21-22 November 2013

21-22 November 2013
Conference Organisers
Abdullah Mahdi from Iraq
Agat Shmuel from Israel
Amalia Ab Aziz from Malaysia
Aoife Lawrence from United Kingdom
Charlotte Bunemann from The Netherlands/Germany
Corinne Riley from Italy/USA
Driss Hafdi from Morocco
Fong Yuen Nicole Chan from Hong Kong
Isabel Thompson from UK/Bermuda
Jip Jordaan from The Netherlands
Jon Morten Steinveg from Norway
Kate Vincze from Hungary
Lilit Grigoryan from Armenia
Lydia Papageorgiou-George from Greece/Canada
Mine Köprülü from Turkey
Mohammad Fakhoury from Jordan
Nidal Alcalde from Palestine/Spain
Shahan Hussain from Bangladesh
Stephanie Steinberg from Germany
Talitha Jane White from Scotland
Razan Jabari from Palestine
Winston Yanting Cheung from Hong Kong
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Aims
The 2013 Middle East Conference, 1001 Middle Eastern Voices, aims to
promote international understanding and peace. Through a kaleidoscope of
different viewpoints and topics—from business ethics through sustainability to
arts and music—young people from all over the world will have the
opportunity to discover a fascinating region, without prejudices and beyond
stereotypical images. The Conference not only creates a ground for
communication and exchange, it also ignites the curiosity of young people to
pursue a deeper understanding and appreciation in the culture of the Middle
East.
The Conference organisers
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The Middle Eastern Students
Turkey
Morocco
Israel
Mine Koprulu
Driss Hafdi
Agat Shmuel
Kamer Bahar
Arda Ozcubukcu
Noam Gichon
Yemen
Avia Liberman
Siir Su Saydam
Yuval Peretz
Menekse MutluSmith
Shahar Yehzkel
Jordan
Palestine
Wed Al-Nood
Iran
Mohammad Fakhoury
Razan Jabari
Saif Youseftaha
Alaleh Naderi
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Syria
Libya
Miriam Naddaf
Reem Mislati
Lebanon
Abdul Hakam El
Mitshu
Egypt
Natasha Karam
Miriam Mourad
Tarek Reda Mohamed
Iraq
Zahra Vajihuddin
Abdullah Mahdi
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Programme
1001 Middle EasternVoices
AC Diploma Conference Period: 1001 Voices of the Middle East
November 22nd 2013
November
21st 2013
08:00
BREAKFAST WITH TUTORS IN DINING HALL
Zev Labinger:
Birds Bringing Peace to the Middle East
09:00
Venue:
Bradenstoke Hall
Break
10:15
Workshops 1
10:30
Oguzhan
Koprulu
Hana & Berend Jip & Enija
Camila &
Simar
Russia,
A Thousand In the Shoes
I fought in
America and Camels for
of Syrian
the Iran-Iraq
the Syrian
Your
Refugee
War
Crisis
Daughter
Women
Lilit & Nina
Anna
Kvittingen
The Middle
East in the
Media
The Syria
Crisis: a View
from Jordan
Yara al Wazir
Driss
Agat
Razan £
Ingvild
Rebecca
Islam and
Jerusalem- a
Water:
Creative
Politics:
Law, Media
meeting place Source of
Expression
Consequence
and Women
for three
Conflict or and Conflict
s of the Arab
religions
Cooperation? Resolution
Spring
Venue:
History 2
History 1
Maths 1
Maths 2
Economics1
Economics2
Geography
Anthropol
Marine Science
World
Religions
SLT
Capacity:
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
11:20
11:30
Dr Mustafa Baig: Islamic Law in non-Muslim Countries
Venue:
Bradenstoke Hall
12:30
14:00
Middle Eastern Market
Venue:
Arts Centre Glass Room
15:30
Venue:
Talking to the Wall (Performance by Sharon Aviv and Colum Sands)
Tythe Barn
16:45
17:30
18:30
Venue:
Dinner
Panel Discussion: Atlantic College Middle Eastern students
