INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SEMINAR ON PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST 5-6 September 2018 Press Center, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Moscow, Russian Federation Contributing Participants Organized by the United Nations Department of Public Information in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and with the support of the United Nations Association of Russia and the Russian Peace Foundation MR. AIDAR AGANIN The Representative of the Russian Federation to the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah since February 2017. He joined the Russian diplomatic service in 1990 and until 2007 served in various capacities in the central office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow and in several missions abroad, including as Counsellor of the Russian Embassy in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 2003 to 2007. From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Aganin served as head of Russia Today’s Arabic news service Rusya Al- Yaum. In 2011, he resumed his diplomatic career and held the post of Senior Counsellor of the Russian Embassy in the United States of America until 2016. A 1990 graduate from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, he is fluent in Arabic, English and Hebrew. MR. KHALID AL-ROUSHD A scholar (Middle Eastern studies), philologist, and specialist in the modern history of the Arab world. In 2004, he started working as a media producer. In 2007-2008, was presenter, “Persona” programme on Russian satellite TV- channel RT-Arabic (“Rusiya Al-Yawm”). Starting from 2008 onwards – author and presenter of the program “Journey Through Memory.” Mr. Al-Roushd published two books “They Dared to Speak Out” (in Russian) and “Journey Through Memory” (in Arabic). He is also the author and presenter of several documentaries, including “The Era of Putin” (2008), “Islam in Russia (2010) and “Information Warfare between the Past and the Present” (2017). DR. HANAN ASHRAWI A distinguished Palestinian leader, legislator, activist, and scholar who served as a member of the Leadership Committee and as an official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace process, beginning with the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991. In 1996, Dr. Ashrawi was appointed as the Palestinian Authority Minister of Higher Education and Research. Prior to that, she CONTRIBUTING PARTICIPANTS 1 was Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Birzeit University and head of its Legal Aid Committee since the mid-1970s. Dr. Ashrawi was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council representing Jerusalem in 1996 and was re-elected for the “Third Way” bloc ticket in 2006. Making history as the first woman to hold a seat in the highest executive body in Palestine, she was elected as member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 2009 and 2018. Dr. Ashrawi received both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the American University of Beirut and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Medieval and Comparative Literature from the University of Virginia in the United States. Moreover, she is the recipient of eleven honorary doctorates from universities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Arab world. MR. OMAR BADDAR Deputy Director of the Washington, DC-based Arab American Institute (AAI). Mr. Baddar is a political analyst specializing in U.S. Middle East policy and holds an M.A. in International Relations and Comparative Politics from the University of Memphis, where his research focused on U.S. policy towards the Israel-Palestine conflict. He is the former Executive Director of the American Arab Anti- Discrimination Committee of Massachusetts and the former Director of the Palestine Cultural Center for Peace in Boston. Mr. Baddar’s media appearances include the BBC, Al-Jazeera, Sky News, Voice of America, Russia Today, i24, and several other outlets, and his writings have appeared in Salon, the Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, Jadaliyya, Middle East Eye, among other platforms. @OmarBaddar MR. WALID BATRAWI A veteran Palestinian media and communication practitioner, trainer and consultant, with more than 26 years of experience. From March 2012 until July 2017, he worked as a Country Director in Palestine with BBC Media Action. 2 Prior to that, Mr. Batrawi worked as the Deputy Chief of Party for Internews Network in Palestine and a trainer/coach with the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ). From December 2007 through January 2010, Mr. Batrawi served as a Project Director for the BBC World Service Trust (formerly BBC Media Action). He also worked as a correspondent on Al-Jazeera English, as well as a correspondent for BBC Arabic Service Radio. In 2003, the European Commission and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) named Mr. Batrawi winner of the IFJ’s 2003 Natali Prize for “Excellence in reporting Human Rights, Democracy and Development” in the category of the Arab World, Iran and Israel. He holds an M.