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Reminder Assistant Editor WESTFIELD On April 24, women and men alike will gather together on the local level to discuss the oppression and victimization of women in war-torn regions in a lecture conducted by Dr. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a criminologist and senior lecturer at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She will present her lecture titled "Palestine and Rwanda: A Feminist Critique of Legal Systems in War Zones" in the Garden Room at 33 Western Ave. at Westfield State College (WSC). The lecture will detail the correlation between power and the suppression of human rights between the two nations from the feminist perspective. "Our bodies are the boundary markers of power," Shalhoub-Kevorkian, said in an interview with Reminder Publications. "The lack of stability and constant violence [in war-torn nations] affects people's lives on a daily basis . when you look at what goes on with women, there is no protection. It is the law of the jungle controlling everything. Men in power affect their ability to have justice. "Those in power are not stopping it," she continued to explain about women's inability to seek justice for the crimes men inflict upon women in these regions. "We [women] are the invisible others . the world is in a state of denial to our voice." Shalhoub-Kevorkian said her goal is to bring the students of WSC and the general public an enhanced understanding of the lives of women in these countries as well as chronicling her own experiences as a Palestinian professor at an Israeli university. "I am the only Palestinian female professor," she said of her current employment. "I am a Palestinian professor teaching at an Israeli university and I do it with so much love because the students are not my enemies." She continued to explain that the media's portrayal of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is inaccurate. Elise Young, tenured history professor at WSC, who also coordinated Shalhoub-Kevorkian's lecture, agreed and explained, "We have been viewing international conflicts through the lens of political boundaries and national interests. This has resulted in a stalemate, especially in the case of Israel and Palestine. To start to resolve these conflicts, we need to look at the whole region, its history and problems that extend across political borders, whether they be natural resource issues, such as water, or social issues such as women's rights." Young, a Middle East historian, explained that she provides her students with the knowledge of civilizations prior to modern nation state building so that they may have an enhanced understanding of the geo-political boundaries created by first-world nations. She said she takes students back to the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, which brought together the seven most powerful European nations to divide Africa into colonial territories regardless of the indigenous African population. "Students begin to understand how the control of land resources and violence against women is at the heart of the colonial process and war," Young said, also noting the similar divide of power in the Middle East, dividing the indigenous peoples with total disregard to their own geographic boundaries. "I've always felt that women's visions of how to resolve conflict, war and violence are extremely important and don't get heard," Young said of the importance of Shalhoub-Kevorkian's lecture. Young is also a founder of the Global Women's History Project, which brings together women of various ethnicities and nationalities to speak at WSC about what women are doing throughout the world to bring peace to their regions. "We are trying to give a voice to these women who are already working together across nationalist boundaries," she said. Young explained that Shalhoub-Kevorkian's lecture will provide a "contextual" analysis of conflict in Palestine, Rwanda and throughout the world as well as what actions people can take to prevent it. "Her expertise has made her one of the most sought after scholars and activists in regard to resolving conflict," Young said. "She is in a unique position to discuss the war over Palestine in a geo-political perspective." | ||||||
