Cornellians urge U.S. support for a peaceful two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. 

As Irakli Kakabadze, the 2009 recipient of the Oxfam Novib/PEN Award and a visiting scholar at Cornell, nears the end of his residency, he teaches a class where students use art and theater to express their political opinions and try to find peaceful solutions to conflicts in the Republic of Georgia.

I will leave it to readers to reference the source of this quotation. Hint: It was spoken by a world-famous leader when he got a cool reception in his old home town. “A prophet is not without honor,” he said, “save in his own land.”

Barack Obama can relate. The President has made great progress in repairing America’s international reputation by engaging in much-needed diplomacy with Russia, China and the Arab/Muslim world only to be dismissed as a do-nothing, dud of a president by his fellow countrymen.

The Nobel Committee’s decision to award President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize calls into question the purpose of this prestigious award. If the prize serves to recognize concrete action and tangible efforts towards peace, the committee failed to adhere to these measures. Yet, if the committee sought to praise intent and catalyze future action, their decision was dead on.

With the Middle East crisis at the forefront of media coverage and debate, Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni brought a unique perspective to the situation yesterday, speaking of his first-hand experience as a mediator between Israeli and Palestinian political parties.

“I have never encountered a process as complicated and complex as this one,” Zinni said.

Zinni, a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of 1956 Professor, began his discussion in front of the packed HEC Auditorium with his worry that the Middle East peace efforts are being eclipsed by the current economic crisis and various other events.

Kathmandu, NEPAL — Saturday, 6 a.m., somewhere on the East-West Highway: A bus driver hits and kills an old Nepali woman. Her death, though accidental, causes her entire village to create a massive roadblock out of overturned bags of onions and sheer willpower, effectively shutting down all transport between Kathmandu and Pokhara.

In President Skorton’s most recent Sun column, he rightfully encouraged members of the Cornell community to engage in reasoned discussions on the current events in Gaza. If we are to have a constructive dialogue, though, we must acknowledge the facts and discard the lies and double standards. Unfortunately, several recent Sun articles are plagued with numerous such fallacies. I am compelled to write this piece to address a few of those faults.