September 28, 1987

In a lecture sponsored by the Vassar Journalism Forum and the American Culture program, the Parr Professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University, Edward W. Said, discussed “The Media and the Mideast.” Said said American media coverage of Israel-Palestinian conflict portrayed the struggle as “a simple binary system…On one side [people] like us…On the other…an undifferentiated mass of natives.” Said wished to “decode myths” that portrayed Palestinians as “either terrorists when they resist or menials when they don’t” and Israelis as “quasi-European…pioneers, scientists, intrepid fighters.”

The Miscellany News