Churches for Middle East Peace, Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, Israel Policy Forum, the Arab American Institute, the American Task Force on Palestine and the Foundation for Middle East Peace

Please Click Here to Watch the Video of this Event

Re-Calculating Annapolis:

 Understanding the Crisis in Gaza and Southern Israel

and Its Impact on the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

 A roundtable discussion with leading experts on Middle East affairs

including perspectives on Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian, US and UN policy. 

Tuesday, February 12th, noon - 2:00 PM
U.S. House of Representatives
Rayburn House Office Building Room 2200

Featuring

Ghaith al-Omari, Advocacy Director for the American Task Force on Palestine, lead Palestinian drafter of the Geneva Initiative, former foreign policy advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Helena Cobban, a veteran writer and author on Israeli-Arab and Palestinian issues, currently an advisor to the Friends Committee on National Legislation and publisher of the “Just World News” weblog, former Beirut-based correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor. 

Daniel Levy, Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Policy Initiative of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, lead Israeli drafter of the Geneva Initiative, former senior policy adviser in the Israeli Prime Minister's office.

Phil Wilcox (Moderator), President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, former U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, and Ambassador at Large and Coordinator for Counter Terrorism.

GHAITH AL-OMARI is a Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation. He served in various senior positions within the Palestinian Authority, most recently Foreign Policy Advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He was a member of the Palestinian negotiating team throughout the permanent status negotiations (1999- 2001) including the Camp David summit and the Taba talks. Ghaith was the lead Palestinian drafter of the Geneva Initiative, an unofficial model peace agreement negotiated between leading Palestinian and Israeli public figures.

HELENA COBBAN, a veteran writer and author on Israeli-Arab and Palestinian issues, is currently an advisor to the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a contributing Editor of the Boston Review and author of the popular weblog “Just World News”.  Previously, Cobban contributed a column on global affairs to The Christian Science Monitor, and worked as a journalist in the Middle East, including five years as a Beirut-based correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor, and The Sunday Times of London.  Cobban has held research fellowships at Harvard University, Georgetown University, and the Brookings Institution and served on the U.S. Institute of Peace Working Group on Regional Arms Control in the Middle East. 

DANIEL LEVY is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Policy Initiative of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation and . Previously, Levy served as a senior policy adviser in the Israeli Prime Minister's office. He was a member of the Israeli delegation to the Taba negotiations in 2001 and of the negotiating team for the "Oslo B" Agreement in 1995. Levy was also the lead Israeli drafter of the informal Geneva Initiative.

ANDREW WHITLEY is currently Director of the Representative Office of UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. At the UN, Whitely has also served with UNCTAD in Geneva, as Chief of the Secretary-General’s Office, and with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, holding senior posts in UN transitional administrations in East Timor and Kosovo. Mr. Whitley previously worked as an academic, in Tehran and New York; as a foreign correspondent specializing in the Middle East, South Asia and Latin America, with the BBC and Financial Times; and in human rights. He was the founding director of Middle East Watch now Human Rights Watch/Middle East and North Africa. 

PHIL C. WILCOX (Moderator) is President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, a Washington D.C.-based foundation devoted to fostering peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Wilcox retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in September 1997 after 31 years of service. His last overseas assignment was as Chief of Mission and U.S. Consul General, Jerusalem. In the Department of State, he served as Director for Regional Affairs in the Bureau for Middle Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Director for Israeli and Arab-Israeli Affairs, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs. He also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research and as Ambassador at Large and Coordinator for Counter Terrorism.

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