The Foundation for Middle East Peace invites you to attend

Jerusalem – Where Things Stand at the Start of the Biden Presidency

Recorded Friday, January 29th

Featuring Zena Agha (Middle East Institute), Daniel Seidemann (Terrestrial Jerusalem)

Moderated by Kristin McCarthy (FMEP)

Resources shared during this webinar:

• Twitter handles for panelists
  • Daniel Seidemann: https://twitter.com/DanielSeidemann
  • Terrestrial Jerusalem: https://twitter.com/TJJerusalem
  • Zena Agha: https://twitter.com/Zena_Agha
  • Middle East Institute: https://twitter.com/MiddleEastInst
  • Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network –  https://twitter.com/AlShabaka
• Subscribe to FMEP’s settlement and annexation report (and find the archives) written by Kristin McCarthy: https://fmep.org/resources/?rsearch=&rcat%5B%5D=355
• Zena Agha’s 2018 analysis → “Israel’s Annexation Crusade in Jerusalem”
• Terrestrial Jerusalem’s analysis of the significant change to the status quo on the Temple Mount that was included in the UAE normalization deal:
• On the horrific spike in settler violence directed at Palestinians: “All Foreseen and Not Prevented: Spike in settler violence backed and encouraged by state” by B’Tselem
• “Palestinian elections: Democracy for no one” by Yara Hawari

In the waning hours of the Trump Administration, the Israeli government issued a significant slate of last-minute settlement approvals, including granting a tender for the construction of an East Jerusalem settlement (Givat Hamatos) long understood to be a “doomsday” settlement by those advocating for a two state solution. Given the centrality of Jerusalem to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, what do these latest settlement advancements say about the state of  play in Jerusalem facing the new Biden Administration? How should East Jerusalem settlements (and settlements more generally) be understood in Israel’s de facto annexation of Palestinian land?

To shed light on these issues, FMEP will be joined by Jerusalem experts Zena Agha of Al-Shabaka and Daniel Seidemann of Terrestrial Jerusalem. FMEP’s Kristin McCarthy – author of FMEP’s weekly Settlement & Annexation Report – will moderate this discussion.

Panelists

Zena Agha is a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute, and previously served as Al-Shabaka’s US Policy Fellow from 2017 – 2019. Her areas of expertise include Israeli settlement-building in the occupied Palestinian territory with a special focus on Jerusalem, modern Middle Eastern history, and spatial practices. She has previously worked at the Economist, the Iraqi Embassy in Paris, and the Palestinian delegation at UNESCO. In addition to opinion pieces in The Independent, and The Nation, Zena’s media credits include the BBC World Service, BBC Arabic and El Pais. Zena was awarded the Kennedy Scholarship to study at Harvard University, completing her Master’s in Middle Eastern Studies. She tweets at @Zena_Agha. 

Daniel Seidemann is a practicing attorney in Jerusalem who specializes in legal and public issues in East Jerusalem. He has participated in numerous Track II talks on Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians and served in an informal advisory capacity to the final status negotiations as a member of a committee of experts commissioned by Prime Minister Barak’s office to generate sustainable arrangements in Jerusalem. He is the founder and director of Terrestrial Jerusalem, an Israeli nonprofit that works to identify and track developments in Jerusalem that could impact the political process or permanent status options, destabilize the city, spark violence, or create humanitarian crises. He tweets at @DanielSeidemann.

Moderator

Kristin McCarthy is the Director of Grants & Operations at the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and also authors FMEP’s weekly Settlement Report. Prior to joining FMEP, Kristin was the Policy Director at the Arab American Institute where she served from 2014-2017. Before that, she worked with Israeli and Palestinian human rights experts to do advocacy in Washington, D.C. Kristin has travelled extensively throughout the Middle East She is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University. She tweets at @krstnmccrthy.