Ali Abunimah, founder of ElectronicIntifada.net
"Israel and Palestine: Is Peace About to Break Out?"
Tuesday, April 5, 7:00 PM, Park Auditorium, Ithaca College
and
Monday, April 4, 7:00 PM, Goldwin Smith, HEC Auditorium, Cornell University
These events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dan McCarey, president of Students for a Just Peace.
Student groups at Ithaca College and Cornell University have worked together to bring Ali Abunimah to their campuses. The speaker will review recent developments in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, including the Palestinian elections, the "ceasefire," and Israel's Gaza "disengagement plan," and give background and context. He will then consider whether the latest developments truly indicate that a breakthrough towards peace is about to happen.
Abunimah will talk about what it would take to achieve real peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and why despite some of the recent developments, we are still very far from achieving it. The talks will also consider recent developments in Palestine/Israel in the context of regional developments and current US foreign policy whose declared aim is to "democratize" the region while fighting a "war on terror."
Ali Abunimah is a writer and commentator on Middle East and Arab-American affairs. He writes a column in Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper, and is a regular contributor to the Chicago Tribune. His articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Jordan Times, among other publications. He is a frequent guest on local, national and international radio and television, including CNN, Fox, MSNBC, Pacifica Radio, Radio Canada and the BBC.
Abunimah cofounded the Electronic Intifada, an internet gateway about Palestine and the Palestine-Israeli conflict (electronicIntifada.net), and Electronic Iraq (electronicIraq.net). He lectures frequently at colleges in the United States. Abunimah was born in the United States and grew up in Europe. Both of his parents are Palestinian. He received his B.A. from Princeton University and M.A. from the University of Chicago. He lives in Chicago and travels often to the Middle East. He is a full time researcher at a children’s policy research center at the University of Chicago.
Abunimah’s speech at Ithaca College will be followed by a reception. The IC event is organized by the Students for a Just Peace. Support has been provided by the Office of the Provost, Office of Student Affairs and Campus Life, SGA, the Departments of Politics, Sociology, and Anthropology, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, IC Students for Fair Trade, the Feminist Majority, Buzzsaw Haircut, ICES, and IC Change.
At Cornell, Abunimah’s speech is cosponsored by the Department of Government, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Department of Development Sociology, Department of Peace Studies, Ujamaa, the SAFC, and the Student Advocates of Palestine.
