Is There a Language of Peace? 

That is the question Raja Shehadeh asks in this year’s lecture in memory of Edward Said. He will reflect on the categories and modes of representation-legal and cultural-that confine today’s Palestinians and the steps that need to be taken to move from the language of suffering and oppression to a new one of liberation and peace. Raja Shehadeh is a Palestinian lawyer, award-winning writer and political activist. A Q&A session will follow the lecture.

Literary critic, writer, activist, and spokesperson for the Palestinian cause, Edward Said (1935-2003) was one of the most influential intellectuals of his time. The lecture series aims to promote his spirit through the continued examination of the links between culture and politics in the Middle East and across the world.

With previous lectures by Marina Warner, Rashid Khalidi Ahdaf Soueif, and Noam Chomsky and forthcoming lectures by Naomi Klein and Daniel Barenboim, the series gives his legacy a public platform in the very heart of cultural and intellectual life in the UK. Sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date on future lectures in the series.

The organising committee includes: Mariam C.Said, Ahdaf Soueif, Mary-Kay Wilmers, Jacqueline Rose and Omar Al-Qattan.

This series has been supported by the A.M Qattan Foundation, London Review of Books,and British Museum

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LECTURE HAS NOW SOLD OUT. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO THE WAITING LIST PLEASE EMAIL RSVP@MOSAICROOMS.ORG