Peace Building In The Middle East

Co-Host

The World Affairs Council of Boston

Discussion Leaders

Itzhak Levanon, consul general of Israel to New England

Mr. Itzhak Levanon first entered the field of public service in Jerusalem in 1969. His involvement in trying to create a rapprochement between different groups in the city just after the Six Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem lead him to establish contacts with Israeli's Foreign Service. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs four years later and represented the Israel Mission to the United Nations in New York City. He subsequently became the political Counselor if the Embassy of Israel in France, the Counsel General in Montreal and was a member of the Israeli delegation to the peace talks in Washington D.C. He has served as Consul General to Israel of New England since his appointment in 1997.

"We have some creative and functional ideas how Jerusalem can remain united, one city, the capital of Israel, and that all religions will have freedom of worship and free access to the city." --Itzhak Levanon

James Carroll, Hasan Abdel Rahman

Hasan Abdel Rahman, chief representative of the PLO and the PNA in the United States

Mr.Hasan Abdel Rahman has headed the Palestinian Mission in the United States as Chief Representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Palestine National Authority since 1994, Prior to his appointment, he served as Chief of the Palestine Mission in Canada and Senior Political Advisor to the Palestinian Delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference and the peace talks in Washington D.C. A frequent guest on television news programs, Mr. Adel Rahman has given several presentations on Palestinian issues and the Israeli - Arab conflict at universities and organizations in the U.S. and abroad.

"I hope and pray to God that our children will not be involved in violence and that they will grow up as real children, but we have to give them that opportunity. And it is not only the responsibility of the Palestinians alone, but also of Israel. And together we can do that." --Hasan Abdel Rahman

Moderator

James Carroll, author and columnist, Boston Globe

Mr. James Carroll has moderated a past Circle at which Gerry Adams spoke on his first U.S. trip after the 1994 Peace Process in Northern Ireland was announced. He has been a civil rights activist, antiwar demonstrator, and a former Catholic priest. He is author of none novels and a memoir, An American Requiem won the National Book Award in 1996. His newest book Constantine Sword: The Church and The Jews will be published in January.

by James Carroll

On June 6, 2000, the Global Citizens Circle community convened at the Parker House to participate in a lively - at times passionate - discussion of issues at play in the Middle East peace process. The eveningís speakers were Itzhak Levanon, the consul general of Israel to New England, and Hassan Abdel Rahman, chief U.S. representative of the PLO and the Palestine National Authority.

As would become clear at Camp David only a few summer weeks later, the main obstacles to a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians involved the future of Palestinian refugees, the borders of the proposed Palestinian state, and the status of Jerusalem. All three issues were directly faced in the conversation, and so were the ways in which each question can seem impossible to resolve. Mr. Abdel Rahman, for example, was emphatic in stating the Palestinian claim to complete and full political control over East Jerusalem, the section of the city that fell under Israeli control during the Six Day War in 1967. Equally firm was Mr. Levanon's assertion of Israeli sovereignty over an undivided Jerusalem. Some in the Global Citizens Circle audience wondered if such adamant staking of claims represented the kind of positioning to be expected at the outset of negotiations, while others expressed pessimism about the prospects for compromise that the entire peace process presumes.

In the end, the Global Citizens discussion was a kind of forecast of the difficulties that would confront the Camp David negotiators. But also, this direct, honest, and civil discussion of the gravest questions facing Israelis and Palestinians offered an example of the courage and hope that keeps the Middle East Peace Process going even now.