Issues & Experts >
Issues & Experts Archive > Middle East politics, talking health – Issues & Experts
Middle East politics, talking health – Issues & Experts
Document Tools
June 01, 2004
Murder masks Middle East peace efforts…Mass murder is a daily occurrence in Iraq, where the U.S. government is trying to install an Iraqi-led interim government. Jewish settlers and Palestinian insurgents are also dying daily in the Gaza strip, where Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is forced to consider a withdrawal of Jewish presence to bring peace. With each passing day, the Middle East seems to become more of a political powder keg. SFU political scientist Lenard Cohen is co-organizing a conference, Politics and Islam in Comparative Perspective at SFU’s Wosk Centre on June 4. Cohen and several other SFU professors who are experts on Middle East politics or terrorism, and experts on international relations from UBC and American universities will discuss Middle East politics. Their topics include: religion, society and politics in the Islamic world; developments in Turkey, Iran and Indonesia and future trends and lessons based on case studies.
- Lenard Cohen, 604.291.4518, lenard_cohen@sfu.ca
The vocal minority in the Middle East…Backroom politics may have a lot to do with why Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has resorted to threats to pressure rebellious cabinet ministers into supporting his plan to withdraw from the Israeli-occupied Gaza strip. Sharon is reportedly threatening to fire cabinet ministers opposed to his plan. SFU emeritus sociology professor Heribert Adam notes that a very small segment of Jewish settlers in the Gaza strip, less than four percent of Israel’s population, command the resources and influence to pressure politicians. In his forthcoming book Mandela in Palestine Adam profiles the settlers who exercise such pressure out of determination to stay in the Gaza strip at all costs. Adam, an expert on how South Africa’s political experiences parallel the Middle East’s, can expand on the settlers’ motives. Bill Cleveland, a SFU historian who studies Middle East politics, is also working on a book, A History of the Modern Middle East, 3rd edition, to be published this summer. His book includes an analysis of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Cleveland can comment on the likelihood that a U.S.-conceived interim government in Iraq will take hold and lead to a peaceful election in 2005.
- Heribert Adam, 604.291.3720, heribert_adam@sfu.caBill Cleveland, 604.291.5815, cleveland@sfu.ca
Talking sex, gender and health at the same time…They have been hot topics of discussion individually at many conferences—sex, gender and health—but never before have they been on an international discussion table simultaneously. Sue Wilkinson can expand on the agenda for the International Interdisciplinary Conference on Gender, Sexuality and Health at SFU’s Harbour Centre campus, June 10 to 13. Wilkinson, the Ruth Wynn Woodward Endowed professor of Women’s Studies at SFU, is the conference organizer. She says the conference’s agenda underscores the need for policies that take an integrated approach to addressing health concerns arising from the intersection of social variables such as gender, health and sexuality. A number of high profile speakers will discuss topics such as The Role of Media in Health Communications: Complexities and Conflicts, and After the walk down the same-sex wedding isle: what are the next frontiers?
- Sue Wilkinson, 604.291.4742, sue_wilkinson_2000@yahoo.com, sue_wilkinson@sfu.ca