World Affairs Forum
• What: Juneau World Affairs Council's world affairs forum.
• When: 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Monday and 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
• Where: Egan Library, University of Alaska Southeast.
• Details: www.jwac.org.
Featured speakers
• Ambassador Philip Wilcox, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, a D.C.-based organization. Wilcox, former U.S. consul general to Jerusalem, served for 31 years in the U.S. Foreign Service.
• Akiva Tor, consul general of Israel for the Pacific Northwest Region, based in San Francisco. He previously served as World Jewish Affairs adviser to the president of Israel, and as deputy director for Palestinian affairs.
• M. J. Rosenberg, senior fellow on foreign policy at Media Matters Action Network, based in D.C. Rosenberg worked for more than 10 years as policy director for the Israel Policy Forum, and spent more than 14 years on Capitol Hill, working as an aide to several Democratic representatives.
• Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development, a nonprofit, D.C.-based group that operates the Palestine Center. Munayyer previously worked in various capacities with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
• Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a journalist, currently working as a correspondent with Al Rai, a Kuwaiti daily newspaper. He previously worked as a news producer for Alhurra, an Arabic television service, and editor and reporter for The Daily Star of Beirut.
• Farideh Farhi, an independent scholar and author, and adjunct professor of political science at University of Hawaii, Manoa. She is the author of "States and Urban-based Revolutions in Iran and Nicaragua" as well as numerous articles, including, most recently, "Ahmadinejad's Nuclear Folly."
• Matthew R. J. Brodsky, research fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council in D.C. He specializes in Syrian and Lebanese affairs, and in Middle Eastern politics and history.
• Ahmed Salkini, press secretary of the Embassy of Syria in Washington, D.C. Salkini will be filling in for scheduled guest Ambassador Imad Moustapha, Syrian Ambassador to the United States, who had a last-minute scheduling conflict.
Story last updated at 11/1/2009 - 12:23 am
The Juneau World Affairs Council will hold their annual world affairs forum Monday and Tuesday, focusing this year on the Middle East. The event, which is open to the public, will run from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Monday and from 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday at the University of Alaska Southeast's Egan Library.
"Our focus (is on) who's doing what, what's going on and what can be done as steps toward peace," said JWAC board member Dave Sturdevant.
The world affairs forum strives to provide local residents a wide range of viewpoints on prominent international issues. This year's event, "Sitting Down," will present short talks from eight speakers, followed by four group panel discussions. Topics will include not only Israel and Palestine, but also Syria and Iran, and the United States' role in the region.
"Mainly it's going to be an intensive seminar from some of the people who are really involved in the issue with their whole lives, day to day," Sturdevant said.
The guest speakers were chosen for their expertise on the Middle East, with an eye toward offering audience members differing opinions, he said. The panel discussions will give attendees a chance to hear conflicting perspectives interact.
"I think it's inevitable, given the nature of the issues, particularly between Israel and Palestine - the sensitivity and strength of feeling and the long history and all that - that there's some tension between points of view. But that's a healthy thing and it's part of what we're hoping to present. And also a part of what might be of value to the audience."
Some speakers may include question and answer sessions as part of their half-hour presentations, but that is left up to them, Sturdevant said.
Attendees are welcome to come for part or all of the presentations.
This year's program was organized by Juneau's Jim Clark, with help from Clark's former law partner, Michael Thomas. Thomas, a long-time resident of Juneau now based in Washington, D.C., will moderate.
The JWAC is a volunteer-run, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. It is part of a national group, the World Affairs Councils of America, that has operated since 1918, and was formed to address concerns that the United States would lean too heavily toward an isolationist foreign policy following World War I.
The world forum is the JWAC's largest event of the year, and is made possible in part through the sponsorship of local businesses. The group also schedules monthly slide shows led by local travelers at the Gold Town Nickelodeon, and holds an annual world affairs quiz-program event at Centennial Hall.
The Juneau chapter includes 16 board members, including Board President and Mayor Bruce Botelho, and about 150 members.
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