 |
 |
“September 11: Ask Who Did It, But Don’t Ask Why”
By Robin Herron
Robert Fisk, Britain’s most honored foreign correspondent, combines
first-rate reporting with passion and insightful analysis in his coverage of the
Middle East for the London Independent newspaper. Having interviewed
Osama bin Laden several times, he is a much sought-after commentator, especially
since Sept. 11.
Flying in from Beirut, where he’s been based for the past 25 years,
Fisk will present his provocative perspective in an address titled “September
11: Ask Who Did It, but Don’t Ask Why” on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 7
p.m. in the Johnson Center’s Dewberry Hall. Fisk’s contention is that
U.S. media have failed to tell the public the whole story about what is really
going on in the Middle East.
Sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the presentation will also include
an excerpt from the documentary Beirut to Bosnia: Muslims and the West, a
Personal Journey. In the film, Fisk reports on Muslim unrest and conflict
with the West, as evidenced in Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and Bosnia.
In an interview with the American magazine The Progressive last December,
Fisk was asked what he thought about the possibility of the United States’
attacking Iraq. He replied, “If the Americans really want to make the Middle
East explode, that’s all they have to do. I mean, how much further can you
go before you turn a whole people against you? How much more provocative do you
have to be? You know, when you see what is happening out here, and you see it
in the perspective of how many dead over how many years, the surprise to me is
that we didn’t see planes flying into buildings long ago. How come it took
so long?”
Holder of a Ph.D. in political science from Trinity College, Dublin, Fisk
has won 24 British and international press awards and is the author of three books,
including Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War, soon to be reissued in the
United States.
This free lecture is open to the community. To reserve a seat, RSVP by Sept.
9 to x38620.
|
