On the Waterfront 47
On the Waterfront is the semi-annual magazine of the IISH. This is issue 47 (2025)
On the Waterfront: newsletter of the friends of the IISH
Authors: Aad Blok
Place of publication: Amsterdam
Year: 2025 / Issue: 47 / Format: 16 pp.
Current events in the world outside the Institute have had a major influence on the IISH since its inception, and this is no different today. The link between history and current affairs was addressed in two different ways at the recent Friends meeting.
The appalling developments and situation in Gaza, recently described by Amnesty International as genocide, prompted us to ask our colleague Leyla Musson, instead of the usual collection presentations, to discuss the various ways in which the State of Israel, since its inception, has actively tried, and continues to try, to erase the Palestinian historical heritage by making all kinds of source material disappear or inaccessible for research, a clear form of cultural genocide.
Thematic presentations by Sarah Verveer and Peter van Dam focused on another topical issue: climate activism. An interview with Peer de Rijk, a long-time climate activist who is still active, also links the past with the present. We open this issue with an interview with our colleague Erhan Tuskan on the occasion of his retirement, in whose history as a political prisoner in Turkey in the 1980s Amnesty International played an important role. This ties in nicely with Michelle Carmody’s article describing her first dive into the Amnesty International archives at the IISH.
Aad Blok