Arts Centre Glass Room
1001 Middle Eastern Voices
AC Diploma Conference Period: 1001 Voices of the Middle East
November 22nd 2013
November
22nd 2013
08:00
BREAKFAST WITH TUTORS IN DINING HALL
Andrew Vaughan: The Middle East as my home - perspectives of an oil and gas nomad
09:00
Venue:
Bradenstoke Hall
Break
10:00
Workshops 2
10:30
Kristo-Nagy Mustafa Baig Colum Sands Sharon Aviv
Islam and
Islamic Law
Violence
Songs
across
Borders
History 2
History 1
Maths 1
Maths 2
Capacity:
15
15
15
15
15
Zev Labinger
Vicky &
Dominique
Arabic class
Hristina
Water
Concerns
Emotions
and
Education
Teaching
Basic
Arabic
Belly
dancing
Geography
Anthropol
Marine
Science
World Rel
Tice dayroom
15
15
15
15
15
15
Dr Sophie Richter-Devroe:
Dr Sophie Richter-Devroe:
and
Orientalism
- Challenging
Stereotypical
Representations
Gender and Orientalism
- Challenging
Stereotypical
Representations
Gender
Bradenstoke Hall
12:30
Lunch
13:30
Islamic Prayer
Venue:
Workshops 3
Yara al
Wazir
Refugee
Law, Media
Law and
and
the
Women
UNRWA
Economics1 Economics2
Venue:
14:00
Anna
Kvittingen
Storytelling
Investment
for Conflict
or Injustice
Resolution
Venue:
11:30
Kristel
Tonstad
Arts Centre
Kristo-Nagy Mustafa Baig Colum Sands Sharon Aviv
Islam and
Islamic Law
Violence
Songs
across
Borders
Kristel
Tonstad
Anna
Kvittingen
Jip&Enija Zev Labinger
Syria
A Thosand
Storytelling
Investment Crisis: a Camels for
for Conflict
or Injustice View from
Your
Resolution
Jordan
Daughter
Venue:
History 2
History 1
Maths 1
Maths 2
Capacity:
15
15
15
15
Economics1 Economics2
15
15
Water
Concerns
Hana &
Berend
Oguzhan
Koprulu
Russia,
I fought in
America
the Iranand the
Iraq War
Syrian Crisis
Yihan & Julie
LiteratureKiterunner
Geography
Anthropol
SLT
World Rel
Marine Science
15
15
15
15
15
15:00
Plenary
Venue:
Bradenstoke Hall
Speaker Profiles
“The Middle-East as my home – perspectives of an oil and gas nomad”
By Andrew Vaughan
In the lecture I hope to bring a personal view of living
and working in the Middle East which may answer
some questions, debunk some myths and stimulate a
debate about the role of the oil-rich Middle East on
the global stage.
Andrew Vaughan is the Vice-President responsible
for Shell’s upstream businesses in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait
and Syria. In this role he is accountable for providing
governance and support for joint ventures that have
been formed between Shell and host government partners to develop oil and gas
reserves on behalf of the host nations. Andrew is also Shell Country Chair for Abu
Dhabi, in which role he represents the Royal Dutch Shell Group to the government of
Abu Dhabi.
Andrew started his career in the nuclear industry, designing and operating fuel
reprocessing plants. He moved to the oil and gas industry in 1981, initially working as
a petroleum engineer in the UK, both for Shell and an independent UK operator.
Rejoining Shell in 1992, he held a variety of technical and general management roles
in Syria, The Netherlands, Bangladesh, Egypt, Dubai and Kazakhstan before moving
to Abu Dhabi in 2013 to take up his current role.
Andrew is married with two children and enjoys music, skiing and travel with his
family.
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“Islamic law in non-Muslim countries”
By Dr Mustafa Baig
Islamic law or “Sharia” has featured extensively in the
media in recent years, usually in negative terms.
