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Announcement :: Israel / Palestine |
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Preventing the Next 9/11 |
Current rating: 0 |
by C. G. Estabrook
Email: cge (nospam) shout.net (verified)
Phone: 217.359.9466 |
29 Mar 2004
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ALISON WEIR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
"IF AMERICANS KNEW," will speak at
The Channing-Murray Foundation
1209 West Oregon, Urbana, IL 61801
Tuesday, March 30, at noon, on
"The U.S., Israel, and Palestine: What the Media Leave Out,"
sponsored by AWARE (Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort).
(Bring your lunch, or buy it at the Red Herring.) |
As a freelance journalist, Weir went on an investigation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, rarely visited by American journalists. This experience gave her a unique perspective on this conflict and how American policy must change to prevent another 9/11 and make Americans more secure.
In her presentation Weir will discuss her experiences, show slides, give a history of the conflict, discuss distortions found in press coverage of the conflict, and explain how integral bringing a lasting peace to this region is to American security.
"Ms Weir presents a powerful, well documented view of the Middle East today. American policy makers would benefit greatly from hearing her first-hand observations and attempting to answer the questions she poses. This is an intellectual, thought-provoking, and worthwhile presentation," said former Congressman and Dean of Haas Business School Tom Campbell.
Weir, regarded as an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has spoken on Capitol Hill, to business leaders, at prestigious thinktanks, and at a multitude of universities. She is a contributor to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, online magazines, and one of her essays is included in an anthology on the current uprising entitled, The New
Intifada (Verso). She is a frequent visitor on San Francisco area radio shows, and had an hour-long speech broadcast repeatedly on C-Span.
If Americans Knew is an organization dedicated to providing Americans with information on topics of importance that are misreported or under-reported in the media. In addition to providing speakers and organizing informational forums, If American Knew produces analyses of media coverage
of Israel/Palestine. To date it has completed four six-month studies of American newspapers. Several studies of prominent national newspapers are now underway.
A veteran reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, commenting on the work of If Americans Knew, said, "That sort of specific concrete feedback is precisely the sort of pressure ... that editors need to do their job better."
[This should be a particularly timely talk, given the hoopla around Richard Clarke's testimony to the 9-11 Commission this week. Ms. Weir was on WILL's Focus 580 last Friday at 11, talking on "The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict"; see <www.will.uiuc.edu/am/focus/archives/04/040322.htm>. --CGE] |
This work is in the public domain |
