In recent years, researchers have tried to sum up some results of the development of post-Soviet Israeli studies in Russia, both as a separate branch [Korogodsky, 2004; Shevelev, 2003; Epstein, 2007] and in the context of Jewish studies [Shavyaleu, 2003; Charny, 2004]. At the same time, the meaning of the very term "Israeli studies" remains unclear. Moreover, the processes that took place in Israeli studies at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries are in many ways similar to those in the related field of Palestinian studies. An attempt is made below to present a cross-section of the current state of these two branches of practical Oriental studies in Russia. In addition, the author of these lines does not fully agree with the opinion of A. Epstein, described in the review "Studying Israel in Russia (1991-2006): achievements and Problems" (Epstein, 2007), which will be discussed below.

Israeli studies refers to the study of the history, socio-economic and political state of the State of Israel. It is believed that the study of the Jewish community in Palestine since the 1880s and the history of the Zionist movement can be attributed to Israeli studies [Epstein, 2001, p.172].

The definition of "Palestinian studies" has changed over time. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was understood as the archaeological and geographical study of the Holy Land (Palestinovedenie, 1991). In the second half of the 20th century, this concept acquired another meaning. In Soviet historiography, the term was used infrequently and was more typical of foreign literature. In the post-Soviet period, this concept is also rarely used. Currently, "Palestinian studies" refers to the study of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as well as the socio-economic and political state of Palestinian society and the diaspora. The establishment of an "Arab private, independent and commercial" research institution in Beirut in 1963-the Institute for Palestinian Studies (IPA), which also has offices in Paris, Washington, and Ramallah and is affiliated with the "affiliated" Institute for the Study of Jerusalem-contributed to the formation of Palestinian studies in this sense. The IPA publishes research and publishes scientific periodicals in English, French, and Arabic.1
I would like to note that the development of both Israeli and Palestinian studies in the 1990s and early 2000s in Russia was characterized by the same features that determined the state of humanities in general and Oriental studies in particular. On the one hand, the opening of borders has led to the acquisition of professional development opportunities for specialists through internships and communication with foreign partners, as well as through access to sources that were lacking in Soviet times. On the other hand, the general crisis of basic science in the late 1980s and 1990s was accompanied by an almost complete lack of state support, an outflow of personnel, and a desire to commercialize scientific research. The decline in the authority of the "old" scientific schools has led to the fact that the majority of scientific circles serving the political elites of post-Soviet states have developed certain "rules of the game" over the past decade, in which very little attention is paid to painstaking work with sources, a clear historiographic analysis of the scientific problem, and there is a lack of ability to properly solve this very problem formulate; theorizing that is not supported by sources and / or empirical data leads to ugly terms and theories 2.

1 Website of the Institute for Palestinian Studies: http://www.palestine-studies.org

2 As an example, we can cite the recent theoretical message of one of the Belarusian "scientists" about " the development of Oriental studies in the Union State of Russia-Belarus "(sic!).

page 216

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Israeli studies largely developed and continues to be influenced by another field of research - Judaism (the term "Judaism" is less often used), which lost its accumulated scientific traditions mainly in the late 1930s and early 1940s3 and was revived in the USSR in the 1980s. years

The proclamation of the State of Israel in 1948, as the Russian researcher I. Baulina correctly notes [Baulina, 2007], was almost unnoticed by the Soviet Oriental science4. In the 1950s and 1980s, Israeli and Palestinian issues were topical: only a few of the works written at that time were of scientific significance and sought to be objective and correct (Korogodsky, 2004). As a result, the study of Israel in the USSR, in fact, was trampled on the spot 5.

The Ukrainian researcher Yu. Korogodsky listed the factors that, in his opinion, contributed to the "popularity of Israel" among scientists in the post-Soviet states in the 1990s (Korogodsky, 2004). Three of them - the unambiguous interpretation of problems in Soviet historiography, the development of Jewish studies in these countries, and the need for the ruling political elites to establish contacts with Israel-served as the reasons for the development of Israeli studies.

