Israel-Palestine: Will it ever end?

Day: Thursdays

Dates: October 31 – December 5, 2024

Time: 1:30pm-3:30pm

Location: Carleton University

Price: $150+HST

Parking Info & Room Number will be sent by email 1-2 days prior to the lecture date

**This series is not recorded**

Overview

Over the last 75 years, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has cost thousands of lives and imposed misery on many innocent people. To most Canadians the issue appears unsolvable, and now appears to risk spreading into a much broader conflict in the region.  This seminar will examine the Jewish and Palestinian narratives and compare them to the historical record and current reality. We examine possible solutions and will look at how Canada might be helpful. In addition to the principal lectures, the course will include invited guest speakers with a range of expertise and views on the topic.

Topics

Week One: Introduction – history, geography and the ‘two competing narratives”

Week Two: European antisemitism, Zionism and the creation of the state of Israel (see note1)

Week Three: The “nakba” and the Palestinian refugees (see note 2)

Week Four: Negotiation, conflict, more negotiation: A never ending cycle?

Week Five: Gaza : Who is Hamas and why do they always fight Israel?

Week Six: What is the future?

About the Lecturer

Peter Larson is the Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP), a Canadian human rights organization focussing on the Middle East. He had a stellar career in research and senior management positions at the Public Policy Forum and the Conference Board of Canada. For nearly two decades, he has focused on human rights issues in the Middle East, visiting and leading groups of Canadians to investigate the situation in Israel, Iran, Jordan, Egypt and the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza. He is a frequent lecturer for church and labour groups, retiree associations and service clubs and in several universities. His presentations are appreciated for being fact based and balanced. He was the founding Chair of the Middle East Study Group of the Canadian International Council (National Capital Region), a board member of the National Council on Canada Arab Relations, and chair of its National Education Committee on Israel/Palestine. In 2012, he was awarded The Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Governor General of Canada in recognition of his educational work on Canada Arab relations. Peter graduated in Economics from the University of Western Ontario in 1968. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy from Université de Grenoble, France. In addition to English, he speaks fluent French and passable Italian and Spanish.