Events

Summer of Research. Why We Should All Speak for Palestine!

Join us for a Celebration of Love for Palestine

This event is a celebration of love for Palestine at a pivotal and painful time for the Palestinian community, following the devastation of Gaza and escalating violence under the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Our focus is on breaking the silence that often surrounds Palestine in institutional spaces, while honouring the beauty, resilience, pride, and traditions of the Palestinian people — alongside their suffering.

We invite you to learn how to speak about Palestine through the voices of Palestinian colleagues and those engaged in solidarity work. The event will feature personal testimonies and academic reflections from University of Sussex faculty members. We will explore ways to support our academic peers in Gaza, whose universities have been destroyed, and speak openly about the prejudice faced by Palestinians, challenging it by illuminating their history, culture, and richness.

A curated table of resources and historical materials from the University Library’s collections will be available for exploration.

We will conclude with a traditional Palestinian food banquet to bring us all together in community.

Everyone is warmly welcome — regardless of discipline, faith, seniority, or background — and we look forward to greeting you with the renowned hospitality of the Palestinian people. Join us!

Participants will engage with Palestine through the narratives of experts who either come from Palestine, belong to the diaspora, or are involved in Palestinian education, history, and solidarity at the University of Sussex. The event will open with an overview of the current situation in Palestine — particularly in the West Bank and Gaza — delivered by Dr Zahira Jaser, offering insight into the settler-colonial oppression faced by Palestinians and the silence that surrounds their experience.

This will be followed by Ms Dana Ragab, a PhD student in Robotics who grew up in the West Bank, sharing her lived experience of occupation. The event will then adopt a more practical focus.

Professor Zahid Brown will speak about initiatives at the University of Sussex, including ongoing efforts to support the education of university students in Gaza despite the inhumane conditions they face. Dr Jacob Norris will then present a history of solidarity with Palestine, tracing connections to social movements from the 1960s onwards.

Finally, Danny Millium will highlight various resources available in the library for further engagement, and reflect on the longstanding connections between the University of Sussex and the study of Palestine.

The event will conclude with a banquet of Palestinian food.

Location: The Gallery room in Bramber House 

Speakers:

Dr Zahira Jaser (Assistant Professor, Business School, University of Sussex)

Ms Dana Ragab (PhD Candidate, Engineering, University of Sussex)

Prof. Zahid Pranjol (Associate Dean, Faculty and Students for Faculty of Science, Engineering and Management, University of Sussex)

Mr Daniel Millum (Collections, Library, University of Sussex)

Dr Jacob Norris (Associate Professor, Global Studies, University of Sussex)

This event is part of the Palestine Interdisciplinary Dialogues series.

All welcome

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By: James Andrews
Last updated: Friday, 9 May 2025