Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September/October 2006, page 76

In Memoriam

Dr. Deborah J. “Misty” Gerner (1956-2006)

By Rajaa Abu-Jabr and Janet McMahon

DEBORAH “MISTY” GERNER was an extraordinary person who could shock you with her ability to forgive and her unbreakable willingness to give. She believed strongly in the possibility of achieving peace in the Middle East despite all obstacles and difficulties, and devoted a significant amount of her academic research to issues that helped Americans gain a better understanding of the Middle East in general, and the Israel-Palestine conflict in particular.

After a long and courageous struggle with breast cancer, Misty died June 19, 2006, at her home in Vinland, Kansas. Born in San Jose, California, she attended Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio. At Earlham College, a Quaker liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana from which she graduated in 1978, she pursued a double major in religion and in peace and conflict studies, then went on to earn her master’s and doctorate degrees in political science from Northwestern University.

In 1988 Misty accepted a position at the University of Kansas (KU), where, at the time of her death, she was professor of political science and co-director of its Center for International Political Analysis. A member of the KU Women’s Hall of Fame, she received many teaching awards, including a Kemper Award for teaching excellence, the Byron T. Shutz Award for distinguished teaching, the International Studies Association Ladd Hollist Award for outstanding service, and the Susan Northcutt Award for outstanding service to women scholars.

A Mind Is Changed

In her “In Memoriam” for Dr. Ibrahim Abu-Lughod (see July 2001 Washington Report, p. 20), Misty wrote: “I first met Ibrahim Abu-Lughod when, as a new graduate student at Northwestern University, I wandered into his office to ask about a seminar he was teaching. I had heard he was a ‘PLO terrorist’ and wasn’t sure what to expect, but I recall being nervous as I knocked on his door. The urbane, distinguished-looking gentleman who graciously invited me into his messy office quickly allayed my fears as he asked about my background and academic goals. When I confessed that I was considering enrolling in his class for lack of better options rather than because I actually was interested in the Middle East, his only comment was, ‘Well, we’ll see if I can change your mind.’ In 10 short weeks he did just that.”

Misty’s 1994 textbook, One Land, Two Peoples: The Conflict Over Palestine—lauded for its “rare quality of research” in providing a comprehensive and unbiased overview of the Palestinian and Israeli claims to Palestine—continues to be widely used at universities throughout the U.S.

In addition to her numerous journal articles, essays and other professional writings, she edited Understanding the Contemporary Middle East (2000) and, as a member of the International Quaker Working Party on Israel and Palestine, was co-author of When the Rain Returns: Justice and Reconciliation in Palestine and Israel (2004). A comprehensive catalog of her work can be viewed at <http://people.ku.edu/~gerner/cv.html>.

Misty’s contributions to Middle East studies were not limited to her academic work and publications, however. She visited and studied the region over a period of 25 years. In the spring of 1996, under a Fulbright grant, she taught in Ramallah, as part of Birzeit University’s graduate international studies program. Earlier this year she was in Ramallah again—and succeeded in talking her way into Gaza. She not only filled several gaps in the literature of the Middle East, but she touched lives there, as well as at home. Understanding that U.S. foreign policy is greatly influenced by Israeli interests, Misty was always up to the challenge of explaining to Americans—as well as Palestinians—their mutual misunderstandings resulting from poor media coverage and/or cultural differences.

A longtime friend and supporter of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Misty was unfailingly generous with ideas on how to help improve Americans’ understanding of the conflict. She was a true peacemaker who always saw the glass half full, and her optimism, tempered by realism, made her a passionate and effective messenger of reconciliation. 

Misty was a rigorous thinker who observed the highest standards in her research. Her method of attack resembled a marathon: she worked non-stop, determined to research every possible question, writing and publishing prolifically—yet she was never satisfied. Perhaps the fact that she visited the Middle East so often, met so many people and formed so many friendships there made her feel responsible for explaining and correcting Americans’ mistaken cultural stereotypes. For Palestinians, Misty’s greatest contribution was precisely her insistence on conveying to the world at large and Americans in particular a true picture of Palestinians, one undistorted by cultural, political, or religious misunderstandings.

In all facets—personal, academic and professional—of her productive and fully lived life, Misty was guided by her conscience and principles. Her pacifism and dedication to knowlege and justice only added to her intellectual and spiritual strength. Today her spirit lives on in so many people, who are better human beings because they were touched by her life and work.

Misty Gerner is survived by her husband and partner, Philip A. Schrodt, professor of political science at the University of Kansas; and her parents, Henry and Dorothy Love Gerner, of Indianapolis, and brother, Mark Gerner, of Evansville, Indiana.

As Misty would say: Carpe Diem.

Rajaa Abu-Jabr, a former student of Misty Gerner’s, is marketing coordinator for Dubai Women’s College/Higher Colleges of Technology, in Dubai, UAE. Janet McMahon is managing editor of the Washington Report.

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