Yet another attempt is underway to solve the long-running Israel-Palestine conflict.  Our two speakers Galia Golan and Nizar Farsakh,  peace activists from opposite sides of the issue, will provide a candid look at the Trump administration proposal and the strengths and weaknesses of their own side as well as the other.  Their unique insights and keen sense of history inform an honest and unvarnished analysis of Washington’s proposal, the impact on the two governments, the views of local citizens, and what they think the future may hold.

Galia Golan is professor emeritus and former head of the political science department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a founder of the activist advocacy group Peace Now, and also former head of the program in Diplomacy and Conflict Studies at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya. She is a prolific writer on the Israel-Palestine situation; her recent books include Israeli Peacemaking since 1967: Factors for the Breakthroughs and Failures, and Non-State Actors in the Middle East: Factors for Peace and Democracy, co-authored with Walid Salem. She has a B.A. from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. from Hebrew University. In 2019 she received the Scholar/Activist award from the International Studies Association.

Nizar Farsakh is a principal at Farsakh Training Consulting LLC;  Chairman of the Board of the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington, D.C.; and a lecturer at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He focuses on leadership, advocacy and negotiations training, and is involved in several non-violence initiatives in Palestine/Israel and the United States. From 2003 – 2008, he was an advisor to senior Palestinian leaders including the president, prime minister and various ministries. He then spent two years as General Director of the PLO Delegation in Washington, D.C., before moving on to work for two years at the Project on Middle East Democracy in Washington. He has a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Masters in International Boundary Studies from King’s College London.