It is not necessary to dwell on those aspects that were already mentioned by the authors of the previous review, namely: the characteristics and list of some studies [List..., 2002; Annotated...], the role of individual coordinating institutions, such as the Sefer Center for Jewish Scholars and Teachers in Higher Education Institutions, 6 the Institute for Israel and Middle East Studies (now the Middle East Institute), the Center for Judaism and Jewish Civilization (now the Department of Judaism) The Institute of Asian and African Studies (ISAA) at Lomonosov Moscow State University 7 in the development of Jewish studies and Israeli studies in Russia and post-Soviet states. Nor does it make sense to touch upon the emergence of higher educational institutions that taught subjects from the field of Judaism. Certain aspects of this issue have already been discussed [Likhachev and Fedorchuk, 2004, pp. 42-48]. It should only be noted that over time, Israeli studies courses began to be taught in other universities - in Russian provincial and partly in Ukraine.

In Moscow, in the second half of the 1990s, the organizers of the educational process began to compensate for the lack of their own specialists by inviting Israeli teachers. Such a situation, as I. Baulina quite rightly points out, has often led to "tendentiousness" and "non-academic style" of presentation of the material. Moreover, by teaching foreign citizens, Israeli specialists, in fact, set up students on the principle of double loyalty: first of all to Israel,and only then to the country where they teach. They are not responsible for the teaching itself.8 In such cases, the invitees do not act much as mentors for students, which is somewhat lacking in all post-Soviet Judaism.

As a positive result of the development of Israeli studies in Russia for 15 years it is necessary to mention the registration of it as an independent Oriental research and educational program

3 For more information on Jewish studies in Soviet Russia and the USSR, see [Greenbaum, 1994]. Researchers highly appreciated the experience gained in this area in the Byelorussian SSR (Gerasimova, 1996). Еврейским сектором Белорусской Академии наук издавался на идише научный сборник "Часопіс для дасьледваньня яурэйскай гісторыі, дэмаграфіі і эканомікі, літаратуры, мовы і этнаграфіі" (сокр. "Zeitschrift"). Vol. 1. Minsk, 1926; Vol. 2-3. Minsk, 1928; Vol. 4. Minsk., 1930; Vol. 5. Minsk, 1931.

4 The first attempt at a scientific analysis of Israeli reality was made only in 1958 (Ivanov and Sheinis, 1958).

5 See the corresponding sections of the bibliography in [Rutberg and Pidevich, 2000]. Actually, the study of Israel in the 1950s-1980s in the USSR still requires additional study. For a partial description of this period, see [Charny, 2004, pp. 133-162].

6 Sefer Center website (http://www.sefer.ru)

7 Unfortunately, the authors do not mention the predecessor of the Department of Jewish Studies - the Higher Courses of Jewish Studies at the ISAA, 1993-1999, which also greatly influenced the development of post - Soviet Jewish studies.

8 Of course, you can't do without inviting Israeli scientists, especially in specialized universities like ISAA. By the way, it should be noted that the ISAA did not face such problems during the existence of the already mentioned Higher Courses of Judaism.

page 217

disciplines, as well as the emergence of truly objective and balanced works [Epstein, 2007; Annotated...].

Let me disagree with two negative assessments that A. Epshtein gives in his review [Epshtein, 2007, p. 167-170].

First, he points out that there are "few" specialists, and those who are located "outside of Moscow" have few publications, including "even in the central Russian scientific periodicals" (Epshtein, 2007, p.168). In my opinion, there should be very few real specialists - they are "piece goods". And here it is also necessary to mention the attitude of the power elites to both Israeli and Palestinian studies. The development of any branches of practical Oriental studies should be beneficial to the elites, for whom it would be important to ensure infallible steps in the state's foreign policy. Such areas provide a theoretical basis for foreign policy activities. However, such research remains largely unclaimed in the post-Soviet states, largely due to the fact that decision-makers pay little attention to the need for balanced actions in foreign policy.9 I would also like to remind you that any work, whether it is a monograph, an article, a review, an essay or a similar review-all this is a certain result of research activities. Here it is worth pointing out once again the work with sources (as mentioned at the beginning of the review) and the responsibility of the scientist for the research conducted personally by him.

