Battle of Ideas: Outside the Walls

I just can't get the Battle of Ideas out of my head. I finally looked at some of the flip video footage we gathered. The amazing thing is the folks continue the conversation well after the events. I know this happens to some degree after public forums amongst friends or couple attending, but not to the degree it took place at this convention.



At the pub, party . . . on the street . . . in the hallways of the venue, people were engaged. Watch Stuart and me and some of the attendees get it on.

"Can the state of the Jews be a democracy for the 20% of its citizens who are not Jews?"

The question posed by Asher Susser of Tel-Aviv University in the first discussion of the day. His answer is "yes." You'll have to watch the program to hear his argument.

FORA.tv Hits Oxford

Finding myself with a camera and an open weekend in the UK I headed up to Oxford to film the 2008 International Conference "Challenges Facing Israel at 60" at Oxford's Said Business School. The conference organizer just announced FORA and its embeddable player to a packed audience in Said's main auditorium.

This isn't FORA's first appearance in Oxford but it's gratifying to see the platform getting traction in one of the world's great centers of discourse and public knowledge.

Israel's Minister of Education Yuli Tamir is currently discussing attitudes and tolerance toward minorities (especially Arabs) in the Israeli state. Worth a watch for anyone with an interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

We have had a couple pretty good days in traffic over the last couple of days. This is what getting your video on the front page of Digg does to your site:




One of the video's is still there as of 9:45am this morning. Check it out:
http://digg.com/videos

FORA.tv at the Battle of Ideas - London

Stuart Schulzke and myself flew to London to film over thirty panels at this year's Battle of Ideas. Along with videographer Robert Recht (an ex-pat living in London) and the dedicated staff of WORLDwrite, FORA will be posting most of the panels from the festival over the next several weeks. Keep an eye on the Institute of Ideas channel.

Last year, Trevar accompanied Stuart to the Battle of Ideas. Next year, I anticipate an arm wrestling contest. And I have to say, I built up some extra muscle in the evenings with my pub related elbow bends.

Here is a little vid to give everyone a little context of setting.