SALISBURY — In light of the current crisis in the Middle East, the English-Speaking Union has altered its program this month to allow a respected expert in this area to help us understand how we got to this place & what a path forward might look like.

Dr. Yaron Shemer is Associate Professor of Israel cultural studies and Jewish studies as well as director of graduate studies in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. He earned his B.F.A. from Tel Aviv University and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He has published numerous books and received multiple awards for his research and academic performance.

As an Arab Jew with Iraqi parents, Shemer will provide a unique perspective than transcends the usual temptation to frame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as strictly two-sided. The Middle East has been populated by multiple religious and ethnic groups over the centuries, and has had ever-changing territorial boundaries producing overlapping land claims. He will explain why the complexity of this part of the world makes peace so elusive, but will also tell us about the various cultural and historical connections between the two peoples and the ways different groups and scholars have sought a way out of this entangled conflict.

David Post is sponsoring Shemer’s visit.

The event will take place at the Country Club of Salisbury on Nov. 16 with cocktails at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m., and the program at 8 p.m. Cost is $50 per person with first-timers permitted to attend without joining the organization. Reservation cut off is Nov. 13. For more information, contact ESU President Gerry Wood at gerry@oldyorkllc.com or 704-213-6008, or Marketing/Membership Chair Mary James at marymillerjames@att.net or 704-637-8899.