Consequently, debates around the role of “Sharia” in
the UK or in Europe have increased. Much of the
discussion is often misinformed or deliberately
misguiding. This lecture will provide a proper
understanding of the function of Islamic law in nonMuslim countries as set out in the actual texts of
Islamic law. As Muslims mainly lived under Muslim rule
historically, we will see what the traditional Muslim
scholars had to say about Muslims who lived outside
Muslim territory and whether or not, or what parts of
Islamic law applied to Muslims living under non-Muslim rule. Time permitting; we
will also see how the discussion is shifting in modern times where a quarter of the
entire Muslim population today lives in non-Muslim lands.
Dr Baig will also lead a workshop looking at a series of Islamic verdicts (fatwas)
written by Muslim scholars in response to questions asked by Muslims living in
contemporary non-Muslim countries. Workshops will cover a range of issues such as
worship, dietary rules, financial dealings, dress codes and relations with people of
other faiths. Participants will be invited to discuss the rulings and attempt to discover
the meanings, objectives and priorities of Islamic law. If time permits, there will be a
discussion on how responses to the same question might differ depending on the
school of thought or scholar responding.
Dr Mustafa Baig is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Exeter’s Institute
of Arab and Islamic Studies. He previously lectured at the University of Manchester
for two and a half years, where he also completed his PhD on Islamic law. His
principal research interests lie in the functioning Islamic jurisprudence under nonMuslim governance, looking at both classical Islamic law and issues concerning
contemporary Muslims living in the West. Dr Baig has also studied classical Islamic
texts for a number of years from traditional Muslim scholars and is the son of a wellknown Imam in the UK.
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“Gender and Orientalism: Challenging Stereotypical Representations”
By Dr. Sophie Richter-Devroe
This lecture provides an overview of major issues
that dominate the study and representations of
women and gender in the Middle East. Using
specific empirical case studies, my aim in this
lecture is to challenge some stereotypical
representations of Muslim women and women in
the Middle East (for example, a narrow focus on
the veil and/or Islam), trace where these
stereotypes are coming from (such as Orientalist
and/or colonial legacies), and provide some
context in which 'real' women in the Middle East
operate and strategise (such as national
movements, constant war, conflict and violence, and revolutions and uprisings).
Sophie Richter-Devroe is a lecturer in Gender and Middle East Studies at the Institute
of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter University, with a broad research interest in
gender theory and women’s activism in the Middle East. Her book manuscript entitled
How Women Do Politics: Peacebuilding, Resistance and Survival in Palestine won the
2012 National Women’s Studies Association/Illinois Press First Book Prize and will be
published by Illinois Press in 2014. She has published translations and reviews of
Arabic literary works, as well as several journal articles on Palestinian and Iranian
women’s activism. Her work also includes research on Palestinian refugees,
Palestinian cultural production, and the Naqab Bedouins.
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“Birds Bringing Peace to the Middle East”
By Zev Labinger
Birds know no borders, and therefore are the
perfect symbol to bring people together
behind a common cause of protecting our
shared environment. The Middle East is of
international importance for birds due to its
location at a “bottleneck” junction of three
continents. Over 500 million birds migrate
across this ancient route twice a year. The
Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, in partnership with many different
regional and international organizations, has developed a large variety of programs
over the past 30 years that focus on birds as a tool for environmental education,
nature conservation and grass-roots peacemaking. Activities range from developing
cutting-edge technology, such as satellite tracking of migrating birds, to cross-border
agricultural biological pest control, as well as bringing together international artists
to help protect endangered habitats.
I will lead a workshop discussing water related concerns in the Middle East. In the
war-torn region of the Middle East, few people discuss environmental issues and
even fewer understand the complex relationships between these and socio-political
issues. In this workshop we will concentrate on water-related matters within the
region, focusing on interrelated environmental, social and political factors. Specific
examples will be discussed, such as the proposed "Red-Dead Pipeline" (Red Sea to
Dead Sea). Participants will be encouraged to discuss these issues in terms of
broader concepts such as sustainability and environmental justice. Finally, we will
look at different ways individuals and organizations are working for change and
possibly come up with a few new ideas.
