Mark LeVine

Mark Andrew LeVine is an American historian, musician, writer, and professor. He is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. LeVine received his B.A. in comparative religion and biblical studies from Hunter College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University's Department of Middle Eastern Studies. He speaks multiple languages including Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Persian, Italian, French, German and English. With regard to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, LeVine argues for a 'parallel states' scenario, involving the dissolution of borders and overlapping sovereignty across the entirety of historic Palestine. LeVine has recently theorized that the only trope which can explain what he calls Israel's 'totalitarian' control over Palestinian people is that afforded by Quantum Mechanics. By totalitarian he does not mean the systems that prevailed in Nazi Germany, Fascist states, or Communist Russia and China, but the intricate matrix of control established by the Israeli occupation throughout the spatial territory Palestinians inhabit, by virtue of which the Palestinians have no more influence over their life paths than an electron in a field does. This control extends to the airspace, and underground (harvesting the water resources), to the present and the past, making for a unique synergy of "bio" and "necro"-politics. He claims that maps created by ICAHD show that a dozen control parameters are in place at any one coordinate point in the West Bank. The result in his view is that the Israeli occupation,'represents criminalized state behavior at the most systematic, intricately planned and executed, widest possible scale, and longest duration.' LeVine is a rock guitarist and has played with noted rock and world beat musicians such as Mick Jagger, Chuck D, Michael Franti, and Doctor John. He recorded with Moroccan Hassan Hakmoun, and the French Gypsy band Les Yeux Noirs on Ozomatli's album Street Signs, which won the Grammy for Best Latin Rock/Alternative album in 2005.