Second Annual Conference of Research Centers in the Arab World “The Palestinian Cause and the Future of the Palestinian National Movement”

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Second Annual Conference of Research Centers in the Arab World “The Palestinian Cause and the Future of the Palestinian National Movement” Second Annual Conference of Research Centers in the Arab World “The Palestinian Cause and the Future of the Palestinian National Movement” 7 - 9 December, 2013 About the Conference Time Table Participants About the Conference The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies holds its second conference for research centers in the Arab world, with this year’s topic being “The Palestinian Cause and the Future of the Palestinian National Movement”. This theme was chosen based on the belief that the occupation of Palestine and the creation of Israel represent the central problem of modern Arab history. Although the Palestinian cause has at times been exploited to provide the Arab political arena with nihilistic and rejectionist ideological rationales, or those of surrender and its accompanying political, cultural, economic, and ethical manifestations, the Arab public still sees the Palestinian cause as inclusive of all Arabs, not something the Palestinians must bear witness to alone. This peculiarity reflects the role of the Palestinian cause, and the Nakba in particular, as an emotional and intellectual catalyst for the Arab consciousness over the last decades. The Palestinian cause has been undergoing a process of marginalization on the academic agenda, and the organizers felt that the question of the future of the Palestinian national movement, in light of regional and international developments, is the prime issue of the moment. This year, the conference presents academic contributions over several themes, most notably Israeli colonialism, its policies, and their impact on Palestinian society and identity; transformations affecting Palestinian society and its political institutions; transformations in the patterns of Palestinian resistance; and the future of the Palestinian national movement and its representative bodies. The conference will also focus on discussing the policies of prominent international powers, such as Europe, China, and India, toward the Palestinian cause. Due to the specificity of this year’s topic, the academic sessions will be accompanied by discussion panels for journalists, young activists, and politicians to discuss international solidarity movements with the Palestinian cause; the youth movements that defend Palestinian rights and support the Palestinian cause in Palestine, the Arab world, and internationally; and the media’s role regarding the Palestinian cause and the manner of its coverage and presentation. The ACRPS seeks to promote the debate over the Palestinian cause, and to enrich it during this critical stage of Arab history. As Palestinian horizons appear blocked, and Arabs are busy with their domestic affairs, it is legitimate to fear that central issues, such as Jerusalem, the land, the refugees, and the right of return—pillars of the Palestinian national movement—may become excluded from the scope of Arab and Palestinian concerns. These circumstances stress the need to study and evaluate the transformations, shifts, and challenges facing the Palestinian people, whether within or outside the borders of Historical Palestine. It has also become necessary to assess the cause’s place within the broader Arab-Israeli conflict, especially with the appearance of the Arab Spring and the flaring of Arab revolutions. In accordance with the ACRPS’s traditions, all papers have been peer-reviewed as a prelude to the Center’s publication of a book containing all conference papers. This tradition has a special value this year, given the general dominance of political polemics over discussing the Palestinian cause, which could open the way for more serious and level-headed approaches. This is the only such conference in the Arab region that brings leading Arab research centers together with political and public figures, as well as media representatives, to provide an environment for discussing the Palestinian cause in particular and the issues facing academic and scientific research in the Arab region in general. This year, the organizers have invited a select group of active research centers and academic research institutions in the Arab region, more than 50 Palestinian, Arab, and international politicians, and 60 representatives of the Arab and international media. This year’s conference edifies the Center’s annual tradition of grouping centers of research and political and strategic studies to discuss the reality of academic research in the Arab region, building on the success of last years’ conference, which discussed strategic shifts in the Arab region after the Arab Spring. The ACRPS hopes that this year’s conference will provide an opportunity for the exchange of ideas in a manner that serves academic research and leads to a better understanding