NEWS
from
Central Connecticut State University
Honored as a "Leadership Institution" by the
Association of American Colleges & Universities
Media contact:
Bart Fisher,
Associate
Director of
Marketing and Communications
(860) 832-1624;
Fisherb@ccsu.edu
CCSU to Host First
International Academic Conference on the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Pathways to Peace
NEW BRITAIN -
March 12, 2008 – A first-of-its-kind
International Academic Conference aimed not only
at exploring the historic obstacles to peace
between Israelis and Palestinians, but also at
addressing possible breakthrough strategies and
solutions to the age-old conflict, will be held
March 28-29 on the Central Connecticut State
University campus.
The goal of the conference, according to
conference chair and Associate Professor of
Psychology Dr. Moises F. Salinas, is to
highlight the contribution that social
scientific and humanistic research and
scholarship can bring towards peace and
reconciliation between Israelis and
Palestinians. Presentations and panels will
focus, he says, “on research examining the
factors fueling the longest conflict of modern
times, and contributions with instrumental ideas
to achieve a just and equitable solution to the
conflict.”
The symposium will include a number of prominent
keynote speakers, coupled with concurrent
presentations and panels on topics ranging from
geographical obstacles to various negotiation
models, perceptions and strategies. Dr. Salinas
says, “We will strive to maintain a balance
between Israeli, Palestinian and other U.S. and
international speakers and encourage researchers
from all sides of the conflict to send their
proposals.”
The keynote speakers include top personalities
in the field such as: Dr. Herbert Kelman,
professor of Psychology and Social Ethics at
Harvard University, Dr. Sami Adwan, professor of
education at Bethlehem University and
co-director of the Peace Research Institute in
the Middle East, and former member of the
Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Dr. Naomi Chazan,
professor of political science. The conference
will also feature prominent political speakers
Gaith al-Omari, senior research fellow at the
New American Foundation and a former senior
advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,
and Daniel Levy, senior fellow at both the New
American Foundation and the Century Foundation,
who was the lead Israeli drafter of the Geneva
Initiative.
The registration fee for the entire conference
is $250.00, and $50 for students. The fee
includes a continental breakfast and lunch both
days, and all conference materials. Two elements
of the groundbreaking event, both scheduled on
the 29th, are open to the public, as is the
general conference, but carry only a $15.00 per
event cost for those who do not wish to attend
the full session. They are a 3 p.m. film, “Can
You Hear Me? Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight
for Peace,” followed by a discussion with
director Lilly Rivlin and a 6:15 p.m. lecture
featuring Dr. Chazan. She was a two-time
delegate to the United Nations Conference on
Women and the head of the Truman Research
Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Rivlin’s documentary focuses on Israeli and
Palestinian women who insist on “dialogue across
enemy lines.” The mother of a slain Israeli
soldier and the sister of a Palestinian woman
killed in Jerusalem speak out together in an
effort to “stop the deadly violence that has
overtaken the Middle East.”
For additional information, see the website
www.pathways2peace.org
<http://www.pathways2peace.org/> or contact Dr.
Salinas, salinasm@ccsu.edu <mailto:salinasm@ccsu.edu>
.
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