Zev Labinger is an ecologist and artist. He has been working in conservation for the
past 25 years in the United States and Middle East and has a BSc in Conservation
Biology from University of California, Davis (USA) and an MSc in Zoology from TelAviv University, Israel. Zev worked at the Israel Ornithological Center of Society for
the Protection of Nature in Israel for 12 years. He has published both scientific and
popular articles dealing with avian conservation, including a recent book Drawing
Inspiration from the Hula Valley (Labinger and Gorney 2011), which also includes his
artwork. His artwork has appeared in magazines, books and numerous exhibitions.
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“Investments or injustice? Corporate complicity in violations of international law in
the Middle East”
By Kristel Manal Tonstad
The past ten years have seen the area of
corporate social responsibility develop from an
orientation towards public relations to a focus
on detailed guidance on how companies can
and should avoid contributing to human rights
violations and other breaches of international
law. Investors are increasingly basing financial
decisions on corporate conduct, and activists
are drawing attention to the role of business in political turmoil and conflict.
Corporations can be held to account in courts of law for complicity in human rights
violations, and are, according to the UN Guiding Principles, called upon to respect
human rights in all their operations.
In her workshop, Tonstad will explain the UN framework regarding business and
human rights and other relevant developments. This will be used as a backdrop to
explore three cases of corporate contributions to violations of international law in the
Middle East: under occupation, during revolution, and in conflict. The cases include
business activities relating to the Wall in the occupied Palestinian territories, which in
2004 was already found to be in contravention of international humanitarian law and
human rights law. The other cases concern corporate engagement during the “Arab
Spring” and the war in Iraq.
Kristel Manal Tonstad works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo, Norway and
is of Norwegian and Iraqi descent. Her work has mainly been in the areas of business,
human rights and humanitarian affairs. She has worked for the International Law
and Policy Institute, consulted for the National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines
for Multinational Enterprises, and drafted portions of the Government White Paper
on “Corporate social responsibility in a global economy”. Her work includes analysis
of specific investments, including ones in the Middle East. She has experience working
with UNICEF in Central Asia, Jordan, and Haiti. Tonstad holds an MA in Public Policy
from Harvard University focusing on child protection in Iraqi war-zones. She has
studied Arabic in Damascus and Jerusalem, is pursuing further law studies while
working, and continues to be inspired by the ever-learning, service-oriented spirit of
the IB program.
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“Islam and Violence”
By Dr István Kristó-Nagy
Is Islam a “violent religion” or “the religion of
peace”? Does religion generate violence, or fights
against it? What attitudes to violence can we find in
Islam?
In the workshop we will seek to explore the answers
to these questions, going deeper than in debates
motivated by politics and ideologies. We will outline
the biological reasons for human violence, the role
religions play in legitimizing or delegitimizing
violence, and the historical evolution of militant and
quietist trends in the different Islamic sects.
Dr. István Kristó-Nagy received a Ph.D in Arabic
Studies from Université de Toulouse 2, Le Mirail,
(France) and Eötvös Lóránd University (Hungary).
Currently he is a lecturer in Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Arabic and
Islamic Studies of the University of Exeter. His main field of expertise is the intellectual
and social history of the formative period of Islam. His approach is comparative and
interdisciplinary and his focus has been on the evolution of the Islamicate political
thought and wisdom literature. He has recently published a monograph: La pensée
d’Ibn al-Muqaffaʽ. Un « agent double » dans le monde persan et arabe, Collection
“Studia Arabica”, Éditions de Paris, Versailles, 2013. He is also co-editor, with
Professor Robert Gleave, of a forthcoming book series, Legitimate and Illegitimate
Violence in Islamic Thought, Edinburgh University Press.
13
“A personal story of serving in the Iraqi army during the Iran-Iraq War”
By Oguzhan Köprülü
During this workshop I would like to share my
personal perspective on the Iran-Iraq War, having
served in the Iraqi army during the war for six
years. I will also be reflecting on my time as a
refugee in Turkey starting in 1986.
This workshop will also look at the changes Iraq
has experienced since the 1960s. I will be happy to
answer any questions concerning Iraq’s past and
current situation.