Secondly, A. Epshteyn speaks about the need to translate many of the works of foreign researchers that have already become classics [Epshteyn, 2007, p. 169]. I partly disagree with this statement. There is little point in such translations: without knowing foreign languages, it is hardly worth doing science.

It is also necessary to note the weaknesses of the current state of Israeli studies. Despite the existing opportunities for the emergence of scientific schools, they were never able to take shape in Russian Israeli studies; many talented students left Judaica during the period described, often for subjective reasons, due to lack of understanding on the part of their own teachers; qualified specialists with knowledge of the language are not in demand in the labor market, including by political elites who have already There is no need to develop ties with Israel as in the early 1990s. It seems that this situation will continue in the foreseeable future.

In the development of post-Soviet Palestinian studies, as in no other field of Oriental studies, two "generations" of researchers are clearly distinguished, which I would call "older" and "younger". Apparently, the continuity of academic traditions characteristic of scientific schools of other branches of Oriental studies was lost between these two lines.

The "older generation" was formed in Soviet times under the influence of the traditions of Russian Arabic studies, the transmission of which was not interrupted, despite the difficult political situation in the country at different periods of time. This "generation" retains the traditions of Soviet Arabic studies, with its inherent features-adherence to the assessments that have developed in historiography since the second half of the 1950s, Marxist methodology, and a greater degree of trust in Arabic historiography.10 The "younger generation" grew stronger in the second half of the 1990s, when the general situation in science was not very conducive to research, and the analysis system developed in the industry due to the "older" ones began to lose value. The "younger ones" were formed largely under the influence of Israeli studies. In the works of such authors, there is a departure from the Marxist methodology.-

9 I will give just one example. All 15-year attempts to create an orientalist field in Belarus have failed. From the post-war period to the present day, there are only isolated cases of Belarusian scientists working on the study of the Middle East. In addition, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry has not had a single expert who knows Israel and Hebrew since 1997. Under these circumstances, Israeli diplomats could not find highly qualified specialists in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, with whom it would be necessary to maintain a certain level of professional and personal contacts. This provision, by the way, was one of the reasons for the Israeli demarche against Belarus in July-August 2002, called the "Peleg demarche", after the Israeli diplomat who reported in Minsk in the same July about the closure of the Israeli diplomatic mission in the Republic of Belarus.

10 See the most striking examples of the works of the "older generation" (Pyrlin, 2001; Pyrlin, 2002; Primakov, 2006).

page 218

todology, although no alternative is provided 11. Sometimes the works of authors of the generation of the 1990s are also opportunistic: both "openly pro-Israeli" (Epstein, 2007, p.167) and openly pro-Arab literature are published. It is characteristic that the " older "ones retain some cliches of Soviet historiography, while the" younger " ones can repeat the assessments of the Israeli one. The opinions of your predecessors are not evaluated critically.

All of the above led to the fact that the connection between the two "generations" was, in fact, lost. It should be added that the above division of Palestinian studies postpones the prospect of creating scientific schools. This situation can be compared to the one already described in Israeli studies, where schools have also failed to take shape in the new industry for post-Soviet states since the 1990s.

In the near future, no significant positive changes are expected in the state of the two related branches of Oriental studies-Israeli studies and Palestinian studies - in Russia, and as a consequence, in the post-Soviet states. In my opinion, two conditions could improve the situation at first. First of all, the rejection of the corporate principle. To do this, it is necessary to establish and develop contacts both between representatives of these two industries, and between specialists in other fields who also study the Middle East. The second condition could be the involvement of young talented researchers in active scientific activities, teaching or other practical work in these areas.

list of literature

Annotated bibliographic index: the main works on the history of Zionism, politics, economics and social problems of the State of Israel, published in Russian / Comp. by A. Epshtein " / / http://www.oranim.ac.il/

Baulina I. Izrailevedenie [Israeli Studies]. The problem of introducing a new direction in the program of oriental studies specialties: [Proceedings of the International Symposium " Oriental Studies in Russia and the CIS countries at the turn of the Century. Problems and prospects". Kazan, July 2-5, 2007]. Manuscript / / Archive of the author.

