From the Vault: Edward Said

This Week on From the Vault we honor one of the great visionary thinkers of our time Edward Said.

Edward Said was born in Jerusalem in 1935.

His father was an American Citizen of Christian Protestant Palestinian origins.

Said’s family moved to the United States when he was in High School and he would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Princeton University and a masters and PhD in English Literature at Harvard University.

Edward Said became Professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University in 1963, where he would teach until his death on September 25th, 2003.

Edward Said would use his duel heritage to help bridge the gap between the West and the Middle East and to improve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with his acute and sober analysis. Today we will present selections from The Pacifica Radio Archive’s 30 years of recordings with Dr. Said.

But first we present a special edition of KPFK’s Uprising radio program with Host Sonali Kolhatkar and her special guest, Alternative Radio’s David Barsamian. Together they honor Dr. Edward Said the day after his death.

That was Kpfk’s Uprising radio show host Sonali Kolhatkar interviewing Alternative Radio’s David Barsamian. This program was recorded on September 26th 2003, the day following the death of Dr. Edward Said.

Next we will hear and excerpt from one of the early recordings of Dr. Said.

On the 5 year Anniversary of the June 10th, 1967 6-day War in the Middle East, Dr Edward Said sat down with WBAI producers to discuss the current situations between the Palestinians and The Israeli’s.

The formation of the modern state of Israel in 1948 was followed by the formation of United Nations refugee camps for displaced Arabs. Between September 16th and 18th 1982, two of these camps, Sabra and Shatilla, were surrounded by Israeli Troops while Lebanese militia murdered roughly 2000 civilian men women and children. The next day Edward Said spoke out against the inhumanity of this slaughter.

And finally on February 20th, 2003 just a few months before his death, Edward Said would give one of his last speeches before a packed house on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles.


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