Israeli-Palestine relations topic of MSU's Speakers and Issues
Culture and Society

Israeli-Palestine relations topic of MSU's Speakers and Issues

  • 28 February 2017
  • 2 min read

Former journalist Alison Weir has concentrated on studying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and become an in-demand commentator on the U.S. involvement with that relationship. She will be the next speaker in Midwestern State University's Speakers and Issues Series at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 7, at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU.

Weir is president of the Council for the National Interest and executive director of If Americans Knew, a nonprofit organization that centers on Israeli-Palestine relations and U.S. foreign policy. Because of her knowledge on the conflict, she has given briefings on Capitol Hill; lectured at numerous universities around the country, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley; and presented her findings at events around the world.

Weir's writings have been published by the "Washington Report on Middle East Affairs" and other books and periodicals both in the U.S. and abroad. Her book, "Against Our Better Judgment: The hidden history of how the U.S. was used to create Israel," was published in 2014. In 2004, Weir was the first woman to receive honorary membership in Phi Alpha Literary Society. The award cited her as a "courageous journalist-lecturer on behalf of human rights."

The Speakers and Issues Series began in 2001 thanks to co-founders Dr. Charles Olson and John Hirschi and discussions between academia and community members on the idea of bringing informed and creative speakers to the area who would attract an audience from both the university and the public. Topics range from the creative to the historical, political, and scientific spheres. The Speakers and Issues Series has brought more than 20 speakers from all corners of human knowledge to MSU's campus.

The Speakers and Issues Series is supported by the Libra Foundation, MSU's Prothro-Yeager College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Wichita Falls Times Record News, KCCU-FM NPR Radio, and KFDX-TV3. Admission is free; donations are welcome. Contact Dr. Greg Giddings for information.