Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sevinç Alkan Özcan examined the question of citizenship and identity in Israel through the example of the Haredi, Druze and Russian-Jewish communities.
In S.O.S.der's online (Zoom) seminar series, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sevinç Alkan Özcan was the guest on the evening of Thursday, 30 April 2026. In the seminar titled Citizenship and Identity in Israel: Haredim, Druze and Russian Jews, the layers of identity in Israeli society, how the citizenship regime operates for different communities, and the position of the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox), Druze and Russian-origin Jewish communities from the former Soviet space were addressed.
About the Speaker
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sevinç Alkan Özcan is a graduate of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Marmara University; she completed her doctorate, also at Marmara University, on religion–state relations in post-communist Poland and Russia. She was a visiting researcher at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies; she is currently a faculty member of the Department of International Relations at Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University and serves as editor of the Near Asia Forum. She has numerous publications on minorities, religion and identity.
Topics Addressed in the Seminar
The programme assessed, within an academic framework, debates on identity and belonging from the founding of Israel to the present, the relations of different communities with the state and with one another, and the reflections of this multilayered structure on regional politics.
Our association, which believes that understanding the region and its actors correctly is the foundation of the struggle for justice, thanks Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sevinç Alkan Özcan for this comprehensive presentation.