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Moderating a Sept. 19 discussion at Columbia University about 'The War on Gaza,' Barnard College professor Nadia Abu El-Haj noted that, although the U.S. media persist in referring to the [...]

Before Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass spoke at Columbia University on April 9, she requested that the introduction not be one of flowery exaggeration. Agreeing to restrain himself, Prof. Rashid Khalidi [...]

The article discusses the highlights of two panel discussions about the United Nations (UN) Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict report that were held in the U.S. in 2011. The panel discussion titled Israel's War and the Goldstone Report was held at the Center for Palestine Studies at Columbia University in New York on May 2. It was participated by Center for Constitutional Rights professor Peter Weiss. The second panel discussion titled Blueprint for Accountability: Gaza, Goldstone and the Crisis of Impunity was held on May 19.

The article reports on the launch of the Palestine Library series by Columbia University's Center for Palestine Studies to provide authors an opportunity to discuss their books. Topics covered include a panel discussion moderated by center co-director Rashid Khalidi to inaugurate the series, author Steven Salaita's talk concerning his book "Uncivil Rites: Palestine and the Limits of Academic Freedom," and the national reading campaign of the Librarians and Archivists for Palestine.

The article discusses the highlights of a conference on "Orientalism from the Standpoint of its Victims" hosted by Columbia University in New York City on November 7 and 8, 2008 in remembrance of its late professor Edward Said. In his opening lecture, Professor Rashid Khalidi discussed how power operates to limit or create knowledge and subvert truth, particularly U.S. power in the Middle East. "Remember (Forget) Semitism!" was the title of Professor Joseph Massad's keynote address.

The article presents information on a debate at Columbia University. Qanun, Columbia University law school's Middle East association, sponsored a January 31 panel discussion on "One State or Two." To provide historical perspective, Princeton University professor Mark Cohen delineated two competing interpretations of Jewish life in the Arab medieval ages. Professors Joseph Massad, also of Columbia, and Ilan Pappé of Haifa University both strongly favored one secular, democratic state. The majority of Jews support a two-state solution because they believe it will keep Israel Jewish but, as Pappé pointed out, in addition to the nearly 20 percent who are Arab, 30 percent of Israel's population are Russian immigrants, half of whom are not Jewish.

The article focuses on several events and documentaries related to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The event entitled "An Inevitable Tragedy? Jews, Palestinians, and the Fate of Jerusalem," was held on November 10, 2004, sponsored by The Israel Forum at Columbia University in New York City. The documentary "Brothers and Others: The Impact of September 11th on Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians in America," by documentary filmmaker Nicolas Rossier, was screened at the Asia Society in New York City on October 27, 2004.