SU professor to speak on Israelis, Palestinians in film at Petit Branch Library on Oct. 26

SU professor to speak on Israelis, Palestinians in film at Petit Branch Library on Oct. 26October 24, 2006Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Ken Frieden, the B.G. Rudolph Professor of Judaic Studies at Syracuse University, will speak on “Israel and the Palestinians in Film” at the Petit Branch Library, 105 Victoria Place, Thursday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m.

Frieden will examine two societies that are finding themselves increasingly incapable of living together, using short clips from Israeli and Palestinian movies such as “Hitchhikers,” “Wedding in Galilee” and “Fictitious Marriage.” Rather than focus on the intractable Arab-Israeli conflict, Frieden will look at the day-to-day meetings between Jews and Palestinians in Israel. He experienced these issues firsthand while living and teaching at Haifa University several years ago: Many of his students were Arabs, both Muslim and Christian, from northern Israel.

Frieden is the director of Syracuse University’s Judaic Studies Program and has held the B. G. Rudolph Chair in Judaic Studies since 1993. Affiliated with the Departments of English; Religion; and Languages, Literatures and Linguistics at SU, he gives classes on ethnicity and Judaic literature. His anthology, “Classic Yiddish Stories” (SU Press, 2004), was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.