Few English-language journalists are as intimate with contemporary Middle Eastern issues as Robert Fisk. Ithaca College was fortunate to have the widely respected author as its Park Distinguished Visitor Series guest this spring.

Fisk, who lives in Lebanon and has covered the region for 31 years, is currently the Middle East correspondent for the British newspaper the Independent. He previously worked at the UK’s Times and has also covered Northern Ireland and the conflicts in Algeria, Bosnia, and Kosovo. He has written several books, including Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon and, most recently (2005, HarperCollins), The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East, his first-person account of bloodshed in the area, from the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli tragedy to the recent invasion and occupation of Iraq.

In his talk at Ithaca, “Observations on the U.S. and the Middle East,” Fisk discussed the role of the press in perpetuating falsehoods about Iraq before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion; his critique did not spare either the British or U.S. administrations. Afterward, the large crowd in Emerson Suites engaged him in further discussion for another hour.

This series is funded through the Park Foundation’s generosity and commitment to bringing important and independent media voices to the Ithaca College and broader communities.