in just a moment we'll go live to the senate for the pro forma session. no work is scheduled for today.. live to the senate floor october 16, 2015. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable shelley moore capito, a senator from the state of west virginia, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g.hatch, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until monday,

>> every weaken the c-span networks feature programs on politics, non-fiction books and american history. saturday, 8:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, editorial cartoonists describe their experience covering the george w. bush administration. sunday afternoon at 4:45 an event on norring life and political career of former british prime minister margaret thatcher, on what would have been her 90th birthday. beginning at 11 on c-span booktv, the texas book festival from austin, featuring interviews with hw brand and his

latest book on president reagan, harriet washington on how we can catch mental illness and dennis ross. coverage continues on sunday at noon, michael weiss on terror group isis. then a discussion on art firm intelligence with authors john markov and you luisa hall. and also on president lyndon and ladybird johnson. american history tv on c-span3, saturday afternoon just before 5:00, a historian on relationship between president richard nixon and shah of iran and the effect on foreign policy. sunday evening at 6:40 george mason university history professor on the confederate flag on relationship to slave very. get the complete schedule on c-span.org. next week hillary clinton will testify before the house

select committee on benghazi. that committee is investigating the 2012 attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. the former secretary of state says it's a partisan effort to damage her presidential campaign. the hearing competentes underway 10 a.m. eastern on october 22nd. you can see it life on c-span3, hear on on c-span radio and see it on c-span.org. yesterday a discussion held on israeli-palestinian conflict. we hear from the palestinian liberation organization chief representative to the u.s. and former officials from the george w. bush administration. it is about 90 minutes. >> good morning. my name is rhonda facne, on the board of director on national council of u.s.-arab relations. pleasure to welcome you all here this morning what i believe is the most timely topics today in

light of what is going on right now in the middle east. the title of our panel today is the palestinian future and i would venture to say that it is best we put a question mark after that the because i am not clearly sure what the path forward is in light of the current events. luckily we have expert panelists today who will answer some of those questions. many of the questions have to do with what is the palestinian authority dog right now and we're proud to have the ambassador, for the palestinian liberation organization who i had pleasure to work with over the past few years. i venture to say he is if not the best the best rep l tiff for the palestinians here and around the country. we have pleasure of dr. jim

zogby, president of the arab-american institute but will help us understand not only what arab-americans are thinking. he has written a terrific book about. what the arab world is thinking about palestine. also due to his political activity he has close relationships with the administration and members of congress. we're hoping to hear a little bit about what secretary kerry and president obama intend to do in the path forward. we also have a very important individual here today, matt reynolds, who is the representative, the north american representative for unra. many of you know that is the key u.n. organization that provides incredible humanitarian relief needed by palestinian refugees. matt also has the pleasure i think of formerly working assistant secretary for legislative affairs in a former administration and i hope can give us insight what the administration is thinking

particularly about the humanitarian crisis going on right now. we have one of the foremost experts, who is senior scholar here with us at the national council to talk a little bit about the issues, policy issues in particular that are vexing with respect to the israeli-palestinian issue. we also have the pleasure of having tom letar, many of you know working on this issue. he is now the executive director of the middle east policy council f i can throw out an issue for discussion in light of the fact that we do have media coverage here, i hope one much our panelists will talk a little bit about u.s. media coverage of this issue which i think has been quite unfair in light of the violence going on in the region. with that i have the pleasure of introducing our first speaker. ambassador erakat. [applause] >> thank you, randa. good morning, everybody. let me first of all commend

national council on us air rab relations for -- us air rab relations for bringing expert to discuss a very important issue that seems to be forgotten in the middle of what is going on in the middle east region as a whole. today's session is coming at very difficult time as tension and violence escalated in occupied east jerusalem and other parts of the west bank. funny how media in country and israeli apologists pick things if they started two weeks ago as

if nothing existed on the ground before, six months before, a year before, 4years before. they wonder why the palestinians are reacting to what israeli occupation policies, to israeli occupation policies. this whole episode started more than a year ago when israel started allowing for extremists to enter al-aqsa mosque compound in east jerusalem, allowed members of its cabinet, members of its elected parliament, the knesset, to go there, to provoke, instigate, incite muslims in the hope of pushing the situation to the point where it is today. so this didn't happen in a vacuum. it was a serious prove visions that we warned repeatedly that

