1. Conferences and debates

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Nakba at 73: what lies ahead? Play

Nakba at 73: what lies ahead?

Published at 31 12,,, 21 2021
To commemorate Nakba Day, Casa Árabe and the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Spain present this conference with Hanan Ashrawi, political and civil society leader, academic and Palestinian activist. She will be speaking with José Vericat on May 17 at 6 p.m. at our headquarters in Madrid. The event will be broadcast live on Youtube and Facebook Live.  1948 marks the start of the Nakba, “catastrophe” or “disaster” in Arabic, when more than 700,000 Palestinians had to flee from their lands, and hundreds of cities and towns were destroyed or forcibly depopulated. Since then, many UN Resolutions have been disregarded by Israel, which has carried out the construction of illegal settlements and deepened its occupation of the Palestinian territories. Against the odds, the Palestinian people have refused to forget and give up the right of return and have continued to resist throughout the decades. In this conference, organized with the cooperation of the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Spain, Hanan Ashrawi will talk about the deep legacy of the Nakba, but also about current Palestinian affairs in the light of the recent crisis in Jerusalem and Gaza. She will also tackle the prospects for future elections and reform in Palestine and the role of the European Union. Hanan Ashrawi will be joining the event through an online connection from Ramallah and will engage in a dialogue with José Vericat, Senior Adviser at the European Institute for Peace. Presented by: Musa Amer Odeh, Ambassador of Palestine in Spain and Pedro Martínez-Avial, Director General of Casa Árabe.   Hanan Ashrawi is a distinguished Palestinian leader, legislator, activist, and scholar who served as a member of the Leadership Committee and as an official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace process, beginning with the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991.  Making history as the first woman to hold a seat in the highest executive body in Palestine, she was elected as member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 2009 and most recently in 2018. She resigned in 2020. In 1996, Dr. Ashrawi was appointed as the Palestinian Authority Minister of Higher Education and Research. She was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council representing Jerusalem in 1996, and she was re-elected for the “Third Way” bloc ticket in 2006. As a civil society activist, she founded the Independent Commission for Human Rights (1994), MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (1998) and AMAN, the National Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (1999).  She serves on the advisory and international boards of several global, regional and local organizations, and she is the recipient of numerous awards from all over the world, , including the distinguished French decoration, “d'Officier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur” (2016), and several academic accolades, including eleven honorary doctorates from universities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Arab world.    José S. Vericat is Senior Adviser at the European Institute for Peace. He’s a seasoned Middle East expert with more than two decades of experience working in conflict zones. Before joining the European Institute of Peace, he was the Carter Center’s Israel-Palestine Country Representative and Field Office Director promoting viable peace between Israelis and Palestinians and inter-Palestinian reconciliation. Previously, he was a Middle East advisor at the International Peace Institute (IPI) influencing policy-making at the UN headquarters, an EU official working on security sector reform in Palestine, and a prize-winning journalist covering the Second Intifada and the Iraq war. He has a PhD in Oriental Studies from Oxford University and an MA in International Relations from Columbia University. More information: https://en.casaarabe.es/event/nakba-at-73-what-lies-ahead Photo: Montecruz Foto. Palestine Nakba Day demo in Berlin

ALL VIDEOS IN THIS CATEGORY

  • Arab and African Migration Towards the EU: Seeking a social focus. Panel 3 + Closure (FRENCH)Show video

    Arab and African Migration Towards the EU: Seeking a social focus. Panel 3 + Closure (FRENCH)

    2017.07.11. Casa Árabe and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Tunisia and Madrid, in coordination with the Labor Union Network of Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan Migrations (RSMMS), organized this seminar, which analyzed the social facet of Arab and African migration towards the EU. With the participation of the main social role-players and institutions involved in fighting for labor dignity and dealing with migrations, the seminar seeks to provide a balanced, constructive, realistic analysis of this topic. Panel 3: Migrations in the EU: Current state of affairs With the cooperation of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) + European and African labor union organizations. Closure: Ebert Foundation in Tunisia More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/arab-and-african-migration-towards-the-eu-seeking-a-social-focus
    Published at 58 25,,, 18 2018
  • Arab and African Migration Towards the EU: Seeking a social focus. Panel 2 (FRENCH)Show video

    Arab and African Migration Towards the EU: Seeking a social focus. Panel 2 (FRENCH)

