Conference Highlights – On Palestine
HIWARAAT CONFERENCE SERIES
On Palestine
March 7, 2024
This symposium featured leading voices on Palestine, and was organized around three thematic areas: justice and accountability, global media narratives and the shaping of public opinion, and avoiding traps in imagining a political future.
Welcome
Dean Safwan Masri, GU-Q
Zain Assaf (GU-Q’23)
Opening Session
A Conversation on Palestine
The opening panel, moderated by Georgetown University in Qatar Dean Safwan Masri, featured lawyer Diana Buttu, Hussam Zomlot, Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK , and President of Al Sharq Forum, Wadah Khanfar.
Panel moderator Dr. Safwan Masri is Dean of Georgetown University in Qatar. He is the author of Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly (2017), and former Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development at Columbia University.
An expert in international human rights law, Diana Buttu was the former legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team, and part of the team that assisted in the successful litigation of the illegality of the separation wall before the International Court of Justice.
Head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom, Dr. Hussam Zomlot was a former Strategic Advisor to the Palestinian president and Ambassador to the United States. He also co-founded and chaired the Birzeit University School of Government.
The president of Al Sharq Forum, Wadha Khanfar was the former Director General of Al Jazeera Network from 2003-2011, overseeing its growth from a single channel into a media network.
Moderated Sessions by Mehdi Hasan
Event moderator Mehdi Hasan is an award-winning journalist, and founder, CEO, and Editor-in-chief of Zeteo. A former host of “The Mehdi Hasan Show” on MSNBC, he is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking.
Session 1
Justice and Accountability
Moderated by Mehdi Hassan, this session featured Georgetown University in Qatar Assistant Professor Noha Aboueldahab, former Jordanian minister Salah Bashir, Crisis Group Senior Palestine Analyst, Tahani Mustafa, and Professor and Dean’s Faculty Fellow at the University of Colorado School of Law, Wadie Said.
Panelists
An award-winning specialist in transitional justice and author of Transitional Justice and the Prosecution of Political Leaders in the Arab Region, Assistant Professor Dr. Noha Aboueldahab is also a Senior Non-resident Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs.
A lawyer by training, Salah Bashir held multiple public offices in Jordan, including Minister of Industry and Trade, Minister of Justice, Minister of State for Prime Ministry Affairs, Minister of Government Performance and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
As Crisis Group’s Senior Palestine Analyst, Dr. Tahani Mustafa works on issues including security and socio-political and legal governance in the West bank. She has a background in development and security governance in the Middle East, and has worked in academia and policy advocacy.
Wadie Said is Professor of Law and Dean’s Faculty Fellow at the University of Colorado School of Law. A former assistant federal public defender, he is the author of Crimes of Terror: The Legal and Political Implications of Federal Terrorism Prosecutions (Oxford University Press).
Session 2
Global Narratives and the Shaping of Public Opinion
The second session moderated by Mehdi Hasan featured Fida Adely, Director, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and Clovis and Hala Salaam Maksoud Chair in Arab Studies at Georgetown University, attorney and writer Jennifer Zacharia, Mouin Rabbani, Non-resident Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, and Nader Hashemi, Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.
Panelists
Dr. Fida Adely is an Associate Professor and Director at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, the Clovis and Hala Salaam Maksoud Chair in Arab Studies at Georgetown University.
Jennifer Zacharia is an attorney and writer who has worked as a journalist and with various human and civil rights organizations. She holds a JD and an MIA from Columbia University.
Mouin Rabbani is Co-Editor of Jadaliyya, Contributing Editor of the Middle East Report, and a Non-resident Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies. A Palestinian affairs specialist, Rabbani served as Principal Political Affairs Officer for the UN Special Envoy for Syria.
Dr. Nader Hashemi is the Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at Georgetown University. His most recent book is on Islam and Human Rights: Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies (Routledge).
Session 3
Avoiding the Trap: Prospects for a Political Future
The final panel moderated by Mehdi Hasan included insight from Daniel Levy, President of the U.S./Middle East Project, lawyer Diana Buttu, author Rhoda Ann Kanaaneh, Fordham University, and Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al-Haq.
Panelists
Daniel Levy is the President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP), and former MENA Director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He served as advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and was part of the official delegation for several Israel/Palestine peace talks.
An expert in international human rights law, Diana Buttu was the former legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team, and part of the team that assisted in the successful litigation of the Wall before the International Court of Justice.
The award-winning author of Birthing the Nation: Strategies of Palestinian Women in Israel (University of California) and Surrounded: Palestinian Soldiers in the Israeli Military (Stanford University), Dr. Rhoda Ann Kanaaneh has taught at Fordham, NYU, and American University.
Award-winning human rights activist and lawyer Shawan Jabarin is the General Director of Al-Haq, a non-governmental human rights organisation based in the West Bank with special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
