“The Future of Jerusalem” to be

topic of roundtable discussion March 22

Palestinian and Israeli experts to

participate

MIDDLEBURY, Vt.—A roundtable

discussion titled “The Future of Jerusalem” will bring together four

experts with differing perspectives on the topic, including the

Palestinian and Israeli viewpoints. The event will take place on the

Middlebury College campus at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 22, in the

Robert A. Jones ’59 House on Hillcrest Road off College Street

(Route 125). The event is free and open to the public.

Middlebury Professor of Geography

Tamar Mayer, who is organizing the discussion in collaboration with

the College’s Center for International Affairs, said, “The event

represents a great challenge and accomplishment because it will bring

Israelis and Palestinians together in the same room to discuss

Jerusalem.”

“It is also a tremendous opportunity

for our students, faculty, staff and community members to learn

firsthand about the current Palestinian-Israeli negotiations

regarding Jerusalem in the context of the city’s past, present

and future,” added Mayer.

The four experts participating in the

event include Meron Benvenisti, a writer and columnist for

Ha’artz Hebrew Daily and author of “Sacred Landscape: The

Buried History of the Holy Land 1948-1998” (University of California

Press), who will discuss the Israeli view of the future of Jerusalem

based on his academic and political work. Salim Tamari, director of

the Institute of Jerusalem Studies in Jerusalem and currently a

visiting professor in New York University’s department of Middle

Eastern studies, will present the Palestinian outlook on

Jerusalem.

“We are honored and thrilled that

Meron Benvenisti is traveling all the way from Israel for this

discussion at Middlebury,” said Mayer.

Another of the experts, Hisham

Melhem, Washington, D.C.-based correspondent for the Lebanese daily

As-Safir, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas and Radio Monte

Carlo, will talk about the Arab world’s perspective on the past

and future of Jerusalem. Middlebury College alumna Janine Zacharia,

Washington correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, will focus on the

evolution of Israel’s debate over Jerusalem. Mayer will serve as

moderator.

For more information, contact

Charlotte Tate of the Center for International Affairs at Middlebury

College at 802-443-5795 or tate@middlebury.edu.

— end —