Sari Nusseibeh will step down as president of Al-Quds University at the end of this year, according to a statement posted today on Al-Quds' website.*Imad Abu Kishek, the current executive vice president, has been named the acting president for the upcoming academic year.*Nusseibeh will remain on the faculty of the department of philosophy, according to the statement.*

The announcement, which comes on the day of Al-Quds' board of trustees meeting,*"has been planned for a long time," according to Director of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life Daniel Terris.

Brandeis' formal academic partnership with Al-Quds, located in East Jerusalem, was suspended this past November following a demonstration on the Al-Quds campus that involved students dressing in militia-style clothing and carrying fake automatic weapons.

Terris, along with Profs. Susan Lanser (ENG) and Daniel Kryder (POL) visited Al-Quds in November to investigate the demonstration, and issued a report recommending reinstatement of the academic partnership.

The trio made another trip to Al-Quds in January to gather information for the discussion surrounding the possibility of reinstatement, as well as to continue their ongoing conversations with faculty members at the university.

In the most recent word from Brandeis administration, on Feb. 4, Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid told the Justice that the University "plans to keep the lines of communication open and to continue to exchange information with Al-Quds University's administration."

Nusseibeh has served as the president of Al-Quds since 1995, and also teaches there as a professor of philosophy. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford University, and holds a doctorate in Islamic philosophy from Harvard University.*