is very dangerous game to play by israel. that they are playing with fire and they are turning this political conflict into a religious conflict at the time when the whole region is trying to stand up for extremists in iraq, syria, yemen, libya, everywhere. so one wonders why would this current israeli government push the region on until a conflict like this conflict from a political conflict to a religious conflict? whose interests are going to be served by doing such a thing? and why continue to insist on the so-called jewish state at a time when we are trying to neutralize, i'm not going to say neutralize because many muslims will probably attack me, but to neutralize religion from

politics and try to separate the two? two big questions that this israeli government must be asked. why turning it into a religious conflict, and two, whose interests are trying to serve by insisting on the recognition after jewish state, something that the palestinians nil -- will never ever do. so they need to put it on the side. in addition to that we have witnessed an escalation of settlers violence against palestinians. today, in the west bank, we have different regimes. one is controlled bit israeli military occupation. one is controlled by the settlers settlements and the other is controlled by the palestinians which is the smallest of all. we only have total control over 18% of the west bank. we share security, we share civilian control with israel

over 22% of the west bank while the bulk of the west bank, 60%, remains to be under total israeli military and civilian control. so basically, we only have control over 18 percent of our land. most of the escalation is happening in occupied east jerusalem which is under total israeli control and the fact that the settlers have been carrying out attacks against palestinians, the most abhorre of all was the burning to death of a family of four in august, in the village of duma, and to today, four months, three months later, the israelis have not even captured one single perpetrator. the minister, the chief of staff of israel declared that they know who the culprits were but they don't want their -- to

interfere with the investigation. even if they caught them, only 15% will be brought to justice and be prosecuted. basically you have settler gangs who are attacking palestinians and only the first week of this month, 30 such attacks took place against the palestinian population or civilians in the west bank. 142 so far this year, according to ocha, settler attacks against palestinians. what do you expect the palestinians to do? a people under occupation, who their human rights have been denied. an occupation that is the longest if recent history, approaching the 50-year mark in two years. a government that is not committed to peace, does not have an agenda for peace.

all they did since they took over in 2009, increase settlement activities by 20% and all what we are seeing on the ground is a consolidation of the occupation. more settlements and then they expect us to honor their agreements while they themselves are not abiding by the agreements that they signed. this current prime minister of israel himself signed the memorandum in 1998 and signed the subsequent hebron agreements and until today he did not even implement the agreements that his signature are on. so they expect the palestinians to give, give, give, while what we are getting in return from the israelis, more settlements, more occupation, more restrictions, more closures. and then on top of that, they play the religious issue on

al-aqsa mosque, pushing the two peoples to a religious war, instead of confining it to a political war. now, our leadership said clearly, the president said clearly at his u.n. speech and he repeated that yesterday, the palestinians, we didn't say we are abandoning oslo but this is the press, media, "new york times," "washington post," they can pick whatever headlines they like, it doesn't change the facts. we said that as long as israelis are not abiding by their part of the deal we will not abide by our part of the deal. we were supposed to do certain things in order for israel to to reciprocate and reduce its grip on the palestinian people and the palestinian land. what they have done is the opposite so far. so as a leadership we can not

continue to give and receive nothing in return. and therefore, if israel does not honor its part of the agreement, we will not honor our part of the agreement. simple as that. it is a simple equation. it is fair in any bilateral agreement. if two parties sign an agreement and one party does not commit to that agreement, why do you expect the other party, the weaker, party, the palestinians to commit? and to honor their part of the deal? now, as for any prospects for the political movement, unfortunately i am not very optimistic. i don't think that anything will happen from now until the next election. we hear statements from officials here that they are committed. they want to do something. i would believe them. we believe secretary of state kerry when he says that we

