Icon 2008

In order to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary, the Icon Festival is taking a look at the greatest Science Fiction project of all times: the State of Israel.

The State of Israel is unique in that discussions of its existence, its national character, and the way it should be founded and governed have all preceded its physical existence by hundreds, and even thousands of years. The dream of Israel, the fantasy, the dream, the utopist experiment – have all affected the country we live in today no less than the country's environmental conditions. Israel presents a fascinating paradox of a country that existed in the imagination and in print long before our grandfathers and grandmothers began constructing the reality, a brief century ago.

Durin the festival we will examine the Science Fiction alongside reality. In the panels and lectures that will include speakers from academia and popular culture we will look at the different perceptions of The Jewish State, and see how those perceptions affected the people who founded the country, and the nature of the country they founded – then and today. In addition, we will examine ideas about Israeli futures – how they come across in literature, academia, media, and popular culture – and how they affect the activities of social, economic and political groups and organizations.