James Graff Memorial Lecture 2024
Overview
What is JGML?
James Allen Graff (1931-2005) was a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto for many years. He was also a passionate advocate for Palestinian rights, speaking and writing widely to raise public awareness of the plight of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. In 1984 he established the Near East Cultural and Education Foundation (Necef), which joined with CFOS in 2012. CFOS hosts an annual lectureship in honour of Professor Graff.
JGML 2024
This year’s JGML is entitled One Year Later: Our Response to Genocide and Occupation in Palestine. The two keynote speakers will be Shadia Qubti and Daniel Bannoura (see bios below). Music will be provided by Samia Odeh, founder and director of the Montreal Academy of Music. Rula Odeh, chair of CFOS, will be the emcee and the Rev. Dr. Dorcas Gordon, CFOS board member, will moderate the panel presentation.
Details
About the keynote speakers:
Shadia Qubti is a Palestinian born and raised in Nazareth. She worked in faith-based peacebuilding and advocacy initiatives through local and international organizations in Israel and Palestine for 15 years. As a Palestinian Christian, she is particularly focused on amplifying the voices and perspectives of women and other minorities in various ways, one of which was in the Women Behind the Wall podcast. Shadia recently completed a second MA degree in Interreligious and Indigenous Studies at Vancouver School of Theology, where her thesis presented - "A Theological Conversation between Palestinian and North American Indigenous Understandings of Land." Shadia is currently working as the Community Engagement Animator at Trinity Grace United Chruch in Vancouver, Canada.
Daniel Bannoura is a Palestinian theologian from Bethlehem and a PhD candidate in qur'anic studies at the University of Notre Dame. His research focuses on the redaction and history of the Qur'an, Syriac in Late Antiquity, Christian-Muslim relations, and Palestinian theology. Daniel is on the organizing committee of the “Christ at the Checkpoint” conference, and is also a co-host of “Across the Divide”, a podcast that provides a space for thoughtful conversations about Palestine-Israel through the lens of faith and peace-making.
Other information:
This will be a hybrid event, where participants may attend in person or online. At the in-person event, Palestinian foods, crafts and art productions will be sold. The proceeds will be donated to support the work of CFOS.
Tickets can be bought online or at the door. Ticket price suggestion is 20$ for adults, 15 for online attendees and 10$ for students (please pay what you can).
