Middle East Upheavals and What it Means for Palestine

Middle East Upheavals and What it Means for Palestine
Wednesday, November 27 (6:30 – 8:00 pm)
Telus Building Room 217/219
Corner of 111 Street & 87 Avenue, University of Alberta Campus
(Click here for map)

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The past three years have seen a historic shift in the politics of the Middle East. Starting with the wave of uprisings of the so-called “Arab Spring” which began in December of 2010 and continuing through the ongoing civil war in Syria and the military coup d’etat in Egypt which overthrew the government of Mohamed Morsi.

How has the upheaval in the Middle East impacted the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and what does the new reality in the region mean for the latest round of US-brokered “peace talks” between Israel and the Palestinian Authority?

Come hear from two experts, Dr. Ghada Ageel and Dr. Mojtaba Mahdavi, on the new Middle East reality and the prospects for Palestine, including a first-hand account of the new reality in Gaza following the Egyptian coup based on Dr. Ageel’s three-month visit to Gaza earlier this year.

About the Speakers:

Dr. Ghada Ageel is a visiting professor at  the University of Alberta political science department, an independent scholar, an activist and a member of Faculty4Palestine-Alberta and the Palestine Solidarity Network. A third generation Palestinian refugee, Dr. Ageel was born and raised in the Khan Younis Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip. She earned her BA in Education from the Islamic University/Gaza in 1999. In the same year, she won the Jerusalem Studies’ Scholarship of the University of Exeter in Britain, where she received her Masters and PhD degrees in Middle East Politics.

Dr. Ageel worked for several local and international organizations. Most recently, she worked last summer for the US-based Institute for Middle East Understanding, acting as their communications manager in the Gaza Strip.  Her work has been published in many newspapers and journals worldwide, including The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Journal for Palestine Studies and many Arabic newspapers throughout the Middle East.

Mojtaba Mahdavi is Associate Professor of Political Science and Middle East studies at University of Alberta. His recent books include Towards the Dignity of Difference? Neither End of History nor Clash of Civilizations (co-edited) and Under the Shadow of Khomeinism: Problems and Prospects for Democracy in Post-revolutionary Iran (forthcoming). He is currently working on two book projects: Post-Islamism in Context: Neo-Shariati Discourse, and Political Sociology of Post-revolutionary Iran. His contributions have appeared in several refereed journals and essays, edited volumes and interviews. He is the recipient of several awards and grants including the SSHRC, the IDRC Canada Partnerships Grant, Killam Research Operating Grants, and the Worldwide University Network Grant. His research interests lie in social movements, Islamism and post-Islamism, modern Islamic political thought, democratization in the Muslim World, and international politics of the Middle East.