The Department of Sociology is remembering our dear friend and colleague Elia Zureik, Professor in the Department between 1971 and 2005, and Emeritus Professor from 2005. He was a major international figure, a prolific author and intellectual, as well as a treasured colleague. We share ongoing reflections below.

Vince Sacco (Emeritus Professor, Sociology)

Elia was really the first person who befriended me when I came to the Department in 1990. I learned a lot from him about the Middle East of course but also about how universities really work. He also seemed to take great delight in making me laugh during 'serious' department meetings. I think in part he enjoyed it because he knew he could do it so easily. Elia was one of a kind and the impact he had on people and the influence he had on scholarly work In his areas of interest will continue to be felt for a very long time. He will be missed.

David Lyon (Emeritus Professor, Sociology)

I've been thinking more about my relationship with Elia over many years and I'm so thankful for what he meant to me. We began corresponding almost 40 years ago (1984) and I can't recall if he wrote to me or vice-versa. But we discussed the social origins and impacts of "new" technologies that were emerging from communication and computing techniques. I didn't imagine then that we'd be colleagues one day, but that's what happened at Queen's, where we began working together in earnest, first in SCIT (Studies in Communication and Information Technologies, a seminar program he’d been catalysing for a number of years) and then in the Surveillance Project from 1999, which would become the Surveillance Studies Centre in 2009. And of course, we dreamed up and hosted what was probably one of the very first international research seminars in Surveillance Studies, back in 1993! At the same time, of course, we often spoke of Palestine and the Palestinians, and I learned much from him, which also led eventually to my visiting Israel and the West Bank--now several times. This included teaching where Elia had once taught, on sabbatical, at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah. So, I owe Elia a lot, both in terms of his scholarly example--including the massive headache of the 9-country international survey on surveillance and privacy, a decade ago! --and his personal and political commitment to Palestine. I valued him as a friend, colleague and mentor. I've said a lot more in the chapter that will appear from Bloomsbury in July this year. The festschrift is Decolonizing the Study of Palestine: Indigenous Perspectives and Settler Colonialism after Elia Zureik.  

Martin Hand (Head, Sociology)

Elia and Mary were the first people I met on arriving at Queen's for my job interview, taking me out to dinner, and I was quickly introduced to a fantastic sense of humour, fierce intelligence, and wry commentary concerning the realities of academic life. He was a huge presence, an outstanding mentor, and will be greatly missed.

Annette Burfoot (Professor, Sociology)  

One memory of Elia dates back to the 1990s when he invited Edward Said to campus. In his talk, Said spoke very highly of Elia and his work in Palestine - I was very impressed. Another was when Elia came to visit me at the University of Sussex before I was hired at Queen’s to check me out, I guess.  I took him for sandwiches and a walk along the Brighton Pier and we chatted about science policy (I was doing my D Phil at the Science Policy Research Unit). I remember Elia as very direct, thoughtful and quick with a laugh! I remain impressed by the extent of respect for Elia and his scholarship.

Stephen Baron (Professor, Sociology)

Elia Zureik was an important colleague in my career, taking it upon himself to provide me with initial mentorship upon my arrival, and continued insights even after he retired. His style of a bark far out of proportion to his bite, a sense of humour that made everything seem absurd, and a vault of disciplinary knowledge that shamed the rest of us, regular visits to Elia's office must experience events. He was easily one of the most interesting people I have ever met. His life story was fascinating and his ability to share it with others unparalleled. Elia also had a work ethic that was quite remarkable. Still writing and starting graduate programs in faraway places as he approached his eighties, it was unclear if he realized he was "officially retired." Even as recently as the semester that was prematurely ended by the first arrival of COVID, Elia was teaching a graduate class in the department and banging on my door to make sure I was doing my job properly, all with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.          

Fiona Kay (Professor, Sociology)

My memories of Dr. Elia Zureik go back thirty-seven years.  During my undergraduate degree, I worked as a research assistant to Professors Zureik and Sacco on a study of computer-related crime. A year later, I worked again for Professor Zureik, this time on a project coding data on conflicts and injuries in the West Bank and Gaza. I hold onto a treasured, signed copy of his book, The Palestinians in Israel: A Study in Internal Colonialism, Elia gave me as a gift years ago. 

More than a decade later, I returned to Queen's as a faculty member and Elia became my senior colleague and mentor down the hall. I appreciated his ability to issue clear directives my way with a twinkle in his eye and good humor. He had integrity and cared deeply for the Sociology Department, program and graduate students. Elia and Mary enjoyed hosting dinner parties with delicious Middle Eastern cuisine, lively discussions, and good humor. Together they raised two fabulous kids (now parents themselves) and spoke highly of their accomplishments. Their advice to my husband and I, as new parents, was to encourage our children to find their own path and support them along the way.