believe he is sincere and genuine but you need to take a different approach. you can not continue for this explosion, the next explosion and you try to go to contain it and then business as usual. we can not go back to the failed process or format that we had for 20 years that did not bring the palestinians any closer to statehood and independence. there has to be a different approach. and the bilateral approach sponsored by the united states has failed. it is not a secret that it has failed. so to continue to insist on a bilateral approach with israel and palestinians, israel with all of its military might, with all of its political clout in the congress thanks to the congress and with all its support it gets versus a weaker party like palestinians, okay, why don't you two negotiate, we

will just observe is not going to work. there has to be a different approach. there has to be a more international, multilet ral approach in which the united states will be an important party but not the only party that will oversee and help the sides reach an agreement. and there has to be an agreement, not an treatment agreement but there has to be commitment on both sides, with the israelis to implement their obligation, to accept the past agreements and to adhere to terms of reference of this whole political process that was agreed many times before from u.n. resolutions to the road map to all other pertinent agreements that we signed with, between the plo and israel. unless we come up with a different approach, i don't see any way, because this israeli

government believes that the status quo can continue forever. they believe they can continue to build settlements, continue to pressure the palestinians and they expect the palestinians to hug them and say thank you, for continuing the occupation. this is something that will not happen, will not continue. and what is happening in jerusalem should be a a wake-up call for the israelis. they annexed jerusalem in 1968. call it united capital of israel and yet they are electing roadblocks in arab neighborhoods, preventing people from moving from one area to another. and they are imposing closures on these neighborhoods. we saw the palestinians sending a message to israelis in jerusalem and elsewhere that they are fed up with this occupation. it is time that this occupation is is ended.

the united states and the international community must assume their moral responsibility of seeing an end to this brutal military occupation, allowing the palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination and establish their own independent palestinian state. we are still for a two-state solution. we continue to be in favor of two-state solution. i know many don't believe that. maybe some in this room but this is the only ideal way out of this conflict. a palestinian state and the state of israel. unfortunately, israel today with its policies is pushing everybody towards the one-state solution and what we are seeing today in the west bank and in jerusalem is a by-product of this israeli efforts to kill once and for all the two-state solution. i hope that we can still find

partners in israel. we continue to extend our hand for peace, honorable peace, but not a peace that will allow israel to control us for another 50 years or another 100 years. we're genuine in our intentions to end this conflict but it takes two to tango and if the israelis want to do it on their own, they should be ready to pay for the consequences that we are unfortunately seeing right now. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, ambassador areikat you laid out what is the formal official position of your government. we'll hear from dr. jim zogby. jim, perhaps you can give us a little color what is going on here with domestic politics? >> thank you, randa, and thank you, maen i want to actually cover the terrain if you don't mind. you asked, started in the

beginning by talking about the role the palestine plays in the broader arab region. what i like to do is lay out some constant that can not be ignored that define the political terrain in which this issue finds itself. first in the broader arab world, there is no doubt that the drama of syria, that yemen, that libya, that iraq, have taken headlines everywhere. but in all the polling that we do, palestine remains a central concern of arabs everywhere. it is fascinating to me the degree of intensity that exists across sect line and across geographic line, from morocco to iraq. even in the depths of despair of

what was going on in iraq, it still remains a central concern. and so much so that i have come to see it as almost an existential defining issue in the arab world. palestine is, people hear sometimes don't understand it when you say that, palestine is for arabs is what the holocaust was for american jews. it was a horrible thing that happened to people just like me, far away but remind me of my vulnerability. it reminded me of my sense of loss. it reminds me of a sense of betrayal of the west. it reminds me of the denial of rights. all of the things that define in many ways the characterrer and personality of people in arab countries across the region are somehow captured in this palestinian narrative. it's real and it grabs hold.

the second, how does it play out here in america? with all of the decades and decades of one side defining terrain, i would argue you have two sides in football game, one side plays on the field and one side sits on the bench guess who wins? one side has been playing for decades and the other side hasn't, who defined the terrain? when you're strong you get to define yourself as victim. when you are weak, you get defined as the monster, who is threatening the victim. so the israelis have become fixed in the american mind as victim from the time of the film "exodus" on, which was actually funded as an effort to create a propaganda film more than it was just a movie, it was clever

conflation of the american narrative of the wild west and the poor folks on the frontier just carving out a piece of land for themselves, trying to live free and start a new life and threatened by these angry savages who were out to get them. leon uris took model of american story and fixed it in palestine and palestinians were the savages. they were actually called in the early history, the early zionist settlers used to refer to them as red indians. people don't recall in arabic speech at the u.n. he said we will not be red indians. people thought it was a slur but it wasn't. he was playing on a theme that had been part of that story for decades. but there is a shift taking place in america. it is interesting because not a partisan shift.

