Introduction by Professor Safwan Masri, EVP for Global Centers and Global Development, Columbia University

Raja Shehadeh will discuss his new book, Language of War, Language of Peace: Palestine, Israel and the Search for Justice. He will explore the politics of language and the language of politics in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, the changes that took place in the landscape of Palestine drawing on his earlier book, Palestinian Walks, Notes on a Vanishing Landscape, and the effect of land on the Palestinian identity.

Raja Shehadeh, Writer and Lawyer, graduated with a degree in English literature and philosophy from the American University of Beirut. He studied law in London, and was called to the English Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1976 and has been in private practice in Ramallah since 1978. In 1979, he co-founded the pioneering human rights organization, Al Haq, the Palestinian affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists, which he co-directed until 1991.

In the course of his legal practice, he handled and participated in a number of precedent-setting cases, including the recent request to the International Court of Justice at the Hague. From 1991-2, he served as legal advisor to the Palestinian Delegation to the talks between the PLO and Israel in Washington D.C.

Shehadeh has written several books on the legal aspects of the Israeli occupation, including Occupiers Law, The Law of the Land, and From Occupation to Interim Accords. His latest published books include his memoir, Strangers in the House: Coming of Age in Occupied Palestine, and When the Bulbul Stopped Singing: Life in Ramallah Under Siege, which was adapted to the theatre and performed in Edinburgh, Tehran, New York and Amman. He also recently published A Rift in Time: Travels with my Ottoman Uncle, and Language of Peace, Language of War, Palestine, Israel and the Search for Justice.

RSVP by Monday, May 18 | Phone: +962 6 5777 955 ext. 235 | Mobile: 077 9999 675 | Email: [email protected]