Speaker Events - November 17, 2011

Ahmed Maher: We Must Prevent Military Rule in Egypt

Speaking the evening before the largest protests in Tahrir Square since February were to occur, Ahmed Maher, Founder and General Coordinator of the Egyptian April 6th Youth Movement, praised the Egyptian revolution but warned against exaggerating the degree of change it has achieved.  

Panel Discussions - November 16, 2011

Riahi: Arab Intellectuals “Unknown Soldiers” of the Revolution

“We were the unknown soldiers who were moving and controlling the opposition,” Kamel Riahi, an award-winning Tunisian novelist and critic of the previous regime, said at an IPI event while reflecting on the role of intellectuals in the Tunisian revolution.  

Speaker Events - November 04, 2011

Filippo Grandi: Palestinian Refugee Question Stagnating

Filippo Grandi, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), told an IPI audience that the question of accommodating the wishes of the Palestinian refugees was “suffering a particular stagnation,” leaving them profoundly frustrated at their continuing  plight six decades after the partition of the land they once inhabited.
 

Speaker Events - October 21, 2011

At IPI, Nobel Peace Laureate Karman Calls For UN Action in Yemen

On Friday, October 21st, IPI convened a working lunch with 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkol Karman of Yemen. The meeting was attended by senior UN officials and representatives from countries on the Security Council and from nations who play an active role in the UN.  

Speaker Events - October 04, 2011

Robin Wright: The Counter-Jihad

Addressing a Beyond the Headlines audience at IPI on October 4th, Robin Wright, author of Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World, called the 2011 popular uprisings across Northern Africa and the Middle East “the counter-Jihad,” and added, “I use the term deliberately.”  

Panel Discussions - September 21, 2011

Støre: Social Media Challenge Regimes; People Bring Them Down

Jonas Gahr Støre, the Foreign Minister of Norway, and chair of the Fourth Annual Trygve Lie Symposium on Fundamental Freedoms at IPI made this reference in opening the discussion September 21st at this year’s symposium, which focused on The Role of Social Media in Promoting Democratization and Human Rights: Prospects and Challenges. 

Panel Discussions - September 16, 2011

Rabbo, Beilin Discuss Way Forward for Israel, Palestinians

Two long-time architects of Middle East peace initiatives gave candid remarks during a policy forum at the International Peace Institute on September 16th, just a week before President Mahmoud Abbas would formerly request UN membership for Palestine. 

Panel Discussions - September 14, 2011

Libya and Yemen: Two Arab Authors Discuss the Troubled Uprisings

Two Arab authors, Hisham Matar and Ali Al-Muqri, spoke at IPI on September 14th and 15th to give their artist’s perspective on the recent uprisings in their home countries. 

Panel Discussions - May 16, 2011

Tunisia Envoy Jomaa: "Transitional Justice is Needed Now"

"There is a strong belief that transitional justice is needed now, both to demonstrate a real break with the past, but also to make sure that a new Tunisia is built on a solid foundation of respect for the rule of the law that includes accountability of its leaders, current and former," said Ambassador Ghazi Jomaa of Tunisia at a May 16th panel discussion at IPI.  

Speaker Events - April 25, 2011

Gaza Doctor: "I Shall Not Hate"

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish was a rarity in the Middle East, a resident of Gaza with a permit to enter Israel because of his work. The son of refugees in the Gazan city of Jabaliya, he saw himself as a bridge between the two distrustful cultures, and his life was often put forward as an example of the kind of reconciliation that might one day rescue the region from its cycles of violence.