Speakers on the Middle East

Joel Beinin, beinin@stanford.edu, is available to speak about Israel/Palestine, Egypt, and U.S. policy in the Middle East. 

Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East History at Stanford University and a founding member of Jewish Voice for Peace. He has written or edited eleven books including Workers and Thieves: Labor Movements and Popular Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt (Stanford University Press, 2016) and Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle East and North Africa 2nd edition (Stanford University Press, 2013), co-edited with Frédéric Vairel.

Phyllis Bennis, pbennis@ips-dc.org, is available to speak on Palestine-Israel US policy in the Middle East Including Yemen war, Syria, Gulf monarchies, Arab Spring, US-Iran conflict, US-UN relations.

She is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies, where she directs the New Internationalism Project, and is a fellow of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. She writes and speaks in a wide range of U.S. and international media, and her most recent books include Understanding ISIS & the New Global War on Terror and Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer. (See https://ips-dc.org/ips-authors/phyllis-bennis)

Irene Gendzier, gendzier@bu.edu, is available to speak on US relations in the Middle East).

She is a Professor Emerita at Boston University, where she was a long time member of the faculty, serving in the Departments of Political Science and History, as well as being a member of the African Studies Center. “Among Professor Gendzier’s many publications are . . . Dying to Forget: Oil, Power, Palestine, & the Foundations of U.S. Policy in the Middle East ( 2015); Crimes of War, co-editor with Richard Falk and Robert J. Lifton (2006); Notes From the Minefield: United States Intervention in Lebanon and the Middle East, 1945-1958 (2006).” (See https://www.bu.edu/polisci/people/faculty-emeriti/gendzier/)

Rashid Khalidi, rik2101@columbia.edu, is available to speak on US Middle East Policy.

He is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. “[His research covers primarily the history of the modern Middle East. He focuses on the countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean, with an eye to the emergence of various national identities and the role played by external powers in their development. He also researches the impact of the press on forming new senses of community, the role of education in the construction of political identity, and the way narratives have developed over the past centuries in the region.” (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_Khalidi; https://history.columbia.edu/person/khalidi-rashid/)

Zachary Lockman, zl1@nyu.edu, is available to talk about issues related to Israel/Palestine, US policy in the Middle East, repression/human rights in Egypt, efforts to suppress BDS advocacy and advocacy of Palestinian rights.

He is a Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and History. “The main focus of my research and teaching has been the socioeconomic, cultural and political history of the modern Middle East. . . .” (See https://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/faculty/zachary-lockman.html)

Trita Parsi, media@quincyinst.org, is available to speak on issues of Iran, the Middle East, and the U.S.

He is Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “Trita Parsi is an award-winning author and the 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign politics, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has authored three books on US foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel. . . . Parsi’s latest book—Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy (Yale University Press, 2017)—reveals the behind the scenes story to the historic nuclear deal with Iran. (See https://quincyinst.org/author/tparsi/)

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