Azmi Bishara

Azmi Bishara (born Nazareth, 22 July 1956) is a Palestinian intellectual, and political writer. He holds a PhD in philosophy, and he is currently the General Director of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and a member of its Executive Board. A prominent researcher and writer, Bishara has published numerous books and academic papers on political thought, social theory, and philosophy, in addition to several literary works. Bishara received the Ibn Rushd Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2002 and the Global Exchange Human Rights Award in 2003.

Bishara is particularly known for his research on civil society, nationalism theory, what he refers to as "the Arab question", religion and secularism, his work in renewing Arab thought, and his analysis of society and the state in Israel. He has also conducted prolific research into the Israeli war on Lebanon and the aggression towards Gaza during the Arab revolutions in 2011 and 2012, as well as in the theorization of the democratic transformation and citizenship rights. He uses philosophy and an analytical approach to the social sciences, dealing with concepts such as freedom, justice, religion, mythology, secularism, state, nationalism, nation, civil society and others.