News archive 2008

Palestinian Ambassador visits King’s

28 Nov 2008, PR 251/08

The Palestinian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Professor Manuel Hassassian gave a talk at King’s College London yesterday in which he discussed possibilities for change and progress in the Israel-Palestine peace process from a Palestinian perspective.

The talk was given on invitation by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), a newly established centre within the Department of War Studies at the College.

The Ambassador expressed his concern over the lack of progress in the peace process and the widely held misconception that Palestine did not recognise the state of Israel, and emphasised the need for consensus within the Palestinian national movement to address this.

Commenting on the election of Barack Obama, he said the election had brought a ‘wind of change’ to America and the world, and the Palestinian people were hopeful about Obama’s presidency as he seemed to understand the crucial importance of a resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict for the entire Middle East region.

Professor Hassassian also stressed the urgency with which the peace process needed to be driven forward to avoid further violence and conflict in the Middle East that could emerge if frustrations over the current situation were being ignored.

Dr Peter Neumann, the director of the ICSR, said: ‘The Ambassador gave a unique insight into the evolving peace process in the Middle East. He really helped us better understand the Palestinian perspective, both in relation to Israel but also regarding the continuing division within the Palestinian camp.’

Professor Hassassian has been the Ambassador of the Palestinian people to the UK since 2005. The Ambassador is also a Professor of International Politics and Relations and former Vice President of Bethlehem University. He is a member of the editorial board of the Arab Political Science Journal, a board member of the Center of Non-Violence in Palestine, and also a member of the Arab Association for Human Rights.

The ICSR is a unique partnership in which King's College London, the University of Pennsylvania, the Regional Centre for Conflict Prevention Amman (Jordan) and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (Israel) are equal stakeholders. The Centre was launched in January 2008 and this event is part of the Atkin Fellowship for Arab-Israeli Dialogue, one of the Centre’s many projects.

The event was chaired by Amal Abusrour, ICSR Atkin Fellow representing Palestine.



Notes to editors

King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher 2008) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has 19,700 students from more than 150 countries, and 5,400 employees. King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. The College is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of approximately £450 million. An investment £500 million has been made in the redevelopment of its estate.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences, the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres, a total unsurpassed by any other university.



Further information
Melanie Haberstroh, International Public Relations Officer,
Public Relations Department, King's College London
Email: mailto:melanie.haberstroh@kcl.ac.uk Tel: 020 7848 3076



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This information is provided by the Public Relations Department
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