Prof. Noura Erakat | Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture | Building the World Anew

On 1 June 2026, the Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies (CCMS) at SFU presented the Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture with a keynote address from renowned human rights lawyer, professor, and public intellectual Noura Erakat at the UBC Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. The lecture, entitled “Building the World Anew,” reflected on this cataclysmic moment and offered a stirring call to “build the world anew.” Erakat drew from her forthcoming co-authored book with John Reynolds to argue that the decolonization of Palestine is not only a struggle for justice in one land, but the very heart of a livable, equitable future for all of humanity. Following her address, Erakat was in conversation with Dania Majid, Sara Kishawi, and Dr. Adel Iskandar. About the Speaker Noura Erakat is Professor of Africana Studies and Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. She is the author of Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine (Stanford University Press, 2019), which received the Palestine Book Award and the Bronze Medal for the Independent Publishers Book Award in Current Events/Foreign Affairs. In 2023, Noura co-chaired an Independent Task Force on the Application of National Security Memorandum-20 to Israel, a report documenting how U.S. arms to Israel have been used in violation of U.S. and international law and which was submitted to the White House. She is co-founding editor of Jadaliyya and an editorial board member of the Journal of Palestine Studies as well as Human Geography. She is a co-founding board member of the DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival. She has served as Legal Counsel for a Congressional Subcommittee in the US House of Representatives, as Legal Advocate for the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights, and as National Organizer and Legal Advocate of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. Noura has also produced video documentaries, including “Gaza In Context” and “Black Palestinian Solidarity.” Noura completed a non-resident fellowship of the Religious Literacy Project at Harvard Divinity School as well as a Mahmoud Darwish Visiting Professorship at Brown University. In 2022, she was selected as a Freedom Fellow by the Marguerite Casey Foundation. In 2025, the University of Ghent awarded the Amnesty International Chair in recognition of her contribution to human rights and scholarship. In 2026, the University of Antwerp awarded her an honorary doctorate in recognition for her academic scholarship and public contributions. Her forthcoming book, Confronting Zionism: Decolonizing Palestine and Building the World Anew, co-authored with John Reynolds, will be published by Haymarket Press and out in November 2026. About the Discussants Dania Majid is co-founder and president of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association and co-founder and artistic director of the Toronto Palestine Film Festival. She is a human rights lawyer, housing advocate, and long-time advocate for Palestinian and Arab communities. Sara Kishawi is a Palestinian community organizer and Sociology graduate from Vancouver Island University (VIU). Originally from Gaza, she has been a leading voice in campus and community organizing, and served as the spokesperson for the VIU Palestinian Solidarity Encampment. Adel Iskandar is Director of the Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies and Associate Professor of Global Communication at Simon Fraser University. He is the author, co-author, and editor of several works on media, identity, politics, and the Arab world, including Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation. His work focuses on media, politics, digital culture, and community-based knowledge production. This year’s Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture is generously supported by a large number of Academic Sponsors including: SFU Indigenous Studies, Institute for Black and African Diaspora Research and Engagement (IBADRE), School for International Studies, SFU History, SFU School of Communication, SFU Labour Studies, SFU School for Contemporary Arts, SFU Geography, SFU Institute for Black and African Diaspora Research and Engagement (IBADRE), SFU Cassidy Centre for Educational Justice, UBC Centre for Climate Justice, UBC Asian Studies, UBC Middle East Studies, UVic Department of Gender Studies, and the UVic Critical Muslim Studies, SFU Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERi), and UFV School of Culture, Media and Society (SCMS). We are also grateful for the support of community groups and organization for this edition of the Said Memorial Lecture including: Amnesty International Vancouver, the Palestinian Cultural Society of BC (PCSBC), SFU Community-Engagement Initiative, IDRF Canada, Ismailis for Palestine, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), Apartheid-Free Communities, BC Muslim and Arab Professional Society (BCMAP), BC Physicians Against Genocide, Decolonise Palestine Collective (DPC), and Insurgent/resurgent knowledges (IRK LAB).