Event

Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023 and Israel’s following offensive on Gaza, effectively reshaped the Middle East. Since then, this already volatile region  has been further destabilized by war and conflict, its geopolitical map redrawn and its peoples subjected to immense suffering.

At the heart of these upheavals lies the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thirty-three years after the Oslo Accords, a two-state solution appears more distant than ever, and prospects for a peaceful resolution remain bleak.

Against this backdrop, NUPI is hosting the symposium "What Now? Israel, Palestine, and a Region in Crisis" on 22–23 April.

The symposium is organised by Frode Saugestad in collaboration with NUPI and supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation. In 2009, Saugestad organised "What Now for the Middle East? 15 Years After the Oslo Accords", a three-day international conference on the Middle East at Litteraturhuset in Oslo. The conference brought together leading politicians, researchers, journalists and authors to discuss the historical consequences of the Oslo Accords, and was also supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation as well as the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The symposium will be recorded and available on NUPI's Youtube channel after the event.

Participation is open for registered participants only. Participants are expected to take active part in the discussion. To participate, please contact NUPI at seminar@nupi.no. 

See the recordings of the panels here:

Introduction and  panel 1:

Panel 2:

Panel 3:

Panel 4:

Panel 5:

 

PROGRAM:

DAY 1 (April 22):

09.45-10.00: Opening by NUPI Director Kari M. Osland, and keynote speech, Frode Saugestad

10.00-10.45: Panel 1: "Where and what is Palestine today?"

• Tine Gade, NUPI (moderator)
• Nadim Khoury, University of Inland Norway
• Alaa Tartir, Geneva Graduate Institute
• Dana El Kurd, University of Richmond

11.00-11.45: Panel 2: "Where and what is Israel today?"

• Nikolai Kleivan, Morgenbladet (moderator)
• Hanne Eggen Røislien, Norwegian Defence Command and Staff College
• Mairav Zonszein, International Crisis Group (via Teams)
• Dahlia Scheindlin, The Century Foundation (via Teams)

11.45-13.00: LUNCH

13.00-13.45: Panel 3: “Where and what is Hamas today?"

• Erik Skare, NUPI, (moderator) in conversation with:
• Jeroen Gunning, King’s College London
• Muhammad Shehada, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)

DAY 2 (23. APRIL):

09.00-09.45: Panel 4: "Quo vadis? On the one-state-, two-state, and other solutions"

• Kristian Berg Harpviken, Norwegian Nobel Institute/PRIO (moderator)
• Jørgen Jensehaugen (PRIO)
• Geir O. Pedersen (former MFA)
• Sigurd Falkenberg Mikkelsen (NRK)

10.00-10.45: Panel 5: "International Israel/Palestine: On international stakeholders and diplomacy"

• Kari Osland, NUPI (moderator)
• Mara Rudman, University of Virginia
• Charlotte Lysa, NUPI
• Beth Oppenheim, European Council on Foreign Relations

10.45 - End