Palestine Focus of President’s Lecture Series Talk on March 26

Palestine Focus of President’s Lecture Series Talk on March 26
RICE NEWS OFFICE
March 19, 1998

Palestine-born Edward Said has long been outspoken regarding the relations
between his homeland and Israel, often harshly criticizing those involved in
the conflict and the peace process.

Said, professor of comparative literature at Columbia University, will speak
on "The Tragedy of Palestine" at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 26, at the
Grand Hall of the Rice Memorial Center for the final talk of the President’s
Lecture Series.

His perspective on Israeli-Palestinian affairs has been the focus of much of
his writing, including his most recent book, "Peace and Its Discontents."
Said, whose family fled their Jerusalem home in 1947 during the creation of
the state of Israel, examines in his work the Palestinian experience of dispossession,
the fight to be recognized as a people and the domination at the hands of Israel.

While Said says he strives for peace between Israel and Palestine, he does
not believe the Oslo peace accord of 1993 is the way to reach it. Said openly
criticizes PLO chairman, Yasir Arafat, especially for signing the Oslo peace
document.

Said has renounced the two-state solution and now supports a single state with
equal human, civil and political rights for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

His involvement in Palestinian affairs has extended beyond his literary work.
He has been a consultant to the United Nations and served on the Palestine National
Council from 1977 to 1991.

Said, a Princeton University graduate with a doctorate from Harvard, has been
at Columbia since 1964.

Said’s lecture is co-sponsored by the Arab American Educational Foundation,
the Center for the Study of Cultures, the Department of History and the dean
of humanities. A reception, hosted by the dean of humanities, will follow the
talk.

For related information visit the following Web sites:

President’s Lecture Series on Rice Info: www.ruf.rice.edu/~events/PLS97-98.html

An essay by Edward Said: www.planet.edu/pna/mininfo/reports_er1908.htm

Critical references to Edward Said’s work: http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/indiv/scctr/Wellek/said/articles_about.html

Edward Said on Arab Powerlessness: www.palestine-net.com/cafe/walmag/edward.html