Feb 14, 2008
Controversial speaker gets go-ahead from library
|
The Greenwich Library, facing a possible first amendment violation, has decided to give Alison Weir, founder of If America Knew, the green light for a presentation, “Israel-Palestine: Beyond the Headlines,” tonight at 7.
On Saturday, Roberta Denning, president of the Board of Trustees of Greenwich Library decided to pull Ms. Weir’s presentation, citing phone calls she received against allowing her to speak at the library.
“It’s been a little nerve-wracking,” she said about the week of not knowing whether she would be able to speak at the library.
Based out of Portland, Ore., If American Knew provides information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The presentation set for this evening discusses the controversy that has gone on in the Middle East for the last 100 years.
Ms. Weir said the first part of her presentation includes charts and figures to give the audience what she says is a better picture of the suffering both sides of the conflict have seen. She also talks about her personal experience from her travels to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
She said she tries to give the audience information it may not necessarily get from mainstream media.
When Greenwich resident Jon McGillion, a sponsor of the presentation, originally signed the official paperwork at the library on Feb. 1, Ms. Weir was scheduled to speak in the smaller auditorium that seats about 60 people. As of yesterday, the event had been moved into the Cole Auditorium, which seats about 368.
Ms. Weir will give another presentation at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
For more on this story, read next week’s
Post.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
|
