towards all Jews. Today young people have no clue what story to believe.That in itself is frightening because with no understanding of the history involved it's much too easy to believe groups like BDS. By the way In the USA the term "queer" is not considered an appropriate term to describe gay people!
From: Rita on November 17, 2016
These excerpts are so powerful! I hope people are using them in the most positive way possible. Thank you Hadassah.
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