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

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    Policies and Strategies for Tourism Development in the MENA Region (OS)

    Casa Árabe and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) have organized this fourth edition of a ministerial round table discussion on “Tourism Development Policies and Strategies in the MENA Region: Sustaining Growth through Shocks,” with the support of IFEMA and Fitur 2016, as part of the Fitur International Tourism Trade Fair of 2016. The debate taking place analyzed current trends and short-terms prospects for tourism in the region -within the context of a regional state of turmoil and the persistent uncertainty about world economic prospects-, as well as the strategies and measures to be implemented in order to improve security in the tourism industry, to accelerate and strengthen the sector’s recovery and sustained growth, to promote the competitiveness of tourist destinations and to promote investments. This year, participating in the debate for the first time were the Ministers of Tourism of Algeria, Jordan and Sudan, in addition to the Tourism Ministers of Morocco, Lebanon and Palestine. The event was officially opened by the Secretary General of the UNWTO, Taleb Rifai, the State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Ignacio Ybáñez Rubio, the Director General of Turespaña, Marta Blanco Quesada, and Pedro Villena, the General Director of Casa Árabe. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/policies-and-strategies-for-tourism-development-in-the-mena-region
    Published at 20 27,,, 16 2016
  • The Stars of Sidi Moumen (FRENCH)Show video

    The Stars of Sidi Moumen (FRENCH)

    Visual artist and writer Mahi Binebine presented this cultural project to fight against radicalization in Morocco. Sidi Moumen, on the periphery of Casablanca, is sadly known as the neighborhood where the young kamikazes who carried out the terrorist attacks in that city on May 16, 2003 grew up. However, ten years later, it is also in this neighborhood that families of the terrorists’ victims, as well as the families of the kamikazes themselves, were able to meet for the first time, at the initiative of the Ali Zaoua Foundation, during a debate over the fight against radicalization and the paths towards forgiveness. Those responsible for this unusual event were the filmmaker Nabil Ayouch and the writer and visual artist Mahi Binebine. Moved by the need to fight against radicalization and build bridges between the inhabitants of disadvantaged neighborhoods in Moroccan cities and the rest of the people, these two intellectuals created the Ali Zaoua Foundation in 2009. Convinced that this connection can be built through the arts and culture, the foundation has started up several initiatives to allow youths who are socially excluded to express themselves through channels other than violence and to discover spaces for dialogue. The Stars of Sidi Moumen is precisely one of these initiatives. It is a cultural center set up in the neighborhood, where youth training is provided in the fields of art, dance, theater, etc. It is also a meeting point with the rest of the people in the city of Casablanca, because it regularly hosts shows and activities put on with the cooperation of Moroccan and international performers and artists. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/the-stars-of-sidi-moumen
    Published at 01 27,,, 16 2016
  • Today’s Arab comics as seen by their authorsShow video

    Today’s Arab comics as seen by their authors

    As a complement to the exhibition “Pens and Cartoons: Arab comics in motion,” two representatives of the vibrant, cutting-edge scene of comics and graphic novels in the Arab world give this talk: Lina Ghaibeh, an illustrator and professor at the American University of Beirut, and Issam Smiri, a graphic designer, illustrator and author of comics. Through a dialogue guided by the exhibition’s curator, Pedro Rojo, we get a first-hand account about the details in the creative process which these artists follow, the environment in which these works are produced and circulate within and around Arab countries, and the local audiences’ viewpoints and opinions on these stories. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/today’s-arab-comics-as-seen-by-their-authors
    Published at 45 27,,, 16 2016
  • The Resolution on the Partition of Palestine and Its Consequences: from 1947 to the present (ARABIC)Show video

    The Resolution on the Partition of Palestine and Its Consequences: from 1947 to the present (ARABIC)

    On the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, this conference was given by Mustafa Kabha. In his presentation, Kabha, a history professor at the Open University of Israel, was accompanied by Mussa Amer Odeh, head of the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Spain, and Pedro Villena, the General Director of Casa Árabe. The conference dealed with United Nations Resolution 181, adopted on November 29, 1947, in which the partition of Palestine into two states was decided, on the basis of recommendations made by the Special Palestine Commission. Through a historical focus, the consequences of that decision will be examined throughout the course of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from 1947 to date, as well as analyzing its in becoming part of the foundation for a future resolution of the conflict. The event will be held within the framework of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/international-day-of-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-people#13566
    Published at 42 03,,, 15 2015
  • The Syrian refugee crisis: response and management by neighboring countriesShow video

    The Syrian refugee crisis: response and management by neighboring countries

    This round table discussion, titled “The Regional Dimension of the Refugee Crisis in Syria (II): Response and management by neighboring countries,” is the second in a series of two encounters organized by Casa Árabe to discuss this matter. At the first, which took place on November 3, the refugee crisis was analyzed from a regional perspective, while also examining the socio-economic impact of the crisis and humanitarian aid. The goal of this new gathering is to analyze the way in which neighboring countries are dealing with this situation and the measures which they are implementing to find a solution. Participating in the event will be Omer Onhon, the Ambassador of Turkey in Spain; Hala Helou, an advisor to the Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs on humanitarian topics and international relations; Nayef Faraj, an advisor to the Embassy of Jordan in Spain, and Rafael de Prado, head of the Office of Humanitarian Action, attending as a substitute for the AECID. The event will be moderated by Miguel Ángel de Frutos, an ambassador and international advisor for Casa Árabe. At the beginning of the round table discussion, an excerpt of the film “Hany’s Story” will be shown. It was produced and directed by Zahra Mackaoui, in a co-production between the UNHCR and Channel 4 (plot summary below). More info: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/the-syrian-refugee-crisis-response-and-management-by-neighboring-countries
    Published at 07 03,,, 15 2015