MARCH 1 | Gershon Baskin, Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information
"Is Israeli-Palestinian Peace Possible? Obstacles & Opportunities" 10:30 a.m. | West Hall 135 | Tempe campus of Arizona State University
"The Israeli Palestinian Conflict & the New Middle East: Is Peace Possible?" 1:30 p.m.| CLCC 254 | West campus of Arizona State University
Gershon Baskin moved to Israel from the United States in the late 1970s, and worked with Jews and Arabs within Israel until the first intifada, when he began promoting dialogue and opportunities for cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Following ten years of work in the field of Jewish-Arab relations within Israel, in Interns for Peace, the Ministry of Education and as Executive Director of the Institute for Education for Jewish-Arab Coexistence (established by the Israeli Ministry of Education and the Prime Minister’s Office) he founded the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) in 1988 - the only joint Israeli-Palestinian public policy think tank in the world.
In recognition of his peacemaking efforts, Dr. Baskin was ordained Cavaliere della Ordine della Stella Solidarieta Italiana (Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity) in 2007 by the Italian Republic and the Italian President. His international efforts have been additionally recognized thorugh numerous other awards including; Eliav-Sartawi Prize for Middle East Journalism, Search for Common Ground (2005 and 2007); World Movement for Democracy—Democracy and Peace Tribute of Courage (2004); Turkish Foreign Policy Institute’s International Relations Prize for Peace (2004); and the Annual Histadrut Award for Peace and Coexistence (1996).
IPCRI recognizes the “two-states for two peoples” solution as the ultimate fulfillment of the national strategic and security interests of the two peoples. IPCRI therefore recognizes the rights of the Jewish people and the Palestinian people to fulfill their national interests within the framework of achieving national self-determination within their own states and by establishing peaceful relations between two democratic states living side-by-side. Baskin has published several books in the Hebrew, English and Arabic press on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has received international awards for his work such as the Histadrut Prize for Peace in 1996.
Sponsored by the Center for Jewish Studies and co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict; School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies faculty of Religious Studies; and New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences