Past Event
In-Person
Seminar

Arabs & Israelis: From October 7 to Peacemaking

Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

Join authors Shai Feldman, Khalil Shikaki, and Abdel Monem Said Aly from the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, as they explore the roots and aftermath of the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, the subsequent war, and how these events could pave a way to peace between Palestinians and Israelis. The discussion will revisit insights of their landmark textbook, Arabs and Israelis: Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East. Opening remarks will be provided by Belfer Center Director Meghan O'Sullivan, and the conversation will be moderated by MEI Visiting Scholar David Patel. 

Registration is required. This event is open to HUID holders only. 
 

Arabs & Israelis: From October 7 to Peacemaking

Abdel Monem Said Aly

Abdel Monem Said Aly is the chairman of the Board and CEO of Al Masry Al Youm Publishing House in Cairo, and the former chairman of the Board, CEO, and director of the Regional Center for Strategic Studies in Cairo. He has served as president of Al Ahram Center for Political & Strategic Studies in Cairo, chairman of the Board and CEO of Al Ahram Newspaper and Publishing House, and was a member of the Board at Al Ahram Institutions and the director of Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. He was also a research fellow at both the Brookings Institute and the Belfer Center at Harvard University. In 2014, he founded The Gulf Arab States Institute in Washington. He served as a Senator in the Egyptian Shura Council and has published books, articles, and chapters on world systems, Arab relations, European integration, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Egypt’s political system, national security, and arms control. He contributes regularly to newspapers and media forums. His most recent publications are State and Revolution in Egypt: The Paradox of Change and Politics (Brandeis University, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, January 2012), and Arabs and Israelis: Conflict and Peace Making in the Middle East (London, MacMillan & Belgrave), co-authored with Shai Feldman and Khalil Shikaki. He obtained his BA from Cairo University and his MA and PhD in political science from Northern Illinois University.

Shai Feldman

Shai Feldman is the Raymond Frankel Chair in Israeli Politics and Society at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies and Professor of Politics at Brandeis University. From 2005 to 2019, Shai was the founder and Crown Family Director of the Crown Center. From 1997 to 2005, he served as head of Tel Aviv University’s Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies. He was a senior research associate at the Jaffee Center since its establishment in late 1977. In 2019-2022, he served as President of Sapir College in Sha’ar Hanegev, Israel. Since 1997, he has also served as Board Associate of Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. In 2001-2003, Shai served as a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters Shai’s numerous publications include six books, the most recent of which is Arabs and Israelis: Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East, with Abdel Monem Said Aly and Khalil Shikaki (second edition, London: Bloomsbury, 2022). He holds a PhD in political science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Khalil Shikaki

Khalil Shikaki is a professor of political science, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in Ramallah, and member of the steering committee of the Arab Barometer. He is also a senior fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. He finished his Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University in 1985. A world-renowned expert on Palestinian public opinion and a widely published author, he has conducted, since 1993, hundreds of public opinion polls among Palestinians and dozens of joint Palestinian-Israeli polls. He taught at several Palestinian and American universities including al-Najah University, Birzeit University, the University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee), the University of South Florida (Tampa), the University of Utah, and the University of Michigan. Together with Yaacov Shamir, Khalil co-authored Public Opinion in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Public Imperative During the Second Intifada, with Yaacov Shamir (Indiana University Press, 2010). His most recent publications include Arabs and Israelis: Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022, second edition) with Abdel Monem Said Aly and Shai Feldman.