Mr. Oguzhan Köprülü was born in Kirkuk, Iraq in 1957. After graduating from
University in 1979, he was enlisted in the national military service for a mandatory
two years. In the military he specialized in artillery. During his second year in the
army, war broke out between Iraq and Iran. After fighting against Iran for six years,
Mr. Köprülü fled to Turkey as a refugee. Being ethnically Turkish, he was able to gain
citizenship after three years.
Mr. Köprülü is married with two children and currently lives in Turkey.
14
“Law, Media and Women in the Middle East – Caught between a Rock and a Hard
Place”
By Yara al Wazir
No one claims to be an expert about women in the Middle
East as much as Western media outlets. The casual
description of second-class citizens masks the reality of the
situation and impedes the struggle for gender equality.
Yara has first-hand experience of being a woman in the
Middle East from living in four countries in the region, and
visiting and interviewing women from 14 different cities
about their own struggles and gains. These interviews and
experiences led her to work in regional and international
media outlets to address the real issues that affect women
in the Middle East, from literacy to family and culture.
This workshop will cover Yara’s personal struggle as a
refugee, making it in the media industry, moving out of the region alone at 18 years
old, and finding inspiration to continue writing, all the while completing her degree
in Chemical and Environmental Engineering.
Yara al Wazir is an environmental and humanitarian activist. She is the founder of
The Green Initiative ME, an organisation that raises awareness about climate change
through art, and a developing partner of Sharek Stories, a project that promotes
intercultural dialogue and education through literature.
Born to Palestinian refugees, Yara has grown up everywhere between the Middle East
and Australia. As such, she has experienced the rich culture of the gulf and the great
seas of the south, which together form the perfect recipe for inspiration. With this,
she has defied the social and cultural norms by becoming a writer for many
international outlets, including MTV, The World Economic Forum, Bazaar Magazine
and even the UN. Her pieces revolve around the issues of social justice, especially the
plights of women in the Middle East.
15
“Songs across Borders”
By Colum Sands
This workshop will include my own experience
of growing up and living within a few miles of
the border in Ireland; songs across walls in
fields and cities; songs and stories from playing
in Berlin East and West in the 1970s and 80s;
and a song inspired by Vedran Smailovic, the
cellist of Sarajevo. This song caused Vedran to
come to the village where I live to play his cello
on a recording, and he liked County Down so
much that he stayed and now lives a few miles
from me in Warrenpoint. I will tell the story of a British soldier who decided to leave
the army after hearing one of my songs about Belfast and, of course, share songs
inspired by travels in the Middle East.
Colum Sands is a universal storyteller who draws on a long Irish tradition of poetic
musicality to weave songs for the world. He has performed in over thirty countries
and the power of his writing is further confirmed by countless cover recordings of his
songs including versions in German, Dutch, Danish and Hebrew. From portraits like
The Man with the Cap, to observations on the paranoia of difference like Whatever
you say, say nothing, “his songs cross borders on the map and in the mind” and all of
his work is crafted with sensitivity, insight and humour. Colum has also produced
around one hundred albums, working with young musicians and veterans like Joan
Baez and Pete Seeger. He has received a Living Tradition Award and was shortlisted
for three nominations for the 2009 Grammy Awards. He releases his ninth album,
“Turn the Corner,” in 2013. Together with the Israeli storyteller and songwriter
Sharon Aviv, Colum has also created the performance Talking to the Wall, Songs and
Stories from Ireland to the Middle East and Beyond.
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“Storytelling as a tool for communication and conflict resolution”
By Sharon Aviv
Storytelling is a powerful tool for
communication and conflict resolution that
has worked for thousands of years to bring
people together and help them experience
reality from different angles. This is an
interactive workshop that leads the
participants to tell and listen to stories and
create their way of looking at "the other
side".
Sharon Aviv is an Israeli storyteller and theatre creator, a graduate of the Visual
Theatre College in Jerusalem and a winner of the Israeli Artists Committee Creators
Award. She is the founder and manager of "Gollem" – The Multidisciplinary Center
for Storytelling in Tel Aviv, where she performs, lectures and leads workshops for
individuals, groups, organizations and academic institutions throughout Israel and
around the world. She believes in stories not only as an art, but also as a way to
improve communication and conflict resolution. Sharon's school of storytelling offers
a multidisciplinary program of courses, workshops and special projects for teachers,
therapists, group-leaders and managers.
