The Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies celebrates the Launching of its recent Publications

On September 28, 2011 the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies(IALIIS) at Birzeit University, celebrated the launching of its recent publications entitled: Palestinian Refugees: Rights, Narratives and Policies and Gaza-Palestine: Out of the Margins.

IAIIS Director, Dr. Asem Khalil, indicated that the first book consists of a series of articles written by graduate students from various programs (whether recent or former students) such as: Mr. Ashraf Siam, Mr. Mahmoud Abu Sway, researcher Rania Zabaneh, and researcher Lora Edwan, in addition to faculty members and researchers  from Birzeit and other universities such as Professor Roger Heacock, Dr. Abdallah Abu-Eid, Dr. Majdi Al-Malki, Dr. Abahir Al-Saqa. Other experts in the field, including Dr. Veronica Ponta, Dr. Salim Tamari, Dr. Jalal Al-Husseni, Dr. Abas Shiblak, researcher Yasir Shalabi and Mr. Shi’awan Jabarin likewise participated. 

The other book, published in English, addresses the marginalization of the Gaza Strip at a variety of levels, including that of Palestinian decision making. It contains selected proceedings from last year’s IALIIS conference, “Gaza-Palestine: Out of the Margins”. Included among the contributions is the keynote address by UNRWA’s commissioner General, Mr. Filippo Grandi, concerning the challenges of development in the Gaza Strip. There are also contributions by a number of specialists from different parts of the world including Dr. Sara Roy (Harvard University), Dr. Helga Tawil-Souri (New York University), Youssef Courbage (French National Institute of Demography), Maha Samman Mansour (Exeter University), Clemens Messerschmid (independent researcher), Julie Peteet (University of Louisville, Kentucky) and Dr. Asem Khalil (Birzeit University).

The publication of these two books was generously sponsored by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada in its concern for issues regarding Palestinian refugees, in an international and comparative perspective, and promoting academic publications in the field. IDRC likewise supports the production of policy studies likely to influence decision makers on issues regarding Palestinian refugees.