people look at it. it's a demographic shift, clearly among minority groups ho are becoming increasingly less minorities, 30 plus percent, almost a third of america but also young people. if you look young, old on almost every issue but look at it on palestine, look at it on issues involving justice for palestinians you get almost a red state, blue state, the kind of numbers you used to get on gay marriage you now get them on issues involving israel and palestine. and so it's not so much partisan although it plays out partisan because young people come one way and older people another way. minorities one way and older, middle age whites on the other side but it is in fact demographic more than anything. it is a long-term shift. it's the sort of thing that will play out over the next several decades before you get a

decisive change but there is a change and it's real. nevertheless, without question while israel can lose a fight on the nuclear arms deal, in many ways israel will be the winner as those politicians who voted to support the president on the arms deal will now with, you know, sort of hat in hand and bowing in apology try to make it up to israel, both in terms of weapons, favors and they refusal to apply any pressure. it is simply not going to happen. as i hoped it might happen. that the president and congress might pivot from the iran deal to a move for comprehensive middle east peace. i don't think that's going to happen. they simply don't have the where with all politically to do it. and, thirdly, i think that in the political discourse here in

the u.s. one of the issues that's developed over the last several decades, either, i call it this way, your perspectives on middle east are shaped by one of three things. ignorance, willed ignorance and or ideology. neoconservative and evangelical right who dominate now on republican thinking. is not the party of george herbert walker bush or james baker anymore. it is a different breed. listen to the debates taking place on that side. you have that crowd defining it. they don't want knowledge. they have got ideology and certainty. it is good, evil. they're -- we're good, they're evil and we will beat them no matter what the consequences. and you have willful ignorance defining too many people in political life, i don't know about it. there is willed ignorance, but

guys that do know but if they do the political calculation it just doesn't pay to be smart on israel-palestine or smart on any middle east issue. so they become purveyors of conventional wisdom because if i want to talk about the economy, if i want to talk about taxes, if i want to talk about benefits for the middle class, whatever, this becomes a distraction and it might end up getting me in political trouble. so i'm just going to, i know better, but i'm not going to talk about or say what everybody else says, we're the unbreakable and unshakable, blah, blah, alley. hopefully they will leave me alone so i can talk about the stuff i really care about. given that, i don't see change possible here anytime soon. president tried. i think this may be one of the last presidents for a while who will try as this both from the time of this cairo speech to when he tried on the anniversary of that at the state department

to announce something that was so simple the' 67 border with landscapes which was exactly the same language, if you just -- land swaps, which is variation on theme george bush letter to ariel sharon conservatives celebrated, the '49 armistice line with territorial exchange. '49 armistice line and same as '67 border and territorial exchange and land swaps. nevertheless he got pummeled. netanyahu was invited congress. got 27 standing ovations and president was put in a corner on that issue. that has not changed. like i said, israel can lose the iran deal but they can still control the debate on this issue. and then shifting to the region, israel is clearly off the rails politically right now. i see no way a coalition gets

formed despite the continued pipe-dream of liberals here in america that somehow you'll form a moderate coalition with benjamin netanyahu as prime minister and he is not going away anytime soon, there simply is no way to form a coalition in israel that does not have a hard-right bent. even if you get others joining that coalition, they will be used and abused and cast off as ehud barack was in early netanyahu government. yessed al log and a maneuvering ideologue and clever and the game is up and they're resigned to it. they understand there is a pathology that affected israel and palestinians, two distinct pathologies. israel is the spoiled child in the equation and they get

everything they want and they know it. they know there will be no punishment for even bad deeds. the best they will get, sort of a stern, please show rerestaurant but don't do it again. settlements have tripled since the oslo agreement was signed with no punishment at all. when a spoiled child does bad things and doesn't get punished it only becomes enabling of more bad behavior. israel knows bad behavior is what is expected of them. they will get no sanctions for it. so they continue on that path. at this point it has become solidified in terms of the politics of the country so that you can't move that the dynamic easily at all. on palestinian side the pathology is different. it is not the spoiled child, it is abused child. what the abused child knows, even if i do a good thing i get punished. why bother doing a good thing. i will act up because when i act up i will get attention.

