Dr. Petr Suchy discusses the course he initiated at Masaryk University on Israeli innovation
By SHLOMO MAITALDr. Petr Suchy and his children(photo credit: Courtesy)
IN EARLY November, I traveled to Ma- saryk University, in Brno, Czech Repub- lic, to open a three-week course on Israeli innovation for some 30 graduate students. The course was designed to showcase, re- alistically, the Start-up Nation with a dozen speakers who lectured on start-up stories, team-based methodology, VC and angel investment, strategic planning and Israel’s lessons learned overall. Let’s face it. Israel is beleaguered ev- erywhere − on American campuses and throughout most of Europe. Even many Jewish students oppose Israel’s policies. The anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement is well-organized, well-funded and gaining momentum.Since Avigdor Liberman resigned as for - eign minister 30 months ago, this post has been empty, precisely when a vigorous ex- perienced top diplomat is vitally needed. If there is indeed a global tide of pro-Isra- el sentiment, as Prime Minister Netanyahu claims, I cannot detect it. This is why I welcomed the chance in Brno to help rebrand Israel as a nation where cre- ativity drives growth, jobs and wealth, rather than as an oppressive occupying power. The 2011 book “Start-up Nation” by Dan Senor and Saul Singer has sold millions of copies worldwide and has been translated into well over 30 languages. People everywhere, in- cluding the Czech Republic, read it and want to replicate Israel’s creative energy. Meanwhile, there is turmoil in Europe.The wave of migrants pouring into European nations has created a powerful right-wing backlash and reshaped the political landscape. In some countries, such as Austria, extreme right-wing parties have gained power, and many of them are covertly, or openly, antisemitic. Last summer, right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s vicious billboard campaign against migrants and foreign influence used the image of US Jewish billionaire George Soros. Many felt Soros was a proxy for anti-Jewish sentiment. It is an embarrassment that many in Israel’s ruling Likud party seem to embrace the rising European Right, despite its antisemitic leanings. The Czech Republic may well be Israel’s best friend in Europe. Israel’s tireless ambassador to the Czech Republic, Daniel Meron, has served in this post for only eight months, yet has scoured the country, promoting Israeli technology and business. He attended the course’s opening session. Our host at Masaryk University, which in 2019 will celebrate its 100th anniversary, was Dr. Petr Suchy, who heads the Europe- an and International Studies Department. He shaped the innovation course together with my Neaman Institute colleague, Dr. Eitan Adres, a former IDF pilot and 30-year veteran of Israel’s steel industry. Adres recounts that as an expert on attitudes toward globalization, he was invited to Brno to speak to PhD students. While there, a meeting with Suchy cooked up the innovation course, on a slim budget − all the speakers are unpaid, only their expenses are covered. Modest funding came from the Israel Institute and the Herzl Chair.Suchy recounts that one day, “Adres knocked on my office door... we discussed my dream [of an innovation course], we moved from dreaming to planning and in less than nine months the course began.” He is a strong Israel supporter. I asked him a number of questions about his country, Eu- rope, Czech-Israel relations and the world.The Jerusalem Report : What gave you the idea to initiate a course on Israeli innovation?Suchy : Two years ago, I read “Start-up Nation.” I was totally taken by it. Then I read more books on Israeli approaches to start-ups and innovations and got inspired. I thought that it would be amazing to organize a course in my department that would provide students with an opportunity to get firsthand information directly from Israeli colleagues. I shared my dream with Peter Kolesar, our graduate who served as an economic diplomat at the Slovak Embassy in Tel Aviv and later, in Washington. He helped a lot, providing tips, names and also topics.The Report : You have taken your two children, ages 11 and 13, to visit Auschwitz. As a Christian and a father, can you explain why? Many Jews visit, including young Israelis – but not that many non-Jews. What do you try to teach your children about the Holocaust?Suchy : I think that many non-Jews visit Auschwitz, as well. My kids’ school, as well as many other schools here, take students there regularly. For me, there are many reasons. Kids need to know well what happened there and in other death camps, and to know who perpetrated these heinous crimes. They also need to learn from history – that this was also one of the results of appeasement on the part of some