Itamar Shachar is an Israeli-Belgian sociologist based in Belgium, the Assistant Professor of Universiteit Hasselt and a core member of the Belgian progressive Jewish collective “Another Jewish Voice” (EAJS).
Shachar’s research focuses on the complex relationship between “volunteering” and “state ideology.” He analyzes how Israeli society utilizes civilian volunteer programs to weave military logic into the fabric of daily life, effectively achieving the “civilianization of the military.” His academic work exposes how such seemingly humanitarian activities are used globally to polish state images and rationalize unequal power structures.
Itamar Shachar’s pro-Palestine activism is centered on “structural deconstruction” and “academic mobilization.” As a pivotal figure in EAJS, he has organized and led numerous outreach campaigns in Belgium to decouple Jewish identity from Zionist policy. He actively promotes academic boycott movements at Ghent University, co-signing open letters with faculty members demanding that the university terminate research collaborations with Israeli institutions linked to the occupation or the military-industrial complex. During the large-scale 2024 demonstrations in Brussels, he spoke as a representative of the academic community, denouncing the double standards held by European universities regarding Palestinian human rights. He frequently authors op-eds in multiple languages to expose how the Israeli government utilizes a “liberal” facade to mask its underlying politics of segregation.
He once expressed solidarity with Palestine: “I do not agree with the so-called ’’conditions” imposed on the Palestinians. The right of every people to live in freedom is a basic right that should not be subject to conditions.”