these two pathologies have become so ingrained in the political culture on both sides it is difficult, i can't see breaking that. the palestinians, as dysfunctional as israel has become, palestinian political culture has become dysfunctional too. between hamas on one side -- it is political dysfunction between hamas and palestinian authority but there are other dysfunctions as well. look the palestinian authority which was to be the institution that led to a palestinian state has become a dependency on international donors, asking abu mazen to break and suspend oslo and throw it on the junk heap of history many feel it would-be long, would mean throwing 100,000 plus people out of work. understand, when the peace agreement was signed in as he low the single largest employer of palestinian people was the state of israel. they worked across the border on

day jobs, day labor jobs like southwest l.a. they work day labor jobs. that's where their income was. after oslo there was ceiling of the border that -- sealing of the border that resulted in people losing those jobs. because there was no import, export provision for palestinians to grow their economy independently, they became dependent again not only working in settlements but they became depend denned creation of a civil service that didn't exist in palestine. there was not a huge government bureaucracy but it was a way to absorb all this unemployed group of people. so the single largest employer now is the palestinian authority. to simply remove all of those people from a paycheck would be devastating to over a million people in the west bank, in particular but in gaza as well. and third, is this issue that

maen spoke of youth despair. think about gaza. 80% unemployment among youth. for the last, more than two decades. that means that a young person today in gaza has no job, no prospect of a job, no history of what would even mean to get a job and therefore the prospect of having a family, prospect of having a future simply doesn't exist and that is now becoming the situation for many in the west bank where youth unemployment is almost who have everying at hovering at the range of 50%. when you take entire culture of young people and dethem the opportunity have a family and decent life, you create conditions of despair that lead to this behavior that we're seeing manifested in jerusalem. it is nothing to celebrate that young people are so despairing. it is nothing to celebrate that

people are taking lives of others and taking their own lives in the process. suicide is not a normal human activity. it only comes when death appears to abettor option than life. that that has become a cultural phenomenon is devastating and it's something i think we have to understand and deal with. there needs to be a radical transformation of daily life creating hope for young people. it's not there. the israelis don't see it. americans don't see it and palestinians are helpless to be able to do it themselves. [applause] and so what to do? i am loathe, loathe to propose that the weakest party take the most courageous step but i can see far less chance of anything happening here and anything happening in israel, or the europeans finally getting the guts to be able to act

independently and act on their own, or the arabs finally doing something to take the arab initiative not just try to sell it but actually put some conditions on it and reinstitute a boycott and do what king feisal did decades ago. and so it falls on the weakest party but the weakest party has to have a strategy and it doesn't. and it certainly can't be the weakest party should do what folks have been calling them to do here, which is some gestures to the israelis which only enables bad behavior because it plays into the israeli pathology. there needs to be a mass, non-violent movement. there needs to be a mass movement, which has been absent. it can't be stone-throwing or knife-wielding. because when you pick up a stone, they use a rifle. when you pick up a knife, they bring in the tanks. when you pick up a gun, they send in their armies and take

over cities again. to disarm israelis must require a palestinian movement of non-violence that actually is a mass movement, that invests people in a significant way. it is up to the leadership to do that people i think are ready but people don't have a leadership that is willing to put themselves on the line in that kind of effort. i really believe we will not move this equation unless one of the factors in it is transformed. someone needs to break out of the pathology and do something different. not going to be america. it's not going to be europe. it is not going to be the israelis but i hope we can get some discussion on the palestinian side how to create that kind of movement that can alter the dynamic and create a different future. [applause] >> okay. just to quickly summarize.

