Photo Credit: Forum for Regional Thinking

After Hamas’ attack on October 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza, The Forum for Regional Thinking (FORTH) has focused on helping Israelis understand what their neighbors are saying about the war. They’ve been translating, analyzing, and posting material from Palestinian, Jordanian, and even Hamas and Hezbollah-controlled media outlets and public platforms about the war. Israelis are hungry for this information: The Ofek website, where FORTH experts publish translations of articles from Arabic-language publications across the Middle East, has seen a tenfold increase in site views, and a twelve-fold increase in new readers since October 7.

So much of Arab public discourse is unavailable to Israelis due first to the fact that it is in Arabic and second to the absence of Palestinian and Arab scholars, public figures, and politicians speaking and writing in Israeli outlets. But the scholars and educators at FORTH are looking to change that. Their goal is to shift Israelis’ perception of their place in the Middle East, highlight potential alliances and counter the myth that there is no “partner” with whom to make peace. 

FORTH is also working to educate the next generation of Israelis about the Middle East. This year, the Ministry of Education approved three different FORTH curricula. Now, at this critical juncture, all public schools will have access to the organization’s content and they can invite its experts as lecturers. FORTH educators also teach in pre-military academies about the shared history of Jews and Arabs in the Middle East, offering these young people alternative perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2023, they taught twice as many students as in 2022. 

The scholars and educators of FORTH believe that changing the public discussion about Israel and its place in the Middle East can help shift the conversation around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As educators, scholars, and translators, they see themselves as helping Israelis understand who their partners in peace might actually be.