European countries and leaders, negligent of the growing threat and wishful thinking. That when some people say unbelievably terrible things, they may also try to carry their plans out. I also try to explain that the losses, the void, caused by the Nazi killing machine in the Holocaust will be felt forever. Another reason was to make them think, contemplate, realize how lucky they are these days and to know what so many children at their age suffered together with their families.THE CZECH Republic is an industrial power. Its industrial manufacturers per capita exceed those of neighboring Germany, its leading trading partner. Its Skoda Auto, now owned by Volkswagon, turns out more than a million vehicles a year. Surprisingly, even though Israel has had no auto industry for decades, it has a great many start-ups focused on cars – navigation software, parking, fleet management, ride sharing, crash warning and much more. Daimler is the latest auto giant to establish an R&D center here. I believe there is immense potential for strategic partnerships in this area between Czech auto companies and Israel’s vehicle-related dynamic start-ups. Moreover, the Czechs, despite having huge rivers, have a serious water shortage due to wastage and are keenly interested in Israel’s advanced water and clean-tech waste-water technology. Like Israel, the Czechs have fought hard for their freedom. The first Czechoslovak Republic was formed after World War I under Tomáš Masaryk, but was sold out by Britain in 1938 in the nefarious Munich Agreement. Hitler and the Nazis soon captured the Czechs, while Slovakia seceded and chose to side with Germany. In 1948, a Communist coup made Czecho- slovakia a Soviet satellite, with a failed command economy, for 41 years. In November 1989, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Czechoslovakia returned to liberal democracy through the peaceful “Velvet Revolution” led by Václav Havel. And, in 1993, by mutual agreement, the Czech Republic and its neighbor Slovakia separated. The Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004 without, however, embracing the euro – in retrospect, a wise decision. The Czechs have suffered a lot during the past century, but they are resilient. My colleague at the Neaman Institute, Dr. Reuven Gal, formerly chief psychologist of the IDF, recently taught a short course on national resilience at Masaryk University. He recounted that “there was serious discussion on whether the Czechoslovak people showed national resilience during World War II. The metaphor ‘bend, don’t break’ and the concept of ‘bouncing back’ that characterize and define national resilience seemed to appeal very much to my Czech graduate students.” Unlike the Hungarians, who valiantly and hopelessly fought Soviet tanks in the 1956 uprising, the Czechs did not fight futilely in 1968 against overwhelming Soviet military power that repressed their brief and memorable Prague Spring. They did bounce back later, however.The Report : Israel is under increasing fire, especially from the BDS movement. Why do you think there is such strong anti-Isra-el sentiment in Europe and the world? Is it simply the underdog vs. the “upper dog?” Or is it deeper than that? What are the his- torical roots?Suchy : “It’s much more than underdog vs. the ‘upper dog.’ I see more sources of anti-Israel sentiments – growing antisemitism, anti-Israel resentment, hate, envy of Israel’s success story and very rapid development against all odds, ideology, disinformation and propaganda serving many individuals, leaders and states. It is also lack of information about the situation in Israel. Israelis have had to face terror for decades.”The Report : After World War I and World War II, Europe reshaped its borders extensively. Many Europeans became refugees from their own homes. Czechoslovakia lost a part of its territory as a result. Israel occupies land it captured in war and is bitterly criticized in Europe as an “occupier.” Why?Suchy : “Double standards. Some annexations, such as that of Carpathian Ruthenia by Stalin after World War II or Crimea by Putin’s Russia three years ago are taken as a fait accompli ‒ especially when they are supported or defended as a result of fake popular plebiscites. Annexation of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia by the USSR was ignored or, at best, tolerated by many Western European democracies. The same applies to other significant changes of borders in Central and Eastern Europe after the war. Israeli occupation is often perceived as a different matter.”I truly wish Israel would do much more to strengthen economic and scientific ties with our Czech mates, if only to make a single point ‒ those who embrace Israel rather than boycott it come out far ahead.
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