we heard from both of our speakers we need to try something different. just a reminder we do have note cards. our volunteers are walking around for your questions. if you have any questions for the panel please send them up now. we have until 11:30. we have three more speakers to hear from. we promise to try to get to the most relevant questions. matthew reynolds from unra. >> great. thank you. and thank you for inviting unra, which is united nations relief and works agency for palestinian refugees in the near east. now you know why we use the acronym. as the u.n. agency responsible for providing humanitarian and human services for five million palestinian refugees, since beginning operations in may of 1950, five fields of operation, jordan, lebanon, syria, gaza strip, west bank including

ease jerusalem. if you were given 30 landmarks of history since 1950 what would you list? korean war and start of the cold war? desegregation in the u.s.? uprisings in '60s in arab world in 2010. end of colonialism and apartheid. rise and fall of dictatorships in africa, asia. berlin wall built up, brought down. destruction of world trade towers in new york. genocides in sam bode yaw. -- cambodia. 65 years after the creation of unrwa we should reflect on three fronts what it means to be the palestine refugees. on being a living reminder of failure to resolve protracted human crisis. palestine refugees face an existential crisis on many fronts n palestine they're facing 50 years of occupation.

being a palestine refugee in gaza where there are 1.3 million, that is the size of dallas, texas. being victim of blockade that affects every aspects of one's life, dependent on food aid while hope to be educated and self-sufficient. sadly gaza is on path to dedevelopment. means living under fear of daily incursions, life fire, detentions by israeli army and denied access to opportunity. being palestine refugee in yar u.k., syria, resident trapped by merciless siege and violence and lacking water, food, electricity and basic health. the fear of contracting typhoid is real. you see hunger etched into people's faces. being palestine refugee in lebanon means coping with frustration living in miserable temporary shelter eight years after the destruction of the

camp. we speak today of over five million registered palestine refugees in the region that equates to the population of minnesota or colorado or for non-americans, norway. we're sometimes told that unrwa perpetuates the status of refugeehood. reality of afghan refugee in peshawar is refugee 35 years later. one big difference, the day an afghan family decides to go home there is independent couldn'ttry called afghanistan to go to. this is the not case for palestinian refugees. their icization, exclusion, dispossession represents time bomb for the region, denial of rights and indignities that must be addressed. reflecting on unrwa's 65 years of serce reflects on the all too many crises faced by palestine refugees, mows recently during the 2014 in gaza, we shelledderred 300,000

displaced persons in 9 of our schools. that is the size of geneva, switzerland being shoved into the 90 schools. we provided life saving aid to them under extreme circumstances of war and including shelling of seven unrwa schools. during on going war in syria, we provide essential relief of thousands displaced and in many other cams. we're dealing survival needs and education and health and innovative ways of working have been established. equally significant something even our closest partners underestimate. the fact with their support, i would like to publicly thank you, the american people for being unrwa's number one supporter and incredible generous and financial, political aid you provide, unrwa contributed to one of the most rackable dynamics much human capital development in the middle east. our held, education standards remain among the highest in the region.

700 schools with 1000 education staff for with one million boys and girls. if you pair shoed the u.n. rwa school system in the united states we would be the third largest system after new york and los angeles. we run the system experiencing war occupation and blockade. addressing health needs are 131 clinics and 4,000 health staff and annual average of three million served. unrwa reeled opportunity and capabilitieses for palestine refugees against all odds. it created human capital that many countries in the world would today envy the palestinians for. while palestinians and the many others for an independent state of their own. there is a very painful dimension sapping away at this very positive human development. we're all witness to the fail ture to find a just and lasting solution to the plight of the palestine refugees. nothing would be more important today from the perspective of principle, international lay and human dignity. it is a matter of common sense in an increasingly unstable

middle east where it is time for the international community to start addressing core conflict realities through a more concentrated and genuine political action. more than anything else, it is insufficient political will and action that has contributed to 65 years of unrwa and refugee status for so many palestinians. even if my agency didn't exist that large-scale community of palestine refugees which represents over 1/3 of long-term refugees worldwide would continue to exist and have needs and expectations and would have to be supported. one can not wish or sloganeer this issue away. it has to be dealt with, first and for most as part after political response. given multiple growing crises in the region many people express skepticism about a possibilities of a break-through. look at clashes in jerusalem and gaza. i returned from both places six

