Events

Thurs 10/7  7pm-8pm Thanassis Cambanis discusses his new book A Privilege to Die-Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel Over the last decade, Hezbollah has won two wars with Israel and has managed to become the most powerful and influential movement in the Islamic world.  Part standing army, part terrorist group, part political party, and part theological movement, Hezbollah has created a revolution in the Middle East and is uncompromising in its intentions to remake the map of the Middle East and destroy Israel.  In A Privilege to Die – Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel, journalist Thanassis Cambanis offers the first detailed look at the surprising cross section of people who are willing to die for this movement: not just unemployed young men, but middle-class engineers, merchants, even nurses.  While Hamas and al Qaeda are certainly dangerous to Israel and the West, it is Hezbollah’s millions of foot soldiers – who span economic class and religious sect – willing to die for the group’s apocalyptic beliefs that have made it the premier force in the Middle East.  An urgent and important exploration of militancy in the Middle East, A Privilege to Die should be required reading for anyone looking to fully understand the grave threat Hezbollah poses to both Israel and the West. Thanassis Cambanis covered the Middle East and Iraq as a bureau chief for The Boston Globe for four years beginning with the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He is currently on assignment covering the Middle East for The New York Times. He teaches journalism and foreign policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York, where he lives with his family.           Author photo by M.R. Chavez