The New Generation in the Middle East
The Third Annual Atkin Conference
Friday, 21 October 2011
The third annual Atkin conference takes places in a year of unprecedented transformations in the Middle East. The revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya are changing the region’s political map. Even Israel has witnessed a wave of popular protests.
This year’s conference will try to make sense of what has happened, and what will be next. What role have diasporas played in the ongoing struggles for peace and democracy? How influential have traditional media and new media been in effecting change? What did it feel like to be on the ground? How will the New Middle East change in 2012 – and beyond?
ICSR has brought together many of the key movers of the Arab revolutions, as well as analysts and grassroots activists from across the Middle East, for a day long conversation about The New Generation in the Middle East. It is the first time that this group of activists ¬¬¬– from Arab countries and Israel – have come together to discuss the future of their region.
Seating is strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.
RSVP to [email protected]
09.00 Registration and Coffee
09.30 Welcome
Amal Abusrour and Sefi Kedmi, Atkin Fellows
09.40 How can diasporas advance peace in the new Middle East?
- Dr. Hussein Ibish, Executive Director, Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation for Arab-American Leadership
- Lorna Fitzsimons, Chief Executive, Bicom.
- Ron Skolnik, Director, Meretz USA
- Zaki Chehab, Editor-in-Chief, ArabsToday.net
- Dr Manuel Hassassian, Palestinian Representative to the United Kingdom
Moderator: Prof Peter Neumann, ICSR
10.40 The Atkin Fellowship
Odelia Englander, Muna Dajani and Alia Al Kadi, Atkin Fellows
10.50 Coffee Break
11.10 What next for new media in the new Middle East?
- Michael Young, opinion editor, Daily Star, Lebanon
- Stephen Pollard, editor, The Jewish Chronicle
- Michael Weiss, communications director, The Henry Jackson Society
- Malik Abdeh, chief editor, Barada TV, Syria; founder of the Movement for Justice and Development
- Mahmoud Salem, blogger Sand Monkey
Moderator: Dr John Bew, ICSR
12.15 Buffet Lunch
13.30 A view from Tahrir Square
- Dr Omar Ashour, Exeter University
- Dr Amany Soliman, Atkin Fellow
- Dareen Khalifa, Egyptian Council on Human Rights, Cairo
Moderator: Dr John Bew, ICSR
14.15 A view from the Rothschild tents
- Gil Murciano, Atkin Fellow, Reut Institute, Tel Aviv
- Yael Patir, Atkin Fellow. Peres Center for Peace, Tel Aviv
- Talia Gorodess, Reut Institute, Tel Aviv
Moderator: Prof Peter Neumann, ICSR
15.00 Coffee Break
15.20 This time next year in the new Middle East
- Sabri Saidam, advisor to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
- Tarek Heggy, Egyptian author
- Daniel Levy, Middle East Task Force, New America Foundation
- Jamal Zakout, advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad
- Nahum Barnea, journalist, winner of the Israel Prize for communication
Moderator: Dr John Bew, ICSR
16.30 Syria: Inside the Secret Revolution
- A conversation with Jane Corbin, BBC
Corbin’s recent Panaroma programme – Syria: Inside the Secret Revolution – documented the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown against its own people.
Moderator: Manar Rachwani, Atkin Fellow
17.00 Conference adjourned