The Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, founder and president of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, will present the Edward Said Endowed Lecture beginning at noon Monday, Nov. 17, at the Obershaw Dining Room, located in the Alumni Center at Cal State San Bernardino.

Raheb, considered the most widely published Palestinian theologian to date, will present "Reclaiming Palestinian Christianity: A Decolonial Approach.” Register online for the talk, which is free, at Edward Said Endowed Lecture on Nov. 17. A question-and-answer session will follow Raheb’s presentation.

The Edward Said Endowed Lecture Series features internationally recognized intellectuals who contribute to a deeper understanding of Palestinian history and culture over the past century. 

Edward aid Endowed Lecture event flyer

Housed in CSUSB’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Center for the Study of Muslim and Arab Worlds, it was created in 2022 through a $200,000 gift from Mustafa Milbis, a local philanthropist and retired business owner. Milbis and his wife, Beatriz, made the donation to provide support for the lecture series on the contemporary Palestinian experience, allowing CSUSB to continue its commitment to promoting cultural understanding to tomorrow’s leaders.

The series is named in honor of Edward Said, a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University and the author of more than 20 books. A leading literary critic, public intellectual and passionate advocate for the Palestinian cause, he was born in Jerusalem in 1935 and died in New York in 2003.

Raheb, according to his website, has authored and edited 50 books, translated into at least 13 languages, including, “Decolonizing Palestine: The Land, The People, The Bible;” “In the Eye of the Storm: Middle Eastern Christians in the Twenty-First Century;” and “Politics of Persecution: Middle Eastern Christians in an Age of Empire;” “The Cross in Contexts: Suffering and Redemption in Palestine;” and “Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible through Palestinian Eyes.”

Raheb served as the senior pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem from June 1987 to May 2017 and as the president of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land from 2011-2016.  He has also founded several non-government organizations, including the Christian Academic Forum for Citizenship in the Arab World. He is a founding and board member of the National Library of Palestine and a founding member of Bright Stars of Bethlehem.

Because of his scholarship and expertise, he has been widely sought by international news media, having been interviewed by CNN, ABC, CBS and “60 Minutes,” the BBC, Newsweek, The Economist, Vanity Fair and others.

Raheb holds a doctorate in theology from the Philipps University in Marburg, Germany. He is married and has two daughters.

For more information, contact Hareem Khan, assistant professor of ethnic studies and anthropology, at hareem.khan@csusb.edu.