The Middle East Institute, the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Churches for Middle East Peace, and Americans for Peace Now invite you to a presentation and discussion featuring Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Executive Director, Rabbis for Human Rights-Israel. RHR-Israel works to prevent human rights violations in Israel and the Occupied Territories, and to bring human rights grievances to the attention of the Israeli public through education and advocacy.
United States Will Pay a Heavy Price for the Gaza Flotilla Incident
Asserting its need to be secure from future terrorism launched from Gaza, Israel used force last week to maintain a blockade that has been creating a humanitarian cataclysm for the people of Gaza. In the early days following the attack on the aid flotilla, the Israeli military interpretation of events dominated much of the popular media coverage in the United States. Gradually, though, attention shifted to the incident’s negative impact on Israel’s international standing and the security implications of continued international and regional uproar.
The Middle East Institute is proud to host journalist and author Nicholas Blanford. With fears running high of a fresh war between Hezbollah and Israel, Blanford will discuss the prospects of a second encounter between these two enemies. He will examine the military developments undertaken by Hezbollah and Israel since the July 2006 conflict and analyze how the next war might be fought on the ground. Blanford will also explore the political implications of such a conflict on the region.
The Middle East Institute is proud to host Dr. Hanan Mikhail Ashrawi, Member of the PLO Executive Committee and the Palestinian Legislative Council, or a discussion about Palestinian-Israeli proximity talks and other issues related to the peace process and the situation in the West Bank and Gaza.
In Search of a Voice: Arab Soccer Players in the Israeli Media
Soccer is the most popular sport in Israel. As such, it is also a strategic research site in which to study Israeli society and its complex social and ethnic relations.
Walls and Goals: The Israeli-Palestinian Encounter in Football
Dedicated to the memory of Israel Tzvi Raab Z”L, a true lover of the game
The long, complex encounter between the Israeli and Palestinian people has been examined in many cinematic and literary creations. In this essay, I will explore several that use football as a lens to read opposing political agendas and as a means to resolve conflict.
A Step on the Path to Peace: How Basketball is Uniting Arab and Jewish Youth in Jerusalem
Basketball is a game where all five players need to share the ball. If it is played with great teamwork, the sum of the parts is greater than the individual. It’s a great forum for building trust. A lot of the game happens with things you can’t see. Communication and trust with teammates is the key. It seems to me that the same can be said of peacemaking.
–R.C. Buford, General Manager of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs[1]
The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Views of a Palestinian-Israeli member of the Israeli Knesset
Dr. Ahmad Tibi is a member of the Arab Movement for Change and was first elected to the Israeli Knesset in 1999. He currently serves as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and head of the parliamentary committee of inquiry, which seeks to accommodate Palestinians through integration into jobs in the public sector. He has played a key role in the politics of the Palestinian-Israeli community, which constitutes approximately one fifth of Israel's population. He has also played a key role in relations between Palestinian-Israelis and Palestinians in the occupied territories and Dr.
Turkey and the Middle East: Ambitions and Constraints
Hugh Pope, Turkey/Cyprus Project Director for the International Crisis Group (ICG), discussed the issue of recent speculation regarding Turkey’s “shift away from the West.”
Turkey and Israel: What Lies Behind the Recent Volte Face
In recent months, the Israeli-Turkish relationship, strong and stable during the 1990s, has been placed under severe pressure. Tensions began in January 2009 when Israel launched military operations in Gaza, later prompting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to walk out of a televised debate with Israeli President Shimon Peres following a heated exchange over the issue.
Economic Peace in the West Bank and the Fayyad Plan: Are They Working?
There can be a democratic, de facto Palestinian state by 2011, according to Salam Fayyad, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The goal was outlined in an eloquent two-year plan entitled “Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State,”[1] published in August 2009, which called for the formation of the institutional foundations of statehood prior to, and independent of, an agreement with Israel.
This Commentary first appeared as an op-ed on BitterLemons-International.org, October 22, 2009
Syria could not be more ecstatic at the row that has recently developed between Turkey and Israel. Turkey, once among Israel's staunchest allies, now sees eye-to-eye with Syria regarding the difficulties in dealing with Israel and Israel's abusive treatment of Palestinians.
Introduction to The Legacy of Camp David: 1979-2009
Since the “Six Day War” in June 1967, countless American and other diplomats have sought almost continuously to broker peace between Israel and its surrounding Arab enemies. From that tangled history, one achievement stands tallest in a forest of scrub: the Egypt-Israel Treaty signed on March 26, 1979 on the White House front lawn by President Anwar Sadat, Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and President Jimmy Carter.