Gerasimova I. P. On the history of the Jewish Department of the Institute of Belarusian Culture (Inbelkult) and the Jewish sector of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences in the 20-30s / / Bulletin of the Jewish University in Moscow. Moscow-Jerusalem Publ., 1996, No. 2 (12).

Greenbaum, A. A. Jewish Science and scientific institutions in the Soviet Union, 1918-1953 / Translated from English // Jews in Russia. Historiographical essays: the second half of the XIX century - XX century. Moscow-Jerusalem: Jewish University; Gesharim, 1994.

Ivanov K. P., Sheinis Z. S. The State of Israel, its situation and politics. Moscow: Gospolitizdat, 1958.

Israel and the Middle East Conflict in the Research of Young Russian Scientists: from Camp David to the Al-Aqsa Intifada / Russian Society of Friends of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Moscow, 2005.

Korogodsky Yu. Izuchenie Izraya na postsovetskom prostranstve [Study of Israel in the post-Soviet space]. 2004. N 3 (www.eajc.org)

Likhachev V., Fedorchuk A. Vysshee obrazovanie v oblasti judaiki na postsovetskom prostranstve [Higher education in the field of Judaism in the post-Soviet space]. 2004. N 1.

Jewish Studies // Jewish Encyclopedia: A set of knowledge about Jewry and its culture in the past and present: In 16 vols. Vol. 12 . / Under the general editorship of L. Katsenelson. Moscow: Terra, 1991 (Reprint reprint). publications of the Society for Jewish Scientific Publications and Brockhaus-Efron Publishing House).

Primakov E. M. Confidential:Middle East on the stage and behind the scenes (the second half of the XX-beginning of the XXI century). Moscow: Ros. gazeta, 2006.

Pyrlin E. D. 100 years of confrontation. Genesis, evolution, current state and prospects of solving the Palestinian problem, Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2001.
Pyrlin E. D. The Difficult and Long Road to Peace: a View from Moscow on the problem of the Middle East settlement. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2002.

Rutberg N. I., Pidevich I. N. Jews and the Jewish Question in the Literature of the Soviet period: A Chronological and thematic index of literature published for 1917-1991 in Russian. Moscow: Grant, 2000.

List of the main works on the history, politics, economy and social problems of the State of Israel, published in 1985-2001 / Comp.: A. Epshtein, A. Fedorchenko, N. Heimets / / Society and Politics of modern Israel. Collection of articles / Ed.by A.D. Epshtein and A.V. Fedorchenko. Moscow-Jerusalem: Gesharim Publ., 2002.

Charny S. Pozdnesovetskaya i postsovetskaya judaika [Late Soviet and Post-Soviet Judaica] / / Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual International Interdisciplinary Conference on Judaica, Part 2, Moscow, 2004.

11 See an example of the good work of the "younger generation" [Israel and the Middle East conflict..., 2005].

page 219

Shavyaleu Z. Агляд развіцця яурэйскіх даследванняу у Беларусі на мяжы XX-XXI ст. // Белорусы гістарычны агляд, Менск, 2003. Т. 10. Сшыткі 1 - 2.

Шевелёв Д. Развитие израилеведения в Республике Беларусь и Украине (попытка сравнительного анализа) // VII Сходознавчі читання А. Кримського: Тези доповідей міжнародної наукавої конференції (м. Київ, 4 - 5 червеня 2003 р.). Київ, 2003.

Epstein A. Osnovnye napravleniya i novye tendentsii v razvitii israelevedcheskikh issledovaniy v 80 - 90-e gody [Main directions and new trends in the development of Israeli studies in the 80s-90s]. 2001. N 1.

Epshtein A. Studying Israel in Russia (1991-2006): achievements and problems//East (Oriens). 2007. N 2.

D. L. SHEVELEV, PhD Candidate in Physics. PhD in History, Senior Researcher at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus

Permanent link to this publication: