On Tuesday 25 March the Spanish Consul General of Jerusalem, Mr. Juan Jose Escobar Stemman visited An-Najah National University to deliver a lecture entitled "Arab Awakening and Islamic Activism”. His lecture was attended by Faculty members and students of the Faculty of Law, the Political Sciences Department and the Faculty of Sharia Law.

Mr. Stemman’s lecture analyzed the political history and context in the Middle East dating back to the 1980s.  He discussed international political regimes, their features and relationship with society. Using this as context he went on to discuss the impact these regimes had on the society, placing a particular emphasis on the events currently taking place in Syria. He described how the Syrian regime has dominated Syrian society and through its all-encompassing power has sought to suppress any opposition.

In that same context, Mr. Stemman gave some analysis of why some regimes last for long periods of time. Explaining this as resulting from a problem of the gap between the people and governments, and that the leaders of these regimes control all realms, from the political to the religious.

At the end of the lecture, Mr. Stemman spoke of the Western tendency to fight Islamic forces, their political regimes and the idea of imposing their “democratic” ideal. The lecture closed with the Consul General taking questions from the audience.

Notes:

1. The lecture was attended by: the Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Sami Jaber; the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Dr. Akram Daoud; the Dean of the Faculty of Sharia Law, Dr Jamal Al-Kilani; the Head of the Political Science Department, Dr. Saqer Jabali and Dr. Amjad Hassan; and other notable professors.
2. The lecture was translated by Dr. Hassan Ayoub, an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department.