days ago and it is getting worse but skepticism is a luxury the world can not afford. costs in human terms are far too high and are growing exponentially. not acting today when 65% of registered palestine refugees are under the age of 25, when they are well-educated but unemployed, determined to engage but with few prospects and limited movement of freedom to do so, this will lead many to despair, more in increasing numbers to choose the dangerous routes across mediterranean and beyond. we can choose to close our eyes to the problem but we should be wear of what the landscape looks like when we reopen them. conclude with something in short supply but terribly needed for palestine refugees, hope. in august of 2014 during the gaza war in rubble of damaged unrwr a book was found.

she written a poem and expressed her understanding beyond her young years when she said hope does not betray. when we reinaugurated school this past april, she read the poem. it sent a powerful message to all of us. hope will never die but it need as serious, serious boost. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, very much, matt, thank you for all the work you and unrwa are doing. you're working through tough times particularly with respect to funding. you have done a great job not only here in washington but the united states to promote the refugee situation of the palestinians. my pleasure to introduce one ever our foremost scholars with respect to the arab world to add his enlightenment on the palestinian issue.

>> good morning. i'm really honored to be here today with this distinguished panel. although unfortunately the circumstances of what we're talking about are i think, not really very auspicious or joyous to talk about the conditions that are happening today and what is expected to be the future of the question of palestine. i believe that everybody has already done a very good job in painting a rather somber picture of what's going on. the conditions on the ground in palestine today and the dire situation looking ahead. what i'd like to contribute however here are some remarks about what my humble opinion i think to be expected for the future of this tragedy, of

tragedy of this situation that has, and i say, unfortunately so far because it is going to continue, has lasted for over 67 years of dispossession. we don't kid ourselves anymore by repeating the dashed hopes of yesteryears and a peace process that could somehow reconcile what has truly become irreconcilable differences. by the way they are only irreconcilable this hope for peace was not allowed to really take root and flourish despite innumerable attempts that either quickly became false starts or stopped after a short period of time. obviously examples are obviously the oslo accords that finally had president abbas declare that palestine is not going to abide by any provisions that israel, while iorael is not abiding by

what it is supposed to be abiding by. this is an agreement signed almost a quarter of a century ago and nothing has come of it. another example is obviously the 2002 arab league initiative since then has been proposed, reproposed and reoffered by every arab summit meeting only to become simply a mere mention in a news cycle somewhere. what today's circumstances and dire conditions present are actually the following. one, a complete illegal israeli occupation of the west bank and golan heights and the latter subjugation of occupied territory to be settled and colonized if it were uninhabited by people with a national identity and heritage and historical claim. two, illegal, and inhumane daily treatment of hundreds of

thousands of people trying to make their daily living like any other community. stopped unnecessarily at innumerable roadblocks. arrested for showing the slightest freedom of movement. attacked as they collect their harvest from the field. prevented from accessing educational institutions and health care facilities. the latest is actually some crackdown in east jerusalem and closure of some of its sections. three, a daily remind they're violence begets violence and occupation of a people yearning for freedom deprives them of the most basic human right of existence and personal safety. four, an international community too busy trying to extinguish unfortunate other fires in the area to be able to at least pay some requisite attention to the plight of millions of

palestinians. what in this environment can be hoped to be a sane or logical or reasonable projection into the future? here's what my humble opinion is a list of possibilities. none of them are palatable to any reasonable human being. one, the final closing of a once-promising window for a two-state solution which two peoples live peacefully side by side. to many involved in the negotiations with israel and palestinians and between israel and the arab world, the two-state solution provided necessary and equitable compromise and an assurance it can be basis for a peaceful middle east in the future but over the years many have questioned the efficacy of such a solution. even when it had reasonable chance of success, on the grounds it did not provide the necessary guaranties for a secure and safe israel. many opined that sovereignty