of the Palestinian Cause and its future. Time Table Friday, December 6, 2013 Al Mukhtasar Hall Public Lecture 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Negotiations: Options and Future Speaker: Saeb Erekat Discussant: George Giacaman 8:00 pm - 8:15 pm Break Public Lecture 8:15 pm - 9:15 pm Resistance: Options and Future Speaker: Ussama Hamdan Discussant: Khalil Shaheen Day One: Saturday, December 7, 2013 8:00 am - 9:00 am Registration Lusail Hall 9:15 am - 10:00 am Opening Lecture Azmi Bishara 10:00 am - 10:15 am Break Lusail Hall Al Mukhtasar Hall The Arab Spring and the Israeli Colonialism and its Policies Arab-Israeli Conflict Session Chair: Amira al-Fadel Session Chair: Fahmi Huwaidi The Impact of the Arab Spring on the Arab- Zionism and Claim Differentiation with Western 10:15 am - 10:30 am Israeli Conflict Colonialism Salamah Kilah Elia Zreik Palestine and the Arab Uprisings in Academic Litigation in Israeli Law 10:30 am - 10:45 am Scholarship Alaa Mahajneh Sari Hanafi Views about the Arab Transformation and about the Self: Israeli Outlooks on the New Middle East 10:45 am - 11:00 am Water Apartheid: Inequitable and Unreasonable Nadim Rouhana Use of Water between Israel and Palestine 11:00 am- 11:15 am Arab Revolutions and Political Hilal Elver Transformations in Israeli Society Khaled Said 11:15 am - 12:00 pm Discussion 12:00 pm - 12:15 pm Break Lusail Hall Al Mukhtasar Hall Patterns in the Transformations of Israeli Colonialist Policies and Their Im- Palestinian Resistance Movements plications for Palestinian Society Session Chair: Saoud al-Mawla Session Chair: Mahmoud Sweid Transformations in Hamas’s Armed Resistance Demography and Conflict in the Context of 12:15 pm - 12:30 pm in the West Bank during the Second Intifada Israel/Palestine: Forecasts for the Future Bilal Shalash Youssef Courbage Hamas: Questions of Self, Rule, and the Horizons Forced Palestinian Migration in Israel’s 12:30 pm - 12:45 pm of the Cause Fragmentation Policy Nawwar Abd al-Ghani Thabit Munir Nusseibeh Hamas’s Entrenchment in Gaza: The Palestinian Palestinian Identity in Light of the Cause and the Future of the Palestinian National Fragmentation of Palestinian Society since 1948 12:45 pm - 1:00 pm Movement Majdi al-Maliki Tareq Baconi 1:00 pm - 1:45 pm Discussion 1:45 pm - 3:00 pm Lunch Break Lusail Hall Symposium Changes in the Arab Region and The Palestinian Cause Mustafa Bin Jafar/ Tunisia 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm Yaseen No’man/ Yemen Ibraheem Yosri/ Egypt Maha al-Khateeb/ Jordan Hassan Tariq/ Morocco 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm Break Opening Ceremony Opening Session Hamadi al-Jibali: Tunisian Former Prime Minister 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm Taher al-Masri: Jordanian Former Prime Minister Richard Falk: The United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories Aijaz Ahmad: Political Theorist and intellectual based in India Panel Chair: Abdullah Bin Hamad al- Athba Day Two: Sunday, December 8, 2013 Israeli Colonialism and its Policies Lusail 1 Hall Lusail 2 Hall 9:00 am - 9:15 am Session Chair: Sarah Ababneh Session Chair: Mehdi Abdulhadi The Future of Jewish Immigration to Occupied Activism and Academia: The Case of Palestine Palestine and its Repercussions on the Ilan Pappe Demographic Struggle Hisham al-Maghari Colonial Citizenship: Evolution of the The Territorial Implications of Israel’s Demand Relationship between Israel and Palestinian to be Recognized by the Palestinians as a 9:15 am - 9:30 am Citizens Jewish State Areej Sabbagh Ghazi-Walid Falah The 2013 Israeli Parliamentary Elections: Partisan and Political Changes Under a Israeli Policies in the Occupied Territories 9:30 am - 9:45 am Renewed Zionist Consensus Khalil al-Tafakji Mtanes Shehadeh The Settlers and Jewish Colonialism in the 9:45 am -10:00 am Occupied Palestinian Territories Muhannad Mustapha 10:00 am - 11:00am Discussion 11:00 am - 11:15 am Break Transformations in Palestinian Society and its Political Institutions Lusail 1 Hall Lusail 2 Hall Session Chair: Mohammed al-Afandi Session Chair: Mustapha Murabit 11:15 am - 11:30 am The Repercussions of the Potential Collapse From Fragmentation to the Creation of of the Palestinian Authority on Infrastructure Alternative Palestinian Identities Services Bilal al-Shobaki Abdul Rahman al-Tamimi The Role of Civil Society in Changing the From National Commitment to State Building: 11:30 am - 11:45 am Palestinian Authority’s Security Policies Ideological shifts in Palestinian Social Research Nadia Abu Zaher Abbad Yehya Challenges for the Palestinian Security Sector Reinserting Political Economy into Palestinian 11:45 am - 12:00 pm Reform Policy Analysis Brahim Saidy Toufic Haddad 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Discussion 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Lunch Break The Future of the Palestinian National Movement and the Representative Organs Lusail 1 Hall Lusail 2 Hall Session Chair: Jafar al-Shayeb Session Chair: Adil
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