Together with the Irish songwriter Colum Sands, Sharon has also created the
performance “Talking to the Wall, Songs and Stories from Ireland to the Middle
East and Beyond".
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The Irish songwriter Colum Sands and the Israeli storyteller and songwriter Sharon
Aviv have created the performance Talking to the Wall, Songs and Stories from
Ireland to the Middle East and Beyond. In the performance that has brought hope
and inspiration to audiences from Belfast to Jerusalem through the art of song and
storytelling, Sands and Aviv weave ancient wisdom with humour and humanity to
provide new and refreshing perspectives on that which divides people and, more
importantly, on that which can bring them together.
“Did you see me in the shadows of ancient Greece and Rome
And across the years where men of war made rubble of my home
It makes no difference where or when, New York or Afghanistan
While force remains the language, I'll never understand.
(Peace is a very complicated word, maybe that is why there is no peace in the world,
but for me peace means love)*
I am the child who's old too soon yet hope lives near my door
For growing up can be a way of growing young once more
And love will stoop to conquer minds and weapons fierce and wild
When people learn to see again with the wonder of a child.”
(*)The wishes in the song are based on answers children gave us in workshops, when
they were asked about peace and what it means to them.
Performed in the Arts Centre on November 21st 15.30pm
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The Middle East
Bite-Size
A multi-sensory
Marketplace
Thursday, 21 November
2-3:30 p.m. in the Glass
Room
At Thursday’s Marketplace/Bazaar/Suq/Souq in
the Arts Centre, themed stalls will present Middle
Eastern fashion, music, visual arts, mathematics,
spices, geography and more. Each stall will have
“bite-sized” information and small tasks or games
to challenge and entertain. Adding Oriental flair,
Turkish coffee and tea will be served before and
during performances by a belly dancer and a
magician!
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Student Workshops
Jip Jordaan
Camila Puig
Enija Haldimann
Simar Deol
A Thousand Camels for Your
Daughter
In the Shoes of Syrian Refugee
Women
This workshop will discuss what it is like
being a foreigner in the Middle East, both the
good and the bad. We will discuss
stereotypes (from both sides), language
barriers, security, the role of gender in
society and the distortions of media. We will
analyse these topics mainly through the use
of pictures and anecdotes. The aim of this
workshop is to illuminate perceptions and
address misperceptions of the Middle East by
foreigners and to discuss differences and
similarities between our cultures.
We want to focus on how Syrian refugee
women are treated in refugee camps: how
they are sold to local men, constantly
sexually harassed, and deprived of the most
basic human rights. We will start with hard
facts on the women’s situation using images,
videos and statistics. Once we have
everyone’s attention, there will be an
interactive activity in which students will put
themselves in the shoes of a victim or close
relative and write a diary entry of what they
think they are going through. This is to help
participants to empathize with these families
and realise how grave the situation really is.
We will conclude by showing real
testimonies of victims and family members
and have students compare these to their
own diary entries.
20
Hristina Gvozdenovic
Hana Bracale
Berend Sauer
Belly Dancing
Russia, America and the Syrian
Crisis
Belly dance is an oriental art form that
focuses on relaxed, natural isolations of
muscles. People are unfamiliar with its
numerous health benefits, among them
prevention of back pain, stress reduction
and fast calorie-burning. Come to my
workshop to celebrate femininity and enjoy
this beautiful form of movement! Boys are
welcome as well, since there are many
males who do belly dancing—some even
better than women!
The Arabic Ab initio class
Arabic Ab initio
This workshop will explore the on-going
armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal
to the Ba’ath government and those who
want to oust them. We will firstly explore
how the conflict has unfolded over the past
year and the impact that this has had on
people living in Syria as the international
community. We will then explore the conflict
from the perspectives of the American and
Russian governments, who have been heavily
involved in the Syrian crisis since 2011.
Aspects such as the abuse of human rights,
the use of chemical weaponry and the
reactions of Presidents Putin and Obama will
be explored in depth. After contextualizing
the conflict we will have a lively group debate
and discuss potential solutions for promoting
peace and avoiding further conflict.
