Terrorism and Beyond is a great event to discuss this international phenomenon. Distinguished speakers will talk about the countries which fund terrorism. In addition, the role of laws, security and intelligence to fight terrorism will be tackled. The role of media and non-state actors, such as mosques, schools, community leaders to eliminate this disease will be analysed.

Book here for this free event.

Speakers

Dr. Lina Khatib

Head of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House. She was formerly director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut and co-founding Head of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. Her research focuses on the international relations of the Middle East, Islamist groups and security, political transitions and foreign policy, with special attention to the Syrian conflict.

Michael Binyon

An English journalist and eminent foreign correspondent, he has been an editorial writer, columnist and foreign correspondent for The Times (of London) since 1971. For 15 years he was based overseas, reporting from Moscow, Washington, Bonn and Brussels, before returning to London to be diplomatic editor in 1991 and becoming the main foreign editorial writer in 2000. he still writes for The Times and other publications, and is a frequent broadcaster for the BBC and French, German, Canadian, Russian and Middle Eastern radio and television. He published “Life in Russia” in 1983, has won two British journalism prizes and was awarded the OBE by the Queen in 2000.

Brigadier Paul Gibson

Paul Gibson has extensive experience in the defense, security and terrorism sectors both from the practitioner’s perspective and at the highest strategic level including policy-making
within government and the private sector. His military career culminated as Director Counter Terrorism and UK operations, where he was responsible for global threat evaluation and UK
contingency operations and crisis management. He enjoyed a distinguished military career, including command of an armored brigade in Iraq. He was awarded the Distinguished
Service Order (DSO) whilst in command of an airborne battalion and an MBE for his work on counter terrorism.

Moderator

Dr. Said Shehata

Expert in Islamic movements and counter -terrorism Education: undergraduate in Politics and PhD in Politics from the University of London professor of Middle East politics and International Relations at the London Metropolitan University Lectured at LSE, SOAS, Edinburgh, Durham, Westminister universities on the issue of Islamists and their role in politics

Anglo-American media coverage of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is dominated by news of conflict. There is no doubt that the region has seen many conflicts throughout the 20th and into the 21st century, from anti-colonial uprisings, to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the rise of militant religious groups like Al-Qaeda and the self-declared Islamic State (or ISIS), and recent Arab “revolts”.

Nevertheless, coverage of the MENA region in mainstream Anglo-American media has been impacted by “Orientalist” perspectives that perpetrate negative stereotypes and connotations about Arabs and Muslims. These in turn reinforce Islamophopic sentiments in mainstream news discourse and various sectors of the Anglo-American society, and engender hate and fear against Arabs in general and Muslims specifically.

The evening will be formatted in a country-by-country approach to analyse the region, discussing coverage of Egypt, Syria, Gaza and Lebanon.

Chair

Rima Maktabi is a Lebanese TV presenter and award-winning journalist and is currently the London Bureau Chief for Al Arabiya. Before this Maktabi hosted CNN’s monthly program Inside the Middle East for two years. She has done extensive field coverage from Syria focusing on the political, military as well as the humanitarian aspect of the war torn
country; numerous news reports were produced by Maktabi from Aleppo, Idlib and Daraa provinces. She also produced thorough coverage from the frontline of Mosul in Iraq focusing on stories about the battle with ISIS.

Speakers

James Rodgers is Leader of International Studies in the Department of Journalism at City, University of London. James is the author of three books on journalism and war: Headlines from the Holy Land: Reporting the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2015); No Road Home: Fighting for Land and Faith in Gaza (2013); Reporting Conflict (2012). James formerly worked as a journalist for Reuters TV, GMTV, and the BBC. While at the BBC, he worked as a producer, correspondent, editor, and occasional presenter. He completed foreign correspondent postings in Moscow, Brussels, and Gaza. James continues to contribute to broadcast, print, and online journalism. Most recently, he has had work published in The New European and on the Prospect website.

Dr Omar Al-Ghazzi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Media and Communications, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Omar is interested in the role of media and communication in political conflict, activism, and collective memory, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Before joining LSE, he was a lecturer (assistant professor) at the University of Sheffield’s Department of Journalism Studies.  Omar’s research has appeared in journals such as Communication Theory and Media, Culture & Society and has been recognized by the International Communication Association. A former Fulbright scholar, Dr Al-Ghazzi comes from a journalism professional background. He has previously worked as a reporter for Al-Hayat Arabic daily and as a media analyst at BBC Monitoring. He completed his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication.

