event

Navigating Discourses on Israel and Palestine: Civic Space, Expression, and Dialogue in Challenging Times

Thu. November 30th, 2023
Live Online

Public discourse on Palestine and Israel is often contentious. However, since the Hamas attacks on October 7 and the subsequent, ongoing military response from Israel, the violence has spurred particularly intense debate — as well as dialogue and deliberation –– in civil society, college campuses, social media platforms, and boardrooms. For some observers, the debates have also sharpened questions about the assumptions, points of departure, and appropriate norms of discourse in discussions about the conflict. What makes discussions of the situation in Israel and Gaza so contentious, and what can we learn about the role of constructive debate and deliberation in challenging times? 

Join the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace for a conversation about free speech in times of conflict with Tino Cuéllar, Yael Berda, Daniel Levy, and Suha Salman Mousa. The event will be moderated by Julia Ioffe of Puck News.

event speakers

Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar

President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar is the tenth president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. A former justice of the Supreme Court of California, he has served three U.S. presidential administrations at the White House and in federal agencies, and was the Stanley Morrison Professor at Stanford University, where he held appointments in law, political science, and international affairs and led the university’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Yael Berda

Yael Berda is an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at Hebrew University and a nonresident fellow with the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her research focuses on the way bureaucracy shapes politics and how mundane and routine practices of the state determine citizenship, sovereignty, and social power, with a focus on states that succeeded British colonial rule. Berda was a practicing human rights lawyer, representing in military and district courts as well as the Supreme Court in Israel.

Daniel Levy

Daniel Levy is the President of the U.S. / Middle East Project. He was previously director for the Middle East and North Africa at the European Council on Foreign Relations, an advisor in the Israeli Prime Minister's office, and a member of the Israeli peace negotiating team.

Suha Salman Mousa

Suha Salman Mousa is the executive director of Mossawa Center, the Advocacy Center for Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, which promotes Palestinian Arab rights and a democratic society. She manages and develops Mossawa’s parliamentary, legal, international, and media advocacy for advancing the rights of Palestinian citizens. She also focuses on strengthening community work. In recent years, she led the initiative to establish Friends of Mossawa in the USA, promoting the center’s work abroad. She holds an MBA degree from Haifa University and has fulfilled multiple leadership and management roles in a variety of organizations.

Julia Ioffe

Julia Ioffe is a writer for and founding partner of the media company Puck. She previously reported on politics and world affairs for The Atlantic.