    2017.07.11. Casa Árabe and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Tunisia and Madrid, in coordination with the Labor Union Network of Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan Migrations (RSMMS), organized this seminar, which analyzed the social facet of Arab and African migration towards the EU. With the participation of the main social role-players and institutions involved in fighting for labor dignity and dealing with migrations, the seminar seeks to provide a balanced, constructive, realistic analysis of this topic. Panel 2: Migrations within a global context. With the cooperation of the Office in Spain of the International Organization of Migrations (IOM) + European and African labor union organizations. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/arab-and-african-migration-towards-the-eu-seeking-a-social-focus
    Published at 57 25,,, 18 2018
  • Arab and African Migration Towards the EU: Seeking a social focus. Opening + Panel 1 (FRENCH)Show video

    Arab and African Migration Towards the EU: Seeking a social focus. Opening + Panel 1 (FRENCH)

    2017.07.11. Casa Árabe and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Tunisia and Madrid, in coordination with the Labor Union Network of Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan Migrations (RSMMS), organized this seminar, which analyzed the social facet of Arab and African migration towards the EU. With the participation of the main social role-players and institutions involved in fighting for labor dignity and dealing with migrations, the seminar seeks to provide a balanced, constructive, realistic analysis of this topic. Opening session Greetings and interventions by the General Director of Casa Árabe and Secretaries General of the labor union organizations of Spain. Panel 1: The fight for labor dignity: forced labor. With the cooperation of the Office of the International Labor Organization in Spain (ILO) + European and African labor union organizations. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/arab-and-african-migration-towards-the-eu-seeking-a-social-focus
    Published at 56 25,,, 18 2018
  • Human Rights Council: Taking stock and identifying challenges for 2018-2020Show video

    Human Rights Council: Taking stock and identifying challenges for 2018-2020

    2017.11.12. Casa Árabe and the Human Rights Office of Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation organized this conference as part of the 69th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The event was presented by Pedro Martínez-Avial, the General Director of Casa Árabe and moderated by Adela Díaz, Director of the Office of Human Rights, with speeches by Juan Ignacio Morro, the United Nations Director General of Human Rights; Shalva Tsiskarashvili, Vice-President of the Human Rights Council; Walid Doudech, the Permanent Representative Ambassador of Tunisia to the United Nations Office in Geneva, and Esteban Beltrán, director of the Spanish section of Amnesty International. As occurs each year, on December 10 we celebrate the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation is focusing this year’s celebration on the Human Rights Council. Last October 16, Spain was chosen to become a member of this main body for defending and promoting Human Rights around the world, for the time period of 2018-2020. Becoming a member of the Human Rights Council can be seen as an acknowledgment of a State’s commitment in this arena and also provides an opportunity to contribute actively to the Council’s development and work. The round table discussion will attempt to take stock of events and foresee the main challenges to be faced by the Council looking ahead to the upcoming years, from different perspectives: from that of a current member State, that of a future member State and that of the structure of the Council itself and civil society. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/human-rights-council-taking-stock-and-identifying-challenges-for-2018-2020
    Published at 21 13,,, 17 2017
  • The State of Qatar’s Policies on International Cooperation and Social Work (ARABIC)Show video

    The State of Qatar’s Policies on International Cooperation and Social Work (ARABIC)

    2017.23.11. The objective of this conference was to show the efforts made by Qatar’s government on international cooperation, the culture of peace and the rejection of violence. The event was presented by the General Director of Casa Árabe, Pedro Martínez-Avial, and included interventions by Tariq Al-Ansari, an ambassador and the Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Amal Al-Mannai, CEO of the Qatar Foundation for Social Work. This conference is an attempt to demonstrate the efforts made by the State of Qatar in the field of international cooperation as an important part of its foreign policy, to pass the culture of peace on amongst today’s generations and prepare responsible leaders for the future on dialogue and the rejection of violence. Therefore, the leaders of the State of Qatar have attempted to play an active role in strengthening their position in the political, development and social arenas. These efforts are framed within the strategy of international cooperation led by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the National Vision for Qatar of 2030 which seeks to promote a global association for the creation of safe, peaceful societies headed by institutions which are able to protect stability and serve the different parties in society, with the goal of achieving the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals based on the principles agreed to in the Millennium Declaration, along with the State of Qatar’s social responsibility in terms of humanitarian aid. The scope of action of Qatar’s Foundation for Social Work is social work at the local, regional and international levels. To do so, it has designed policies and strategies for social action, thereby allowing it to consolidate prior achievements, create effective alliances, strengthen the bonds of cooperation and build bridges for coordination with the proper governmental entities, as well as with the most important public and private institutions worldwide, because it wishes to become a role model in the field of social work. This foundation is of a consultative nature on the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/the-state-of-qatar’s-policies-on-international-cooperation-and-social-work
    Published at 11 12,,, 17 2017