Round-table on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: "The European Union and Occupied Palestinian Territories: state-building without a state"

Chair: Prof. Dr Tobias SCHUMACHER

Speakers: Dr Dimitris BOURIS, Ms Lily HABASH-HILAL, Dr Anis NARCOUR, Prof. Dr Sharon PARDO

The political developments in Israel and Palestine, as well as US Secretary of State John KERRY's efforts to broker a framework agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, render it imperative to discuss the EU’s position, role, and actions in the context of what is left of the Middle East Peace Process. Since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the EU has invested vast amounts of money in the Palestinian state-building and has become the main donor of the Palestinian Authority. The EU has taken initiatives on different fronts, including diplomatic activities and reform in security sector and judiciary sector, in order to promote a two-state solution. Yet, in spite of these efforts, a Palestinian state has yet to materialize and the possibility of a two-state solution is becoming more distant due to several factors on the ground.

The aim of this ENP Chair Round-table in the framework of the Natolin Neighbourhood Days, was to provide participants with a unique opportunity to learn about the EU’s role in the Palestinian state-building and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as offer them insights on the limits and potentials of the EU’s involvement in the Middle East Peace Process. On the occasion of the publication of a recent monograph on the same subject by Dr Dimitris BOURIS, ENP Chair Research Fellow, this round-table brought together leading academics and practitioners who engaged with different aspects of the EU’s involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general and in the Palestinian state-building in particular.

This event was free of charge and open to the public, but due to limited space, registration was required by sending an email to maja.olszewska [at] coleurope.eu, by Wednesday, 2 April 2014.

About the speakers:

• Prof. Dr Tobias SCHUMACHER is Chairholder of the European Neighbourhood Policy Chair at the College of Europe (Natolin campus) in Warsaw, Poland, and an Associate Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for International Studies (CEI-IUL) at the University Institute of Lisbon;
• Dr Dimitris BOURIS is Research Fellow at the European Neighbourhood Policy Chair, College of Europe (Natolin campus);
• Ms Lily HABASH-HILAL is currently working as a Senior Institutional Development Expert at UNDP-Libya;
• Dr Anis NACROUR is a French diplomat and currently Acting Head of Delegation of the EU to Syria;
• Prof. Dr Sharon PARDO is a Jean Monnet Chair ad personam in European Studies and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), as well as the Chair of the National Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence – the Centre for the Study of European Politics and Society (CSEPS) and the Bologna Training Centre at BGU.

The full biographies of the speakers can be downloaded here.