“Israel, Palestine, Gaza: Histories of the Present” on Dec 4 in Tahoma Room

Dear Editors,

We are writing in response to your editorial, “University of Puget Sound Campus Must Respond to War in Gaza,” in your November 10th issue. We need to continue to address the Israel-Hamas war on campus with care and thoughtfulness as to the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis alike. To that end, we would like to announce that Dr. Liora Halperin, Professor of International Studies and History, and Distinguished Endowed Professor of Jewish Studies, at the University of Washington-Seattle, will be giving a talk entitled, “Israel, Palestine, Gaza: Histories of the Present,” on Monday, December 4th at 5 pm in the Tahoma Room (as a “campus only event”). As an historian of the region, Dr. Halperin will help us understand some of the historical frameworks that can be useful for understanding current events and how things got to this point. She will discuss how several of the groups most invested in these issues stitch together histories of the past and present as they envision potential futures. Although this should certainly not be the last word on the matter, we hope that it will provide one venue for education and honest conversation.