Middle East scholars participate in Israeli-Palestinian workshop

Scholars from Israeli and Palestinian backgrounds will take part in a workshop April 7 and 8 that will examine the relations between the two sides since the Oslo accord. The workshop, “Oslo and Beyond: Israeli-Palestinian Relations in a New Era,” is sponsored by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Israeli, Palestinian, Syrian and American scholars will gather April 7 and 8 for a workshop “Oslo and Beyond: Israeli-Palestinian Relations in a New Era,” at Brown’s Watson Institute for International Studies, 2 Stimson Ave.

At the workshop, political scientists will seek to achieve a better understanding of the pattern of relations in the Middle East since the historic Oslo accord was signed in 1993. With Israel and Syria in a state of war, it is unusual to have a dialogue that includes representatives of those countries, according to workshop organizers.

Among the participants will be:

• Meron Benvenisti, Israeli researcher and former deputy mayor of Jerusalem
  
  
• Haidar Abdel Shafi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Assembly and former negotiator for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process
  
  
• Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights
  
  
• Sadeq Al-Azm, a scholar from the University of Damascus, Syria

Presentations will take place April 7 from 1 to 6:30 p.m. and April 8 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. followed by lunch.

The scholars will be available to journalists by arrangement. Call Janet Kerlin at 401-863-2476. For a list of participants, see other side.

Oslo and Beyond: Israeli-Palestinian Relations in a New Era

April 7, 1 to 3 p.m.

Ian Lustick, University of Pennsylvania, “Setting the Intellectual Framework: What Do We Mean by the Oslo System?”

Dr. Haidar Abdel Shafi, Gaza, former negotiator for the Palestinians in the peace process and member of the Palestinian legislative assembly, and Professor Meron Benvenisti, former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, “The Character and Significance of the Oslo System”

April 7, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Raji Sourani, Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Gaza, “Oslo and Human Rights”

Laura Khoury, Rhode Island College, and Seif Da’Na, University of Kansas, “How Palestinians Perceive Oslo: Survey Findings”

Maxim Ghilan, Paris, “Those Left Out: The Palestinian Refugees and the Palestinian Citizens of Israel”

Professor Sadeq Al-Azm, University of Damascus, Syria, “Oslo and the Arab States”

April 7, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Peter Gubser, American Near East Refugee Aid, “Conditions in the Palestinian Territories”

Tal Sadeh, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, visiting fellow at the Watson Institute, “Israel, Palestine, and Jordan: Alternative Frameworks for Economic Interaction”

April 8, 9 to 10:30 a.m.

Professor Kamal Khaldi, University of Damascus, Syria; Roni Ben Efrat, Challenge magazine; and Stephen Shenfield, assistant professor (research), Watson Institute.

April 8, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Concluding discussion