Guided Search: International Relations, Palestinian

The Middle East Center, co-sponsored by: Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures and Jewish Studies Program are hosting The Moral Triangle: Germans, Israelis, Palestinians. In The Moral Triangle, Sa’ed Atshan and Katharina Galor draw on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with Israelis, Palestinians, and Germans in Berlin to explore these asymmetric relationships in the context of official German policies, public discourse, and the private sphere.

A highly substantive, non-partisan program featuring meetings with Israeli and Palestinian political and community leaders.  Leading this special delegation will be Craig Snyder, President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia and Jerry Sorkin who has been involved with the Israeli-Palestinian issue for more than three decades. 

The Israel – Palestine issue has been at the heart of multiple wars, political debates and ongoing tensions for decades. Both sides have their versions of history and both sides feel they are the ones who are right and the “other side” wrong.

It has been said of the two-state solution that it is a terrible idea for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict but better than all the other alternatives. And now amid all the turmoil in the Middle East, some would argue the time is just not right while others argue it is more imperative than ever before. We are pleased to feature a prominent student of the subject to explore it with us.

The Dialogue Institute is co-sponsoring a special performance of "In Between," a one-man show that portrays the complexities inherent in Israeli-Palestinian identity

A Tuition-Free Six-Part Lecture Series: Wednesday Evenings at 7pm beginning March 4, 2015

Earl Catagnus is an Assistant Professor of History at Valley Forge Military College, where he teaches courses such as “Contemporary Issues in National Security” and “Terrorism and Counter Terrorism.” He received his undergraduate degree at Penn State University and is completing his Ph.D. in Military History at Temple University. He was recently awarded the 2013-2014 U.S. Army Center for Military History Dissertation Fellowship.

An Arab Palestinian Christian who is a citizen of Israel, Archbishop Chacour grew up walking the hillsides where Jesus lived, where Jesus taught “Blessed are the Peacemakers.”

Miko Peled, author of The General's Son, was born in Jerusalem in 1961 into a well-known Zionist family. His maternal grandfather signed the Israeli Declaration of Independence. His father, Matti Peled, fought in the1948 Israeli War of Independence, and was a general in 1967 during the Six Day War when Israel conquered Gaza, the Golan Heights, the Sinai, and the West Bank. Later, General Peled became a peace activist, a leading proponent of an Israeli dialogue with the PLO.

An Arab Palestinian Christian who is a citizen of Israel, and leader of the Melkite Catholic Church of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth, and All Galilee, Archbishop Chacour grew up walking the hillsides where Jesus lived. He has worked tirelessly for reconciliation and peace in the Middle East, especially by building high-quality schools—preschool through college—in the Galileean village of Ibillin, where the students and faculty include Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Druze. On April 26, the Middle East Study Group of the Diocese of Pennsylvania will award Archbishop Chacour the "Passion for Peace Award."