March 8, 2001
“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 Colleges 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 citys past, present
and future,” added Mayer.
The four experts participating in the
event include Meron Benvenisti, a writer and columnist for
Haartz 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 Universitys 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 worlds 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 Israels 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.
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