All of the awesomeness of Arabic, without
the stress of failing your IB! Learn basic
introduction and conversation skills, and
how to write your name and other words in
gorgeous Arabic script.
21
Lilit Grigoryan
Victoria Walker
Nina Melkonyan
Dominique Shepers
Jip Jordaan
How
is the Middle East Portrayed
Enija Haldimann
in the Media?
The media today portray the Middle East as
terroristic and focus purely on the worst,
most sensational parts of the conflicts. In
this workshop we will focus on the Iraqi
War, Syrian Conflict and Israeli-Palestinian
Conflict, contrasting their realities with the
inaccurate portrayals coming from various
mass media. We will then evaluate media
messages to identify and acknowledge the
ways media corporations distort the truth.
Emotions and Education in the
Middle East
Water, food, shelter, clothes: all essential to
the lives of children, all offering a sense of
security. But are these basic needs enough?
Too often, children’s emotional needs are
forgotten—needs which, ignored, often
cause the most damage. Our workshop will
discuss the psychological effects that war
has on Middle Eastern children and what
the long-term consequences will be. We will
also discuss the role of education in the
region and explore the beneficial and
detrimental effects that education in the
Middle East can have.
Rebecca Brown
Creative Expression and Conflict
Resolution
This workshop will look at the ways in which
various contemporary Middle Eastern artists
(such as Palestinian poet Naomi Shihab Nye
and Israeli singer/songwriter Rona Kenan)
use art as a means of conflict resolution.
22
Driss Hafdi
Islam and Politics: Consequences
of the Arab Spring
In this session, we will discuss the
consequences the Arab Spring has had on
North African countries, as well as Syria. We
will look at how religion is perceived by the
population, how it has been forced onto the
population from a legislative point of view
and what actions are being taken by the
freshly
elected,
Islamic-oriented
governments. Also, we will examine the
perspectives of both local and foreign
media toward the newly elected
governments.
Agat Shmuel
Jerusalem- a Meeting Place for
Three Religions
Each year, thousands of people representing
different religions from all over the world
come to Israel, to the ancient city of
Jerusalem. Why?
Jerusalem, or its Arabic name ‘Al Kuds’, is a
6000-year-old city of vital importance to
Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Because of
its significance, this city has been the focal
point of ongoing wars and conflicts.
Jerusalem has three sites that are each
particularly important to one religion: the
Western Wall (Judaism), Al-Aqsa Mosque
(Islam) and Church of the Holy Sepulchre
(Christianity). In the workshop I will tell the
story behind this amazing city that buzzes
with modern energy amidst its ancient
history every single day, and how it brings
together people from such a wide variety of
places and backgrounds. I will describe
these holy sites and explore why each is so
important and significant for its respective
religion.
23
Razan Jabari
Ingvild Stavem
Water in the Middle East: A
Source of Conflict or
Cooperation?
Water is an element that we use every day
without thinking about its availability. The
scarcity of water in the Middle East has
caused conflicts. In recent years countries
have signed treaties and vowed to work
together, yet it is predicted that future
conflicts will be over water, rather than land;
thus the ‘water problem’ is one that the
Middle East, like the rest of the world, will
soon face with greater urgency. This
workshop aims to look at water as an area of
cooperation in the Middle East, both today
and historically. We will introduce Bolina, an
organization that runs a project in Jordan to
convert salty sea-water into usable fresh
water. The Middle East is host to this effort
and other new technologies intended to
create more sources of water, and we will
examine what progress is being made.
Yihan Xu
Julie Yuldasheva
Literature Works which Reflect
Issues in the Middle East
Based upon the books: ‘The Kite Runner’ and
‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled
Hosseini.
This workshop will discuss and reflect upon
past and present situations of conflict in
Afghanistan, with special focus on issues
concerning treatment of women and
children. We want to raise students’
awareness of the Middle East with the help
of these two well-known modern books
about the region and to look at how
different elements, ranging from conflict to
religion, have affected human nature
there.
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Notes
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