The Middle East Institute (MEI) and Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) are pleased to host a one-on-one conversation with former head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization to the U.S. and current head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK Ambassador Husam Zomlot.
Since taking office, the Trump Administration, in tandem with the government of Israel and some in Congress, has worked to systematically delegitimize and marginalize the Palestinian leadership, undermine the premises on which the peace process was based, and normalize occupation. Yet, the PLO and PA continue to remain publicly committed to negotiated peace, non-violence, and the two-state solution. Does the Palestinian leadership truly still believe that peace is possible? And if so, how?
An event in the George and Rhonda Salem Family Foundation Lecture Series
Speaker biographies:
Ambassador Husam Zomlot (via Skype)
Head, Palestinian Mission to United Kingdom; Advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas
Prior to his appointment to the UK, Ambassador Zomlot served as head of the PLO General Delegation to United States. Zomlot previous official roles include serving as Ambassador –at-large for the Palestinian Presidency, director of Fatah Foreign Relations Commission and First Counsellor at the Palestinian Mission to United Kingdom. Zomlot holds a PhD in economics from University of London, worked as a professor of Public Policy at Birzeit University, where he co-founded and chaired Birzeit School of Government, and held a number of teaching and research positions at Harvard University and University of London. His professional experiences include working as an economist at the United Nation and Economic Researcher with London school of Economics and the Palestine Policy Research Institute.
Lara Friedman (moderator)
President, FMEP
With more than 25 years working in the Middle East foreign policy arena, Lara Friedman is a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, with particular expertise on the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem, and the role of the U.S. Congress. She is published widely in the U.S. and international press and is regularly consulted by members of Congress and their staffs, by Washington-based diplomats, by policy-makers in capitals around the world, and by journalists in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to her work at FMEP, Friedman is a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). Prior to joining FMEP, Friedman was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now, and before that she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, serving in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut.
Co-sponsor