over jerusalem can't be divided. others blame the divisions within palestinian ranks as preventing arrival at the right mechanisms to actually implement a two-state solution. excuses of marauding arab hoards descending on israel, the island of security and democracy in the middle east were liberally used to disparage talk of a two-state solution. the oslo accords were a step themselves towards that two-state solution. in the end the two-state solution was actually sacrificed on altar of shoaf vinist revisionism and domestic israelly politics. two, triumphal arrival of a one state solution which the palestinians are coerced into living as subjects in a state of discrimination and second-class citizenship, or yet, a

non-citizen subject, as non-citizen subjects of a state with -- for easy governance. this will not be a state like that envisioned by palestinian visionaries in 1968, who saw a binational state on territory between the mediterranean and the jordan river but one where full citizenship and rights are enjoyed with jews and substandard national rights are reserved for palestinians n that event i suspect israel would really be subject of international ostracism and sanction given its support in washington but a ground for continued violence and bloodshed. three, a continuing challenge for the zionist movement, to decide its nature around goal in light of the divisions in interpreting its tenets and mandate. the state of israel, of affairs in israel today shows a house divided whether to continue in

the name of a zionist project to colonize and dispossess a entire community and a nation. what also is essential in this regard the realization, that the continuing, continue ages and possible success of the colonizing project in the west bank will mean that defeat of any pretense of a zionist respect for human rights and dignity. and subsequently the defeat of original project in its entirety. the politics of the possible in israel's domestic makeup and arena will likely lead the original idealogical project to its own demise. what is interesting in this regard the seeming none cha lawns of the -- non-cha lawns of leaders of the project for this quite possible possibility. four, would be fly eve to the present, considering the present conditions and circumstances not to think that some of the palestinian youth, if not the

sizable proportion of it, may see that the best hope for restoring some rights is to restore to extremist ideologies that the middle east has experienced and loathed for a very long time. extreme system not merely a response to self-interested jihadi recruiters capable of weaving a yarn of jihad and martyrdom but specifically the brainchild of lost hopes and aspirations for a good life and a good future. and in the absence of avenues of changing the dire conditions on the west bank and gaza strip extreme system likely to flourish to the detriment of everyone's security and peace. five, seeming continued confusion in washington about the road ahead and though unfortunate attendant belief among palestinians and the arabs that the united states is really in on the whole process and approves of the dispossession of

palestinians and disregard of their rights. again to the detriment of american foreign policy and role in the middle east. once again political expediency and pressures can not be right determine nance of a foreign policy on a country interest prides itself on human dignity and rights. what will happen with regards to the palestinian question remains at the heart of middle east troubles and is essential to u.s. policy in the middle east and to extending among the arabs and the people of the world. who have through their governments recently approved admission of palestine and member state in the united nations and have approved raising of its flag at u.n. plaza in new york. the united states simply can not continue to be blind to the fact that it is staring them in the

face. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much, imad. we'll hear from tom who will make comments on situation and some of the various comments he heard on the panel. >> thank you very much. those were four very well-crafted presentations and mine won't be because my job is to listen and tell you what i heard and comment on what i heard. so, what i heard from both ambassador arekat and dr. zogby is that they are, not very confident that the political process can be revived by this

administration or even possibly by the next one. that is of course disappointing. i recall work written by william kwant many years ago where he talked about the possibilities for making progress in the first year, second year, third year, et cetera, of any administration and basically concluded that the 8th year was basically the best chance for making progress because you had less difficulty overcoming domestic pressure but, at least in the view of these two panelists that opportunity will not be seized by this administration. and i understand why. both of them, all of them have spoken about the netanyahu government and netanyahu himself, who i agree is not

committed to the peace process and not committed to the two-state solution. he did say in 2010 that he supported the two-state solution but i interpret that remark in light of other remarks that he has made such as, i know what america is. america is something that can be moved very easily. and in fact people spoke about the problems, how the promise of oslo accords has not materialized. which i think is because it was an interim agreement and its final goals were not clearly enough enunciated. it took so long opponents of the process were able to mobilize their efforts against it and one of the opponents of the process

was benjamin netanyahu. so i think this is, this is really one of the most serious problems. we really can't mediate a peace process when one of the partners is not committed to the outcome that we want, the outcome we say is in our national interest and certainly the president has said that the resolution of the conflict is in the national interests of the united states. . .