Sari Nusseibeh, president and professor of philosophy at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem and a former political commissioner for Jerusalem affairs in the Palestine Liberation Organization, will discuss, "Is Peace Still Possible Between Palestinians and Israelis?" during his visit to the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum on Monday, Feb. 23. The public portion of the program begins at 6:45 p.m., with free seating on a first-come basis.
An architect of the strategy of civil resistance during the intifada from 1987 to 1993, Nusseibeh worked to author the Palestinian declaration of independence and created the inner workings of a future Palestinian government. During the first Gulf War, he collaborated in Tel Aviv with Israeli Peace Now, a group that worked to prevent civilian deaths during the Gulf War. Nusseibeh was arrested by the Israeli government and was accused of being an Iraqi spy. He was released from custody 90 days later, and was never formally charged with any crime.
From 2001-2002, he served as the Palestinian Liberation Organization's (PLO) chief representative in Jerusalem, championing the idea of a two-state solution, suggesting that Palestinians give up their right to the pre-partition land in exchange for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2002, he and Shin Bet director Ami Ayalon created The People's Voice, an Israeli-Palestinian publication that encourages peace between the two parties. Nusseibeh's memoir, Once Upon A Country has won critical acclaim from local and international critics.
The son of a distinguished Palestinian statesman, Sari Nusseibeh attended Christ Church at Oxford and received his Ph.D. in Islamic philosophy from Harvard University. After leaving Harvard, he became a professor of philosophy at Birzeit University in the West Bank and at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. While at Birzeit, Nusseibeh founded the Federation of Employees in the Education Sector for the West Bank. He later taught philosophy at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, the only Arab University in Jerusalem, before becoming its president. He also serves on the advisory board of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life at Brandeis University.