One state conference in London

London, 17/18 Nov 2007

The Brunei Gallery – SOAS – University of London

Fees: £30 (includes lunches, coffee, tea and biscuits)

£20 Concession (includes lunches, coffee, tea and biscuits)

Please send cheque payable to ONE STATE GROUP

Please post your cheque with attached note of email address to

C/O SOAS Palestine Society

Thornhaugh Street

London WC1H 0XG

Or book by email bookings@onestate.net

Organised by London One State Group and SOAS Palestine Society

Conference Program

Saturday, 17^th of November 2007

9:00-9:30 AM Registration SOAS Brunei Gallery, Lobby

9:30-9:45 AM Opening Statement SOAS Brunei Gallery

Nur Masalha, Reader in Religion and Politics and Director of the Centre for Religion and History and of the Holy Land Research Project at Saint Mary’s College, University of Surrey (UK)

PANEL I: Why one state?

9:45-11:45 AM

Chair: Ghada Karmi, University of Exeter, Author of In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story (2002) and Married to another Man: Israel’s Dilemma in Palestine (2007)

The historical roots of the One State idea

Ilan Pappe, University of Exeter, Author of The Modern Middle East (2005) and The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006)

A matter of immediate urgency, not a distant utopia

Joseph Massad, Columbia University, Author of The Persistence of the

Palestinian Question: Essays on Zionism an the Palestinians (2006) and Desiring Arabs (2007)

The state of the One-State Idea

Ali Abunimah, Co-founder of Electronic Intifada, Author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse (2006)

Coffee Break

11:45-12:00 AM

PANEL II: Mapping the geopolitical landscape: past, present and future

12:00-13:30 PM

Chair: Haim Bresheeth, University of East London, Chair of Media and Cultural Studies

Leaving the Cake Whole

Ghazi Falah, University of Akron, Ohio, Co-editor of Geographies of Muslim Women: Gender, Religion, and Space (2005) and Author of Galilee and the Judaization Plans (in Arabic, 1993)

Local politics: the one state and the Palestinians

As'ad Ghanem, University of Haifa, Author of The Palestinian-Arab Minority in Israel, 1948-2000: A Political Study (2001) and The Palestinian Regime: A “Partial Democracy” (2002)

With an eye to the future

Leila Farsakh, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Author of Palestinian Labor Migration to Israel: Labor, Land and Occupation (2005)

Lunch Break

13:30-14:30 PM

PANEL III (Presentations): Land, Citizenship, and Identity: Rethinking the nation-state

14:30-16:00 PM

Chair: Leila Farsakh

This panel provides a platform for internal debate on the desired institutional and constitutional formation of the state which is commonly dichotomized into the bi-national model on one side and multicultural democracy on the other.

Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Author of The Censor, the Editor, and the Text: The Catholic Church and the Shaping of the Jewish Canon in the Sixteenth Century (2007)

Nadim Rouhana, George Mason University, Author of Palestinian Citizens in an Ethnic Jewish State: Identities in Conflict (1997)

Omar Barghouti, Political Activist, Co-founder of the Palestinian Campaign for Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)

Tikva Honig-Parnass, Political Activist, Co-author of Between the Lines: Readings on Israel, the Palestinians, and the U.S. “War on Terror” (2007)

Coffee Break

16:00-16:15 PM

PANEL III (Discussion): Land, Citizenship, and Identity: Rethinking the nation-state

16:15-18:00 PM

Chair: Leila Farsakh

Sunday, 17^th of November 2007

PANEL IV: Looking at the past, rethinking the future

10:30-12:30 PM

Chair: Ali Abunimah

Drawing lessons >from the case of South Africa

Louise Bethlehem, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Co-editor of South Africa in the Global Imaginary (2005) and Violence and Non-Violence in Africa (2007)

Northern Ireland: power sharing in a divided society

Kathleen O’Connell, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign

From Lebanon

Gilbert Achcar, SOAS, Co-author of Perilous Power: The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy (2007) and The 33-Day War: Israel’s War on Hezbollah in Lebanon and its Consequences (2007), Author of The Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World Disorder (2006)

India – Pakistan: the partition

Sumantra Bose, London School of Economics, Author of Kashmir: The Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace (2003) and Contested Lands: Israel-Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia,Cyprus and Sri Lanka (2007)

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Lunch Break

12:30-13:30 PM

PANEL V: One state from within civil society social movements, and grassroot activism

13:30-16:00 PM

Chair: Omar Barghouti

The lived experience and stories of the invited activists will portray the current public mood in regards to the One-State option, and point at both the difficulties and the opportunities for promoting this line of thought among the various social movements and civil society organizations that are operating within the different communities. This mosaic of personal accounts and observations will provide the foundation for the following discussion about 'the way forward'.

Haidar Eid, Al-Quds University Gaza, Co-founder of One-State Group in Gaza

Eitan Bronstein, Political Activist, Director Zochorot (“Remebering”), Tel Aviv-Jaffa

Eyal Sivan, University of East London, Film Director of The Specialist (1999) and Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel (2004)

Yousef Faker el Deen, Political Activist, Founder of Al-Jaras Al-Awda (“Bells of Return”), Syria

Rajaa Omari, Political Activist, Founder of Natrinkum (“We are waiting for you”), Haifa

Coffee Break

16:00-16:15 PM

PANEL VI: The way forward

16:15-18:00PM

A roundtable with several participants of the conference will discuss the necessary immediate actions required for advancing the discussion about alternatives to the two-state paradigm, and for developing the One-State idea into a meaningful political agenda.

General Information

Fees: £30 (includes lunches, coffee, tea and biscuits)

£20 Concession (includes lunches, coffee, tea and biscuits)

Registration:bookings@onestate.net

Location: SOAS Brunei Gallery

Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square

London, WC1H 0XG

Contact Info: +44(0)77 33 235 760

Web Site: www.onestate.net

The event is hosted by the London Middle East Institute (LMEI)

SOAS Palestine Society
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square, London
WC1H 0XG

Email:palsoc@soas.ac.uk

www.palestinesociety.org