MEDIA CONTACT: Wendy Leopold at (847) 491-4890 or w-leopold@northwestern.edu

April 13, 2004

Jerusalem Is Subject of International Conference

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Jerusalem -- the ancient city holy to Christians, Muslims and Jews alike -- will be the subject of a two-day international conference Tuesday and Wednesday, May 4 and 5, at Northwestern University and Chicago's Fairmont Hotel.

Free and open to the public, day sessions on May 4 and 5 will take place in Hardin Hall in Rebecca Crown Center, 633 Clark Street, on the Evanston campus. The evening session on May 4, hosted by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and moderated by Northwestern University President Henry S. Bienen, will take place in the State Room of the Fairmont Hotel, 200 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago.

"Jerusalem, City of Three Faiths: Histories of the Past, Present and Future" will trace the ancient city’s long history and its political, religious and cultural importance. Sponsored by the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies, the conference is made possible through a generous gift from the Perlman Family Foundation.

Panelists will pay particular attention to the Temple Mount or, as it is know to Muslims, the Noble Sanctuary (haram al-sharif), and explore how it came to be understood as sacred space within the Holy Land.

A schedule follows:

Tuesday, May 4

9 a.m. to noon, Jerusalem in Jewish History and Historiography, "Biblical Jerusalem: The Historic Debate, Benjamin Sommer, Northwestern University; "The Temple and Temple Mount in Jewish Tradition," Yaron Eliav, University of Michigan; "Muslim Responses to the Sanctity of the Temple Mount: Anti-Jewish and Christian Polemics," Jacob Lassner, Northwestern University.

1:30 to 4 p.m., Jerusalem (al-Quds/Bayt al-Maqdis) in Muslim History and Historiography, "Arab Politics and the Sanctification of Medieval Jerusalem," Jacob Lassner, Northwestern University; "Jerusalem and Arab Politics during the Palestine Mandate," Muhammad Muslih, Long Island University; Response, Suleiman Mourad, Middlebury College.

5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Fairmont Hotel, 200 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago, Negotiating the Future of Jerusalem, moderated by Northwestern University President Henry S. Bienen with Muhammed Muslih, Long Island University, and Menachem Klein, Bar-Ilan University.

Wednesday, May 5

9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Jerusalem Post 1948, "The Emergence of Israel's Capital," Ilan Troen, Ben Gurion University; "Israel, Jordan and Jerusalem," Reuven Merhav, Israel Foreign Ministry (retired); "The Vatican and Jerusalem," Michael Perko, Loyola University, Chicago; "The Arabs of Jerusalem and its Environs following the Unification of the City in 1967," Elie Rekhess, Northwestern University and Tel Aviv University; Response, Emile Sahliyeh, University of North Texas.

"Jerusalem" City of Three Faiths" is co-sponsored by the Northwestern University Office of the President; Program in Asian and Middle East Studies, Program in International Studies; Department of History; and Center for International Comparative Studies. It is made possible with the cooperation of the Moshe Dayan Centre of Middle East and African History and the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation at Tel Aviv University, and the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.

For further information, call (847) 491-2612 Note: Seating is limited. To ensure seating, call (847) 491-2612 or e-mail jewish-studies@northwestern.edu in advance of the conference.