Israeli human rights advocate and litigator Professor Frances Raday will deliver the Australian Human Rights Centre annual lecture at the University of New South Wales on Tuesday 17 November.
Israeli human rights advocate and litigator Professor Frances Raday will deliver the Australian Human Rights Centre annual lecture at the University of New South Wales on Tuesday 17 November.
Professor Raday's talk is titled Can secularism contribute to peace-making in the Middle East?
A campaigner and lecturer in law at the Hebrew University, Professor Raday argues that the revival of religion is a threat to secular societies that value human rights and is creating barriers to peace in the Middle East.
She warns the region risks falling deeper into conflict if anti-secular forces continue to gain ground.
"The revival of religion - specifically the radical streams of Islam, Judaism and Christianity - threatens the human rights project, in general, and Middle Eastern peaceful co-existence, in particular," she says.
Frances Raday holds the Lieberman Chair in Labour Law at the Hebrew University and is Director of the Concord Research Institute for Integration of International Law in Israel. She was Chair of the Lafer Centre for Women's Studies and of the Academic Committee of the Minerva Centre for Human Rights and Chief Editor of the Israel Law Review. She has served as an Expert Member of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
What: Free public lecture - Can secularism contribute to peace-making in the Middle East?
When: Tuesday, 17 November 2009, 6.15-7.45pm (followed by a reception)
Where: Law Theatre, Faculty of Law Building, UNSW Kensington campus
RSVP to ahrc@unsw.edu.au
Maps and transport information available at the venues website
Media contact: Steve Offner | 02 9385 8107| s.offner@unsw.edu.au