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom. MS. NANETTE BRAUN Chief of Communications Campaigns Service in the Strategic Communications Department, United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI). A self-confessed strong believer in the power of communications for social change, Ms. Braun joined the United Nations in 1995. Prior to joining DPI in 2018, Ms. Braun served as Chief of Communications and Advocacy at UN Women since 2010. Before that, she headed the communications departments of one of UN Women’s predecessor organizations and of the UN Volunteers programme. A journalist by training, Ms. Braun worked for print media and broadcasters in her native Germany and abroad, reporting with a particular interest on international politics and humanitarian issues. Ms. Braun holds a M.A. in modern history and North-American studies from Technical University Berlin and Free University Berlin respectively. MS. LIAT COLLINS Editor of The International Jerusalem Post and writer of a weekly op-ed column (My Word) in The Jerusalem Post. Ms. Collins has a B.A. in East Asian studies (Chinese) and International Relations and an M.A. (cum laude) in CONTRIBUTING PARTICIPANTS 3 Communications, from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Ms. Collins has worked at The Jerusalem Post since 1988 in various positions, including as environment reporter and parliamentary correspondent, columnist, and editor. She received the Life and Environment Award from the umbrella organization of Israeli green NGOs for her contribution to raising the standards of environmental reporting. She also won praise for her coverage of the Oslo diplomatic process. MR. ALAA DARAGHMA Graduate of Al-Quds University in Palestine with a B.A. in Journalism and Media, Mr. Daraghma is currently working as a freelance producer and video journalist. Based in West Bank, he has produced feature stories, reports and short films that were published on AJ+ (Arabic and English), Aljazeera English Channel, Middle East Eye, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, among others. He is skilled in writing, communication, social networking, photography and editing. Mr. Daraghma is also an alumnus of the United Nations training programme for Palestinian journalists, which is part of the UN Department of Public Information’s Special Information Programme on the Question of Palestine. @AlaaDaraghme MS. STEPHANIE FREID Israel-based correspondent for the China Global Television Network (CGTN). Ms. Freid is an award-winning television correspondent and producer covering conflict zones throughout the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. She is also a two-year Israel-Palestine Foreign Press Association (FPA) board member and the current University of Cincinnati Board of Directors Lead Chair. She is a TedX Berkeley, IdeaFestival, and international speaker. Before joining CGTN she freelanced for The San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters, the BBC, NBC News, Sky News, among others @SFreid 4 MR. CHRIS GUNNESS Spokesperson and Director of Advocacy and Strategic Communications for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Mr. Gunness has more than 30 years of experience in communications and advocacy. He took up his present post with UNRWA in 2007. Other UN assignments have included Spokesperson for the Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) and Director of Communications for the United Nations Protection Force in the former Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR). In his 23 years at the BBC, Mr. Gunness worked as a correspondent and anchor of award winning news and arts programmes. @ChrisGunness MR. WESSAM HAMMAD Palestinian news producer at Al Jazeera media network in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. Mr. Hammad is also the director of the “Al Jazeera Palestine” facebook page. He has been covering the conflict and political issues for the past fourteen years. While in Gaza, Mr. Hammad has covered news for CNN and Ramattan news agency. He then joined Al Jazeera and was the main producer for both Al Jazeera Arabic and English channels during the 2008-2009 war in Gaza. Mr. Hammad is an alumnus of the United Nations training programme for Palestinian journalists, which is part of the UN Department of Public Information’s Special Information Programme on the Question of Palestine. @WessamH MS. MA’ALY HAZZAZ Programme Specialist, coordinating extra budgetary projects in the Freedom of Expression Section as part of the Communication and Information Sector at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). During her 8-year tenure at UNESCO, Ms. Hazzaz has been responsible for implementing programmes and projects supporting freedom of expression, access to information, and safety of journalists in various regions around the CONTRIBUTING PARTICIPANTS 5 world, mainly in countries witnessing conflict or in democratic transition. This included strategic planning, fundraising, coordination and backstopping field offices. Before joining the organization, Ms. Hazzaz worked in the media for 10 years, filling the position of Chief Editor for print publications, and previously TV and radio producer and presenter. @speakoutalready DR. YAIR HIRSCHFELD Director for the Centre for Middle East Studies at Galilee International Management Institute and Negotiator during the Oslo Peace Process.