Gaza: When is life grievable? Personal reflections on decades of research in Palestine by Sara Roy

The subtitle of this lecture is taken from a book by the philosopher Judith Butler whose writings have influenced Sara Roy's. This lecture will consider the way Palestinians in Gaza are regarded by Israel and the West. Paraphrasing Butler, Sara shall explore the quotidian acceptance of destruction in Gaza, examine the value of a life that is recognized or not, and reflect on what it means to her as a Jew and child of parents who survived the Holocaust.
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This Annual Gaza Lecture is an opportunity to celebrate the Oxford Brookes Gaza Scholarship. This annual scholarship supports a Gaza student in completing a master’s degree at Oxford Brookes University.
More info: www.brookes.ac...
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Dr Sara Roy is a senior research scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. She specialises in the Palestinian economy, Palestinian Islamism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Sara began her research in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in 1985 with a focus on the economic, social and political development of the Gaza Strip and on U.S. foreign assistance to the region. Since then she has written extensively on the Palestinian economy, particularly in Gaza, and on Gaza’s de-development, a concept she originated.
Sara’s book, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza: Engaging the Islamist Social Sector, won a British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize and was named one of CHOICE’s “Outstanding Academic Titles” in 2012. Her most recent book, Unsilencing Gaza: Reflections on Resistance, was published in 2021
Sara has also authored over 100 publications dealing with Palestinian issues and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and has lectured widely in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Australia.
In addition to her academic work, she serves on the International Advisory Council of American Near East Refugee Aid and has served as a consultant to international organizations, the U.S. government, human rights organizations, private voluntary organizations, and private business groups working in the Middle East.