Episode 62

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Published on:

23rd May 2022

#62 - Rawan Osman, Peace Activist and Member of 1st-Ever Arab-Jewish Delegation to the March of the Living

Rawan Osman was born in Damascus and raised in Lebanon. After high school, Osman moved back to Syria and in 2011, during the beginning of the unrest, left for France. In 2018, Osman moved to Strasbourg and started working on her first book, The Israelis, Friends or Foes. Osman is a contributor to Fikra Forum.

A true believer in the potential for authentic and positive human interactions with Jews to change popular narratives in the Arab world and bring about peace, Rawan recently participated in the NGO Sharaka’s first-ever historic delegation of Arabs from across the Middle East, Europe, and America who traveled to Auschwitz together with their Jewish and Israeli peers to participate in the annual March of the Living, commemorating the victims of the Shoah on Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day.

Links:

Watch an interview with Sharaka March of the Living delegation members that recently aired on I24 News.

Read an article from The Jerusalem Post / JPost.com about Sharaka’s historic delegation to the March of the Living bringing together Arabs across the Middle East.

Watch an interview of Saudi journalist Abdulaziz Alkhamis who participated in the March of the Living with a historical delegation from the Sharaka NGO at Auschwitz to commemorate the six million Jewish people who were exterminated by the Nazis (in Arabic).

Read a feature piece in The Times of Israel about the historic delegation bringing together influencers from around the Middle East to learn firsthand about the Holocaust and partake in March of the Living (featuring interviews with both Dan Feferman and Rawan Osman).

Rawan Osman on Facebook

Rawan Osman at the Washington Institute

Read a letter from Rawan Osman to Yossi Klein Halevi featured in his award-winning book, Letters To My Neighbor

Visit the Fikra Forum at the Washington Institute

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For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

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About the Podcast

Jewanced

A nuanced exploration of Israel, the Jewish world and beyond

Jewanced is hosted by Dan Feferman and Benny Scholder, two guys who grew up in America and live in Israel.
They're curious. They want to discuss. They want to challenge popular conceptions, they want to think critically, examine independently, and most of all, they crave nuance.

Each episode features a different guest. All interesting and original people who strive to break boundaries. Together with Dan and Benny, take a deep dive into politics, foreign affairs, religion, science, technology, food, the arts, business – you name it. Explore the nuanced crossroads of Israel, the global Jewish experience, and beyond.

What's the goal? To create a daring platform where people share their stories, insights, creations, and visions. Jewanced has no talking points, no script, no agenda...just a deeper nuanced understanding of our existence.

Join them on a journey as they explore, think, debate and discuss …. And most of all, listen.

About your hosts

Benny Scholder

With over a decade of experience in Israel's tourism industry, Benny has managed sales, marketing, travel content, digital content, and the operations aspects of tour companies and travel agencies. Today, he is the Director of Sales-North America at Kenes Tours, Israel's leading provider of incoming tourism services, where he is proud to deliver transformative, custom-crafted Israel travel experiences designed to exceed expectations.
Originally from Minneapolis, Benny fell in love with Israel as a young adult, moving to the country in 2004. He has an extensive background in everything Israel-travel related, having completed Israel's intensive tour guide course in 2010. His career spans both logistical, content-related, and sales management positions with major and boutique Israeli tour companies alike. Benny lives with his amazing wife Maayan and two incredible children in the charming village of Gedera. In addition to his passion for transformative travel experiences, he's super passionate about food, modern & ancient history, politics, addictive TV, and game-changing podcasts. Contact him at Benny@jewanced.com

Dan Feferman

Dan Feferman is a Major (res.) in the Israel Defense Forces. For almost a decade, he served as a foreign policy and national security analyst, strategist and adviser in the IDF General Staff; as a special assistant to the Deputy Chief of the General Staff; and a commander in an elite intelligence unit of AMAN's Research and Analysis Division.

He is a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, a think-tank focusing on issues of importance to Israel and the Jewish people, where he researches religious pluralism in Israel, trends in Jewish identity and Israel-Diaspora relations. He is also a political and strategic consultant and publishes and speaks widely on the Middle East and Israeli defense and political matters.

He is the author of Rising Streams: Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel, and of a soon-to-be-published book on the changing face of American Judaism.

Dan holds a BA in International Politics and Middle East Studies from the American University in Washington DC and an MA in National Security Studies from Tel Aviv University.

Originally from Indiana, Dan moved to Israel in 2005. He is married to Elisheva, has three amazing kids, and lives in Rehovot. When taking a break, Dan stays busy with Crossfit, martial arts and cooking.