Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 2003, page 96

Bulletin Board

 

Lectures, Convenings, Film Series, Book Sales, Awards and Deaths

 

—Compiled by Laila Al-Arian

 

Lectures

Israeli journalist Amira Hass will give a talk entitled "Thoughts about Suicide Bombers and their Families" Oct. 23 at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of California-Berkeley. The lecture will take place at 5 p.m. in the Center's Sultan Room (340 Stephens Hall). For more information call (510) 642-8208.

The Emile Bustani Middle East Seminar at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts will host a presentation by Tel Aviv University Professor Nadim Rouhana Oct. 28 at 4:30 p.m. Entitled "The Palestinian Right of Return: Refugees and the Road Map," the lecture will be held in Building E51, Room 095 on 70 Memorial Drive. For additional information call (617) 253-8961 or e-mail < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >.

 

Convenings

Thirteen Christians and Muslims with national experience in interfaith engagement will participate in two afternoons of conversation about Christian-Muslim dialogue in North America Oct. 22 and Dec. 3. Both events will take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at Hartford Seminary, located on 77 Sherman St., Hartford, Connecticut. For more information or to register for the program, call (860) 509-9555 or e-mail < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >.

The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) will be hosting its fifth annual international conference, on the theme of "Holy Land Christians: A Living Bridge to Peace," Oct. 24 and 25. The conference will be held at National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Organizers expect hundreds of attendees and over 20 speakers from Palestine and the United States to participate in discussions about the Palestinian plight and how Western Christians can support efforts to maintain a Christian presence in the region. For updated details on speakers and events visit <www.hcef.org> or call (301) 951-9400.

Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, or the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, will hold its second annual conference Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 in Boston, Massachusetts at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Towers. The conference's theme is "Israel's Road to Peace: The Role of American Jews." Speakers include Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), singer Debbie Friedman, James Zogby of the Arab American Institute, and Israeli Knesset member Amram Mitzna. According to its Web site, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom is "a national organization of American Jews deeply committed to Israel's well-being through the achievement of a negotiated settlement to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict." To register for the conference, call (773) 583-5747 or go to <www.btvshalom.org/conference/>.

 

Film Series

UC-Berkeley's Center for Middle Eastern Studies will hold film screenings on Oct. 30 ("Black Panthers [in Israel] Speak,"Israel 2003), Nov. 20 ("My Lost Home," Morocco/France 2001), and Dec. 4 ("Effaced,"USA 2001; "Jenin Jenin," Palestine 2002). All films will be shown at 7 p.m. in the Sultan Room (340 Stephens Hall). For more information call (510) 642-8208.

 

Book Sales

The Holy Land Mission Committee and Mengo Hospital Committee of Christ Church will hold a book sale Nov. 1 from8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to benefit Uganda's Mengo Hospital and the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Jordan. Christ Church is located at 118 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. Contact Audrey Grissom at (703) 549-4645 for more information.

 

Awards

On Nov. 20, the Arab Bankers Association of North America (ABANA) will honor Dr. Richard Debs at its 20th Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner in New York City. Debs is the founding president of Morgan Stanley International, and currently serves as the company's advisory director. One of ABANA's first members in 1983, Debs has long served as a bridge between the U.S. and Arab financial communities. He is chairman of the board of the American University of Beirut; vice chairman, chairman emeritus and a founding member of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council; and a member of the board of Gulf International Bank. ABANA's Lifetime Achievement Award is granted annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution in the field of banking and financial services.

 

Deaths

British explorer and travel writer Wilfred Thesiger, 93, died Aug. 24 at a hospital in England. He had Parkinson's disease. The writer was best known for his adventures in Africa and the Middle East. He chronicled his travels in Arabian Sands, The Marsh Arabs, and his autobiography, The Life of My Choice. Born in what is now Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thesiger spent most of his childhood abroad. His father was a British diplomat stationed in Ethiopia, while his uncle was viceroy of India. Thesiger attended boarding school in England and then went on to Oxford University, where he was captain of the boxing team. Soon after graduating from Oxford, at the age of 23, he helped discover the source of the Awash River in Ethiopia. In his explorations, Thesiger would forego convenience for the chance to live with the indigenous population, which he did with the Badu tribes of Saudi Arabia and the Madan people of Iraq. He finally moved back to England in the mid-1990s, after the death of two friends in Kenya. Thesiger left no immediate survivors.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Simcha Dinitz, 74, died of a heart attack Sept. 23 in Jerusalem. An envoy during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Dinitz successfully pushed Washington to extend military aid to Israel. This controversial action was scrutinized in a 1976 book by Israeli journalist Matti Golan, who claimed that Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was initially against military assistance to Israel for fear of provoking an Arab oil embargo and jeopardizing relations with the Soviet Union. Golan's book, The Secret Conversations of Henry Kissinger, also states that Kissinger led Dinitz into believing that the Pentagon had delayed the arms shipment. According to Golan, it was not until Moscow helped re-supply Egypt's and Syria's arsenals that the U.S. sent its shipment to Israel.

Born in Tel Aviv in 1929, Dinitz pursued higher education in the U.S., where he studied international relations at the University of Cincinnati and subsequently at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and Graduate School. Before coming to Washington in 1973, Dinitz represented Israel in Rome and at the United Nations. In 1984, he was elected to the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, as a representative of the Labor Party, and, in 1987, became chairman of the Jewish Agency. He is survived by his wife, Vivian Kinsburg, and their three children.

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