[Peace-discuss] "Preventing the Next 9/11"

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Please forward.]

	ALISON WEIR,
	EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF "IF AMERICANS KNEW"
	WILL SPEAK TOMORROW AT NOON
	The Channing-Murray Foundation
	1209 West Oregon, Urbana, IL 61801

	Tuesday, March 30, at noon
	Sponsored by AWARE (Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort)
	(bring your lunch, or buy it at the Red Herring)

	"The U.S., Israel, and Palestine: What the Media Leave Out."

As a freelance journalist, Weir went on an investigation of the Gaza Strip
and West Bank, rarely visited by American journalists. This experience
gave her a unique perspective on this conflict and how American policy
must change to prevent another 9/11 and make Americans more secure.

In her presentation Weir will discuss her experiences, show slides, give a
history of the conflict, discuss distortions found in press coverage of
the conflict, and explain how integral bringing a lasting peace to this
region is to American security.

"Ms Weir presents a powerful, well documented view of the Middle East
today. American policy makers would benefit greatly from hearing her
first-hand observations and attempting to answer the questions she poses.
This is an intellectual, thought-provoking, and worthwhile presentation,"
said former Congressman and Dean of Haas Business School Tom Campbell.

Weir, regarded as an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has
spoken on Capitol Hill, to business leaders, at prestigious thinktanks,
and at a multitude of universities. She is a contributor to the Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, online magazines, and one of her essays is
included in an anthology on the current uprising entitled, The New
Intifada (Verso). She is a frequent visitor on San Francisco area radio
shows, and had an hour-long speech broadcast repeatedly on C-Span.

About If Americans Knew

If Americans Knew is an organization dedicated to providing Americans with
information on topics of importance that are misreported or under-reported
in the media. In addition to providing speakers and organizing
informational forums, If American Knew produces analyses of media coverage
of Israel/Palestine. To date it has completed four six-month studies of
American newspapers. Several studies of prominent national newspapers are
now underway.

A veteran reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, commenting on the work
of If Americans Knew, said, "That sort of specific concrete feedback is
precisely the sort of pressure and feedback that editors need to do their
job better."

	[This should be a particularly timely talk, given the hoopla
	around Richard Clarke's testimony to the 9-11 Commission this
	week. Ms. Weir was on WILL's Focus 580 last Friday at 11, talking
	on "The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict"; the program is archived at
	<www.will.uiuc.edu/am/focus/archives/04/040322.htm>. --CGE]