Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VPv0lFQKQaiS9R8rg1QlyA
Who speaks for Palestinians as a people and a nation? Who represents their interests when it comes to negotiating their future or dealing with the international community? The answer has long been – and today remains – the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), whose diplomatic corps at one time served as a bridge between the PLO and the Palestinian diaspora. Now, in the first study of its kind, a team of experts at Al Shabaka shines a bright light on the PLO — from its origins to its weakened state today, with particular focus on its much-diminished relationship with Palestinians in the diaspora. Taking this analysis a step further, the report examines how the PLO could resuscitate its essential role, especially in the diaspora, as part of the larger revival of Palestinian national aspirations.
To discuss this groundbreaking report and its recommendations, please join FMEP for a discussion with three of the report’s authors: Zaha Hassan, human rights lawyer and visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Nadia Hijab, co-founder and board president of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network; and Inès Abdel Razek, Advocacy Director for the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD), moderated by Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, FMEP’s Director of Programs and Partnerships.
Panelists
Zaha Hassan is a human rights lawyer and visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her research focus is on Palestine-Israel peace, the use of international legal mechanisms by political movements, and U.S. foreign policy in the region. Previously, she was the coordinator and senior legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team during Palestine’s bid for UN membership, and was a member of the Palestinian delegation to Quartet-sponsored exploratory talks between 2011 and 2012. She regularly participates in track II peace efforts and is a contributor to The Hill and Haaretz. Her commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, Salon, Al Jazeera English, CNN, and others. Twitter: @zahahassan.
Nadia Hijab is co-founder and board president of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network. She served as its Executive Director between 2011 and March 2018. A writer, public speaker and media commentator, Hijab’s first book, Womanpower: The Arab debate on women at work was published by Cambridge University Press and she co-authored Citizens Apart: A Portrait of Palestinians in Israel (I. B. Tauris). She was Editor-in-Chief of the London-based Middle East magazine before serving at the United Nations in New York. She is a co-founder and former co-chair of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and now serves on its advisory board.
Inès Abdel Razek is Advocacy Director for the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD), an independent Palestinian organization, and a member of Al Shabaka. Prior to joining the PIPD, Inès held advisory positions in the executive offices of the Union for the Mediterranean in Barcelona, the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi and the Palestinian Prime Minister’s Office in Ramallah, where she focused on international governance and development cooperation policies. Inès is also an advisory board member of the social enterprise BuildPalestine. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from Sciences-Po, Paris. Twitter: @InesAbdelrazek.
Moderator
Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP’s Director of Programs & Partnerships. She is an expert on the intersection between Israeli civil society and Palestinian civil rights and human rights advocacy as well as Jewish American relationships with Israel/Palestine. She leads FMEP’s programming, works to deepen FMEP’s relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. She is an affiliated faculty member at University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies.
Sponsored by: Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) Contact: info@fmep.org