Elia didn't seem to ever retire (despite a graceful retirement function complete with a scholarly presentation by Elia), but rather he entered a new phase of his career, continuing to publish (receiving the Queen's University Award for Excellence in Research in 2008) and holding the UNESCO Chair in applied education at Sharjah Women's College in the United Arab Emirates. His interests were diverse, from technology in the workplace to surveillance and privacy to Palestinian refugees and human rights.

Mary and Elia travelled extensively during retirement and in 2019 Elia returned to teach a graduate course in the Sociology Department at Queen's. Professor Elia Zureik made significant contributions to the discipline (writing several books in addition to articles, chapters and policy reports) and was instrumental in building the Sociology graduate program and establishing the Surveillance Studies Project at Queen's. 

I'm grateful to have known him. 

Dorit Naaman (Professor, Film, Media and Cultural Studies)

When I first arrived at Queen’s Elia invited me to have lunch at the University Club. He wrote to me over email that I will have no trouble recognizing him because he looks like Ariel Sharon. This was during Sharon’s reign as Israel’s prime minister, and Sharon was known for his hawkish and anti-Palestinian views and actions. So the comment was incredibly witty and sardonic, from someone I have not yet met. At lunch Elia told me that he once came to give a talk at Tel-Aviv university and students gathered around him, thinking Ariel Sharon was there… but once he opened his mouth there was no mistake. It wasn’t only his accent, but more so his lucid and unabashed yet measured, and always academically supported critique of Israeli politics.  

After Edward Said died in 2003, I was asked to write a column for the Journal of Canadian Studies about Said’s legacy. I asked Elia to review my draft and he agreed to do so happily. When we talked it over, he criticized one my claim that Said wrote clearly. From his perspective as a sociologist, Said was rather obtuse. I asked Elia if he ever read Homi K Bhabha, or Gayatri Spivak, or other leading postcolonial theorists in the humanities, and he admitted he didn’t. Compared to them, I exclaimed, Said writes as clear as day, and we both had a good laugh, and delved into a conversation about perspective. 

Mary and Elia invited me numerous times to their home, introducing me to other young faculty members, transgressing the disciplinary silos so prevalent at Queen’s in the early 2000s, and for that I am forever grateful.

Sachil Singh (Assistant Professor, Health, York University)

My most recent conversation with Elia was just a few months ago. I asked if he taught about Ibn Khaldūn in first year sociology in the 1970s. He smiled and explained that institutional pressure played a role in his focus on more 'mainstream' social thinkers. He encouraged me to continue on my journey of 'decolonizing' sociology.

More than this, I will remember him as a really funny guy whom I first met at a Surveillance Studies Centre research round-up at Queen's in 2010. He always had jokes to share and always succeeded in making me laugh. More than most, his sense of humour was a strategy to foster inclusivity in the classroom, while simultaneously keeping us grounded in our research pursuit for social justice.

Dr. Nasser Saleh (Librarian, Queen’s Library)

Elia was really the first person who told me about Queen’s University when I met him in Ramallah, Palestine in 2005. At that time I was working on a research project on ICT for Development in Palestine and I met Elia while he was there for few days. In 2007 I moved to Canada and I had a job interview at Queen’s University Library in March, I remembered that Elia is at Queen’s and emailed him that I am in Kingston for the night. He took the time and met me and told me more about Kingston and Queen’s. During the past years I have always looked at Elia not just as a friend but as a mentor who is a dedicated scholar to a cause that he deeply believed in. He was a source of knowledge for me while I was doing my PhD and I still remember him and Mary coming to my house for dinner and they were both so humble and kind playing with my little daughter, I took pride of knowing Elia that whenever I introduce myself as a Palestinian-Canadian working at Queen’s University and I have been always asked right away .. do you meet Elia Zureik? Another legacy I heard over the years that Elia has invited Edward Said to Queen’s campus in the 1990s and I believe that Queen’s should honor Elia Zureik legacy for future generations. I owe Elia a lot.. Rest in Peace my friend!

Stephen Marmura (Professor, Sociology, St. Francis Xavier University)
While living in Kingston, I first called Elia following a television debate he had participated in about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I wanted to congratulate him on a job well done and ask a few follow up questions. This was during the late 1990s, a period when I often fantasized about returning to academia. Perhaps Elia sensed this intuitively although I hadn’t mentioned it. In any event he soon asked whether I would be interested in the new PhD program being offered by the sociology department at Queen’s. He stated enthusiastically that the program dealt specifically with CIT (Communication and Information Technology). To allay my suspicion that this was something best suited for “techies”, Elia provided me with some provocative reading material: Jihad vs McWorld by Benjamin Barber, The Clash of Civilizations by Samuel Huntington and Modernity at Large by Arjun Appadurai. After working through these very different takes on social identity, politics, and technology I could feel my sociological imagination reignite. I will always be grateful to Elia for calling me back to my true path and consider myself very fortunate to have had him as my PhD supervisor. Memories of his sharp intellect and warmth, combined with his trademark direct/unfiltered communication style, and devilish sense of humour will always be treasured.