Associate Professor
מנהל ההוצל"א האוניברסיטאית-חבר/ת סגל אקדמי בכיר
The Ben-Gurion Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism
Prof. Kobi Peled
Departments
Staff member contact section
About
Prof. Peled has a longstanding scholarly interest in Middle Eastern societies and cultures, both past and present. His research focuses primarily on the cultural history of the Palestinians, with particular attention to Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel. Incorporating political, social, and economic dimensions, his historical work is grounded in a synthetic approach in which culture, understood as a meaning-laden social fabric, plays a central role.His studies reflect a broad engagement with multiple fields in the humanities and social sciences, including Arabic language and literature, Middle East studies, history, and anthropology, as well as with the arts, particularly architecture, an area of sustained interest.
Prior to joining the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel & Zionism in 2010, Prof. Peled taught a variety of courses at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Between 2004 and 2010, he also taught in the ?Amirim? Interdisciplinary Honors Program at the Hebrew University.
Research Fields:
Memory studies
Oral history
Sociology of place
Bedouin poetry
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Courses
Selected Courses Taught:
Place as Text
History from a Poetic Perspective
Palestine as seen through Memory
Israel in the Middle East: Basic Concepts
Exploring Cultural Identities: The Israeli DNA
Anthropological Paradigms & Middle Eastern Cultures
The Jewish-Arab Conflict: Historical and Sociological Perspectives
The Kaleidoscope of the Past: Collective Remembrance and Social Amnesia in Israel
?Past Continuous:? The Political Uses of the Past in Palestinian, Arab and Islamic Societies
Place as Text
History from a Poetic Perspective
Palestine as seen through Memory
Israel in the Middle East: Basic Concepts
Exploring Cultural Identities: The Israeli DNA
Anthropological Paradigms & Middle Eastern Cultures
The Jewish-Arab Conflict: Historical and Sociological Perspectives
The Kaleidoscope of the Past: Collective Remembrance and Social Amnesia in Israel
?Past Continuous:? The Political Uses of the Past in Palestinian, Arab and Islamic Societies
Publications
Books
2025. Noura?s Dream: A Historical Portrait of a Bedouin Tribe. Haifa: Maktabat Kul Shee, 289 pages (translated into Arabic by Kifah Abdul Halim).
2025. The Ridicule and the Reproof: The Negev Bedouin?s Poetry of Protestation and Criticism, ed. Kobi Peled. Midreshet Ben-Gurion: The Ben-Gurion Institute Press, 270 pages (Hebrew).
2022. Words Like Daggers: The Political Poetry of the Negev Bedouin. Boston: Brill, 315 pages.
2015. Noura?s Dream: A Historical Portrait of a Bedouin Tribe. Haifa: The University of Haifa Press & Miskal, 310 pages (Hebrew).
2012. Architexture: The Arab House as a Social Text. Tel-Aviv: Resling, 295 pages (Hebrew).
2008. Architecture of Collective Memory: Remembering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in Kibbutz Yad-Mordechai, 1943-1951. Givat Haviva: Moreshet & Yad-Yaari Press, 109 pages (Hebrew).
Recent Articles
2025. ??In the Byzantines? Cage?: A Transjordanian Poem bout Qadr al-Majali, Leader of the 1910 Karak Revolt ? Analysis of a Version Documented in the Negev.? British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 52 (4), 23 pages.
2024. ?Six Gallant Steeds Seated in a Schoolhouse: The First Bedouin Protest Poem during Israel?s Military Rule in the Negev.? Israel Affairs, Vol. 30 (6), 22 pages.
2024. ?Expulsion and return: the Via Dolorosa of the Gd?r?t al-??ne? tribal group as reflected in two poems by a Negev Bedouin poet.? Journal of Israeli History: Politics, Society, Culture, Vol. 42 (1-2), 19 pages.
2024. ?The Great War in the Middle East from a Poetic Bedouin Perspective: A Close Reading of Two Poems about the Sinai Campaign and the Battles in the Negev During World War I.? First World War Studies, Vol. 15, 25 pages.
2024. ?Bedouin Poetry as an Art of Memory: The Dialogue between the Present and the Past in the Political Poetry of the Negev Bedouin.? Nomadic Peoples, Vol. 28 (1), 23 pages.
2024. ?The Birth of a Poetry of Political Criticism: The Transformation That Took Place in the Political Verses of the Negev Bedouin at the Close of the Ottoman Period.? British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 51 (1), 19 pages.
2024. ?Testimonianze orali, fonti d?archivio e guerra arabo-israeliana del 1948: uno sguardo ravvicinato sull?occupazione di un villaggio della Galilea.? Il de Martino: Storie, Voci, Suoni, Vol. 37/38, 30 pages (translated from English into Italian).
2025. Noura?s Dream: A Historical Portrait of a Bedouin Tribe. Haifa: Maktabat Kul Shee, 289 pages (translated into Arabic by Kifah Abdul Halim).
2025. The Ridicule and the Reproof: The Negev Bedouin?s Poetry of Protestation and Criticism, ed. Kobi Peled. Midreshet Ben-Gurion: The Ben-Gurion Institute Press, 270 pages (Hebrew).
2022. Words Like Daggers: The Political Poetry of the Negev Bedouin. Boston: Brill, 315 pages.
2015. Noura?s Dream: A Historical Portrait of a Bedouin Tribe. Haifa: The University of Haifa Press & Miskal, 310 pages (Hebrew).
2012. Architexture: The Arab House as a Social Text. Tel-Aviv: Resling, 295 pages (Hebrew).
2008. Architecture of Collective Memory: Remembering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in Kibbutz Yad-Mordechai, 1943-1951. Givat Haviva: Moreshet & Yad-Yaari Press, 109 pages (Hebrew).
Recent Articles
2025. ??In the Byzantines? Cage?: A Transjordanian Poem bout Qadr al-Majali, Leader of the 1910 Karak Revolt ? Analysis of a Version Documented in the Negev.? British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 52 (4), 23 pages.
2024. ?Six Gallant Steeds Seated in a Schoolhouse: The First Bedouin Protest Poem during Israel?s Military Rule in the Negev.? Israel Affairs, Vol. 30 (6), 22 pages.
2024. ?Expulsion and return: the Via Dolorosa of the Gd?r?t al-??ne? tribal group as reflected in two poems by a Negev Bedouin poet.? Journal of Israeli History: Politics, Society, Culture, Vol. 42 (1-2), 19 pages.
2024. ?The Great War in the Middle East from a Poetic Bedouin Perspective: A Close Reading of Two Poems about the Sinai Campaign and the Battles in the Negev During World War I.? First World War Studies, Vol. 15, 25 pages.
2024. ?Bedouin Poetry as an Art of Memory: The Dialogue between the Present and the Past in the Political Poetry of the Negev Bedouin.? Nomadic Peoples, Vol. 28 (1), 23 pages.
2024. ?The Birth of a Poetry of Political Criticism: The Transformation That Took Place in the Political Verses of the Negev Bedouin at the Close of the Ottoman Period.? British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 51 (1), 19 pages.
2024. ?Testimonianze orali, fonti d?archivio e guerra arabo-israeliana del 1948: uno sguardo ravvicinato sull?occupazione di un villaggio della Galilea.? Il de Martino: Storie, Voci, Suoni, Vol. 37/38, 30 pages (translated from English into Italian).
