Summary
Throughout the 2023–2024 academic year, the Carr Center has presented numerous in-person and virtual events where our guest speakers and experts have grappled with the events that continue to unfold between Israel and Palestine. Presenting viewpoints from both sides, these conversations have sparked deep discussion and reflection amongst our guest speakers and Harvard Kennedy School faculty, fellows, and students. Below, you can explore each of the Israel–Palestine events we have held this year.
Israel and Gaza and Its Repercussions on American Campuses
The violence in Israel and Gaza has heightened tensions worldwide—including on college campuses across America. With both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine students facing threats and several instances of both antisemitic and anti-Arab rhetoric, this period has sparked debate as to how institutions of higher education can ensure that college campuses remain places of safety.
The Carr Center welcomed discussions in this topic across two events. The first, on January 25, 2024, featured Peter Beinart, a professor of journalism and political science at The Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He is also the editor at large of Jewish Currents, a nonresident fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace and a MSNBC political commentator. He has written three books: “The Good Fight,” “The Icarus Syndrome” and “The Crisis of Zionism.” Carr Center Faculty Director Mathias Risse engaged with Beinart on wide range of topics, mostly around the basic notions in this debate, such as “Zionism,” “Anti-Semitism,” “apartheid,” and “settler colonialism.”
On April 3, 2024, the second event in this series featured Rabbi David Wolpe, the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple who previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and UCLA. He has been named The Most Influential Rabbi in America b ɲɱ and one of the 50 Most Influential Jews in the World b The Jerusalem Post, and twice named one of the 500 Most Influential People in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Mathias Risse discussed topics with Rabbi Wolpe that included the role of faith in politics, different notions of anti-Semitism and what motivates them, generational changes in understandings of anti-Semitism, and current developments on campuses generally and at Harvard in particular.
The Role of International Courts in the Gaza Conflict
A lunchtime discussion with Kenneth Roth, Kathryn Sikkink, and Salma Waheedi on March 28, 2024, analyzed the current cases on Israel and Palestine that have been brought before both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
Kenneth Roth is the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, one of the world's leading international human rights organizations, which operates in more than 90 countries. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch in 1987, Roth served as a federal prosecutor in New York and for the Iran-Contra investigation in Washington, DC. He has written extensively on a wide range of human rights abuses, devoting special attention to issues of international justice, counterterrorism, the foreign policies of the major powers, and the work of the UN.
Kathryn Sikkink works on international norms and institutions, transnational advocacy networks, the impact of human rights law and policies, and transitional justice. Her publications include The Hidden Face of Rights: Toward a Politics of Responsibilities and Evidence for Hope: Making Human Rights Work in the 21st Century.
Salma Waheedi is a Lecturer on Law and Executive Director of the Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World (PLSMW) at Harvard Law School. She is also the Religion and Public Life Fellow in Conflict and Peace at the Harvard Divinity School and an affiliated faculty of the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School. Waheedi’s research and legal practice focus on gender, social and economic justice, comparative constitutional law, Islamic law, and human rights, with extensive expertise in the Middle East and North Africa.
A Conversation with Francesca Albanese
In a virtual conversation with UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese on February 12, 2024, we explored Albanese’s perspective on the current situation in the Gaza area as well as her experiences working on the protection of Palestinian refugees and migrants. Francesca Albanese is the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory, an Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, and a Senior Advisor on Migration and Forced Displacement for the think tank Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), where she co-founded the Global Network on the Question of Palestine (GNQP), a coalition of renowned professional and scholars engaged in/on Israel/Palestine.
In a conversation with Faculty Director Mathias Risse, Albanese explored how certain concepts from international law, such as “occupation,” “apartheid,” and “genocide,” applied to the situation in and around Gaza.
A Day in the Life of Abed Salama with Nathan Thrall
On October 23, 2023, the Carr Center hosted a book talk with author Nathan Thrall in discussion about his latest book, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama, moderated by Carr Center Senior Fellow, Kenneth Roth. A Day in the Life of Abed Salama explores the story of Milad, a 5-year-old who is excited for his school trip to a theme park on the outskirts of Jerusalem, but tragedy awaits: his bus is involved in a horrific accident. His father, Abed, rushes to the chaotic site, only to find Milad has already been taken away. Abed sets off on a journey to learn Milad's fate, navigating a maze of physical, emotional, and bureaucratic obstacles he must face as a Palestinian.
Interwoven with Abed's odyssey are the stories of Jewish and Palestinian characters whose lives and pasts unexpectedly converge: a kindergarten teacher and a mechanic who rescue children from the burning bus; an Israeli army commander and a Palestinian official who confront the aftermath at the scene of the crash; a settler paramedic; ultra-Orthodox emergency service workers; and two mothers who each hope to claim one severely injured boy.
Nathan Thrall is the author of A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy and The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine. His essays, reviews, and reported features have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, the London Review of Books, and The New York Review of Books and have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Human Rights 101: Examining the Current Human Rights Situation in Israel/Palestine
Carr Center senior fellow Kenneth Roth joined the Carr Center on October 23, 2023, in conversation with Faculty Director Mathias Risse on the current state of human rights in Gaza and the West Bank as conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples continues to escalate.
A Story from Gaza: A Breakfast Conversation with Atta Khaled
In a breakfast conversation on April 19, 2024, human rights activist Atta Khaled shared his story with an audience of Harvard Kennedy School faculty and students. Like many in Gaza, Khaled faced considerable adversity before a long journey to the U.S., and he shared his tale of surviving 46 days in Gaza during the war before making it out and offered his unique insights on what it means to be a resident of Gaza now.
A Conversation with Derek Penslar and Tarek Masoud
In this conversation on April 1, 2024, Derek Penslar and Tarek Masoud discussed their experiences as commentators on the violence in Gaza. As both members and critics of their respective communities, both speakers examined how their unique positions have affected them during the current moment.
Derek Penslar is the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History. He is the director of undergraduate studies within the department and directs Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies. Penslar is a resident faculty member at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) and is also affiliated with Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He is also the co-chair of Harvard’s Presidential Task force on Combatting Anti-Semitism.
Tarek Masoud is the Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Governance at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is the co-editor of the Journal of Democracy of the National Endowment for Democracy, and serves as the Faculty Director of the Kennedy School's Middle East Initiative and the Initiative on Democracy in Hard Places. Throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, Masoud has organized numerous events under the general heading of “Middle East Dialogues” on the situation in Gaza and beyond.