How is the current situation in Israel/Palestine similar to that of apartheid-era South Africa? How is it different? What can the international community learn from the South African experience to strengthen and empower the movement for justice and peace in Palestine and Israel? Farid Esack is uniquely qualified to speak to those questions.

Information: 312.427.2533 x18 or email justpeace1@aol.com

 

Another area event:
While in the Chicago area, Mr. Esack will participate in Dominican University's Siena Center's 2006-07 lecture series on Muslim-Catholic understanding. His lecture, titled “Beyond Toleration: Emerging Islamic Theologies,” is on Thursday, September 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Priory Campus of Dominican University, 7200 West Division Street, River Forest, IL. For more information, contact the Siena Center at (708) 714-9105 or visit the Web site at www.siena.dom.edu.

You can listen to Esack's presentation in an audio file on the Electronic Intifada website.

Farid Esack is a South African Muslim theologian, currently the Bloomberg Fellow at Harvard Divinity School. As an activist in the interreligious solidarity movement for justice and peace during the struggle against Apartheid, Esack played a leading role in the United Democratic Front, the Call of Islam, the Organisation of People Against Sexism, and the World Conference on Religion and Peace.

Esack has addressed topics related to Jerusalem, religious pluralism, Muslim-Jewish relations, and religious radicalism for assemblies including the World Muslim League Conference on Palestine in Johannesburg; the World Conference on Religion and Peace Consultation on Religion and the Israeli-Palestinian Question in Rome and Assisi, Italy; the Jewish Board of Deputies, UK; the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pretoria; and the Sabeel Alternative Assembly in Jerusalem.

Esack completed the Darsi Nizami, the traditional Islamic Studies program, in Karachi, Pakistan. He completed his PhD at the University of Birmingham, England, and did postdoctoral work on biblical hermeneutics at the Philosophisch Theologische Hochschule, Sankt Georgen, in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. Esack is the author of numerous publications, including Qur'an, Liberation and Pluralism: An Islamic Perspective of Interreligious Solidarity Against Oppression; On Being a Muslim: Finding a Religious Path in the World Today; and An Introduction to the Qur'an. His current major field of interest and commitment is Islam and AIDS. He has also published widely on Islam, gender, liberation theology, interfaith relations, religion and identity, and Qur'anic hermeneutics. Esack was appointed a national commissioner on gender equality by President Nelson Mandela. He has taught at the University of the Western Cape, at Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Gadjah Mada Universities, and at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was Distinguished Mason Fellow at the College of William and Mary, and he recently completed a three-year term as the Besl Professor in Ethics, Religion, and Society at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine (CJPIP) is a community-based organization founded to develop and support activities that further the cause of peace and justice in Palestine/Israel. The 2006-07 Community Education and Dialog Series, running September 2006 through May 2007, will bring distinguished speakers and cultural events to Chicago-area audiences. See all planned events in this series. Series presenters will appear in Oak Park and elsewhere throughout the Chicago and suburban areas. Events are subject to change. Speakers do not necessarily represent the views of CJPIP.

Please support our work! In this ambitious program year, your financial support is critical to our success: your generous donation will enhance our ability to reach a broad public with these events. Donations may be mailed to CJPIP, P.O. Box 3667, Oak Park, IL 60303. If you wish your donation to be tax-deductible please make your check out to The Illinois Justice Foundation/CJPIP. Thank you.