Israeli fiction writer to talk about war, peace and business in the Middle East at Syracuse University Nov. 10

Israeli fiction writer to talk about war, peace and business in the Middle East at Syracuse University Nov. 10November 01, 2002Judy Holmesjlholmes@syr.edu

Israeli fiction writer David Ehrlich will present “War in the City of Peace,” at 4 p.m. Nov. 10 in Syracuse University’s Hall of Languages, Room 107. The lecture is presented by the Judaic Studies Program in The College of Arts and Sciences and is free and open to the public.

Ehrlich is the co-owner of a bookstore-cafe called Tmol-Shilshom, which is located in the heart of Jerusalem, where more than 10 terrorists attacks have occurred. The store has suffered a major decrease in business that has resulted in near-bankruptcy. He will talk about his experiences and his campaign to keep his business afloat, and about how the artistic and intellectual communities in Israel are coping with the current crisis.

Ehrlich is the author of “18 Blue” (Yediot Ahronot, 2002), a book of short stories in Hebrew that will be published later this fall; “Tuesday and Thursday Mornings” (Yediot Ahronot, 1999), a book of short stories in Hebrew; and several short stories that have been published in “Israel, A Traveler’s Literary Companion” (Whereabouts Press, San Francisco, 1996), and “Here I Am, Jewish Short Stories From Around the World (JPS, 1997), among others.

Ehrlich is a longtime activist with the Israeli Gay and Lesbian movement and is co-founder of the Israeli AIDS Task Force. He is a 1989 graduate of Hebrew University. He has worked as a reporter for Israeli radio and for the Ha’aretz daily newspaper in Jerusalem. He has lectured a several universities in the United States and abroad, including Dartmouth College and the University of California at Berkeley, and he was the director of the Center for Judaic Studies in Corfu, Greece.