On Wednesday, July 14^th 2010, the American Studies Resource Center at the University in cooperation with the US Consulate General in Jerusalem and the Faculty of Law organized a lecture for Professor. Terry O'Neill, a feminist attorney, professor and activist for social justice who is currently the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the Chair of the NOW Political Action Committees in the United States. The lecture was held at the New Campus Library in which a number of Law students, professors and others participated. Mrs. Esperanza M. Tilghman, the Vice Consul for Cultural Affairs at the US Consulate General, Jerusalem also attended the meeting.

O'Neill's work includes dealing with issues related to women, women's rights, reproductive freedom, promoting diversity and ending racism, ensuring economic justice, stopping violence against women and achieving constitutional rights for them. The NOW foundation is an active body in the US with respect to the abovementioned issues and is working on building cooperation with women in different parts of the world.

O'Neill's visit comes as part of the NOW's strategy to expand its activity and help women around the world achieve their rights and take their place as active constituents in the society. In the lecture, Professor O'Neill expressed her pleasure to be in Palestine and meet with Palestinian students, especially women. She then started the lecture by talking about the NOW foundation, the history of its establishment, the activities it carries out in the US and other parts of the world, and the philosophy of this organization.

After that, she spoke about the many issues that represent the main focus of NOW's work. She explained the struggle of American women to gain their rights in the United States during the 1960's and after and pointed out the main goal of the NOW which is to achieve equality for women in every filed of life. She also clarified how the American law ignored the right of women for a while before it has enforced an act in early 1960's by President, J. F. Kennedy. According to this act, a number of specialized committees were formed which had the issue of women's rights as their main focus. There were even committees that were dedicated to black women's issues.

Furthermore, Professor O'Neill said that the struggle of American women to gain recognition as equal individuals in the society has been fruitful since many organizations and institutions began to take their issue and demands seriously. The NOW currently works on promoting a number of issues in the American society including achieving economical rights for women, achieving reproductive rights, as well as rights for women to have equal salaries and equal working opportunities.

Another issue that was the focus of the meeting was the health insurance issue and the social security issue in the United States. O'Neill spoke about the status of health insurance in the US and how the government has passed laws and acts in which it stated that every employer must provide his / her employees with adequate health insurance. She also explained a very important case that is directly related to women. The issue of health insurance for women covers a variety of fields including reproductive rights, abortion rights, and the right for women to control their bodies.

As Professor O'Neill stated in her lecture, there was and still a substantial debate in the US regarding the issue of social security cuts. She explained that the American Government has attempted to cut social security from American citizens.

After the lecture, students were engaged in discussions and a question-answer session in which they exchanged comments and ideas with Professor. O'Neill. O'Neill mentioned that her work comes to reinforce cooperation between Palestine and the United States in the fields related to women and feminism. She also hoped that the Palestinian women would be able to benefit from the activities and experience that she is conducting through the NOW foundation. She further said that Palestinian women are facing difficult conditions and need orientation and assistance regarding issues that are of concern to them.