Dr Zahera Harb  was a TV journalist in her native Lebanon for over 11 years, reporting for local and international organisations and anchoring news and current affairs programmes. She has completed assignments for BBC Arabic service, CNN world report and Dutch TV. She still commentates on Media and Politics in the Middle East. A Senior Lecturer in International Journalism at City, University of London, Zahera is widely published on journalism, media and politics in the Arab world. She is the author of Channels of Resistance: Liberation Propaganda, Hezbollah and the Media, co-editor (with Dina Matar) of Narrating Conflict in the Middle East: Discourse, Image and Communications Practices in Lebanon and Palestine and  editor of Reporting the Middle East, the Practice of News in the 21stCentury, published by I.B.Tauris. Board roles include the Ethical Journalism Network. She is Associate editor of Journalism Practice and member of editorial boards of several academic journals including Journalism and Journal of Media practice.

By Eva Dumontet

Should Israel fear the Arab spring?  When asked the same question, the majority of the audience agreed that Israel should be concerned about the changes that were taking place across the region.

Yitzhak Lior stressed the “physical and psychological vulnerability” of Israel, while Miri Weingarten argued that Israel would be safer surrounded by democratic states. Daphna Baram said it was important to distinguish between the interests of the Israeli government and the interests of Israeli people. Unlike the Israeli people, the government has no interest in dealing with democratic countries, she insisted.

Eldad Beck, who has recently spent time in Egypt, suggested the West have a “fantasised” idea of the Arab Spring and drew a comparison with the aspirations of the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

He argued that the countries caught up in the Arab Spring were utterly divided and only agreed on being fundamentally anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. Lior backe this up by evoking a clause in a newly written constitution stating that no peace process was possible with Israel.

Miri Weingarten said it was necessary for Israel to reach out to the Middle East.

Daphna Baram pointed out that Arabs tend to admire the independent Israeli media and a judicial system able to condemn corrupt politicians. She said she hoped Israelis would be inspired by the democratic momentum in the Middle East.

Answering a comment from a member of the audience Beck said it was time to stop the hypocrisy concerning Israel’s hostility toward democracies, as all Western countries were also “hypocritical” – France showed at first very little support for the Tunisian revolution, he said.

Daphna Baram said it was unrealistic for Western governments – and Israel – to hope that they will be able to maintain submissive and convenient dictators in power.

Miri Weingarten said that whether we liked it or not, the Arab Spring was there and the challenge for Israel was to decide how they would deal with it.

An audience member asked if eventually the fear of the Arab Spring was not simply the fear of the unknown –  Yitzhak Lior agreed that it was difficult to foresee the unknown.

Miri Weingarten – who believes the Palestinians have been deeply inspired by the Arab Spring – concluded that the only way for Israel to pacify its relations with the Arab Spring countries was to improve its relation toward Palestinians.

As always when tackling the issue of Israel the debate was heated, but the hopeful words of Miri Weingarten resonated among the audience – and the energy and desire to keep on debating and arguing coming from all sides of the debate was encouraging.

The focus of this lively and at times tempestuous debate was whether democracy would be the endpoint of the Arab Spring and how this would impact Israeli relations in the region.

“Who could speak against democracy”? asked former Israeli Ambassador, Yitzhak Lior, it’s “easy” to deal with dictatorships” but despite the dangers “we will be closer to peace if there are democracies around […] but it’s not on the cards yet.”

That democracy was the only possible outcome of the uprisings was challenged early on by a member of the audience, who pointed to the large number of alternative systems possible.

Having spent time in Tahrir square, journalist Eldad Beck said that, despite being initially hopeful about the “extraordinary” Egyptian uprising, his hopes for positive change have since died.

Human rights advocate Miri Weingarten emphasised the role of the uprisings in sparking Israel’s own wave of protests that she says consciously borrowed symbolism used in the Arab streets. Focused on the cost of living in the country, these “middle-class” demonstrations proved an awareness of social justice that did not yet question the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The panellists saw eye to eye on one point; that Israel must be deeply concerned about developments on its doorstep. The country’s  “physical and psychological” vulnerability gives rise to this fear, said Lior. 

Discussing a point raised from the audience that Israel’s  militarily dominance means that few states would consider launching an attack, the panel agreed that only Iran would consider it.

Journalist Daphna Baram, highly critical of the Israeli government, says the Iran-Israel threat is mutual and that there is a real risk of Israeli attack.

Eldad Beck and Miri Weingarten both suggested that Israelis have little knowledge of surrounding Arab states and this has hindered possible rapprochement with their country’s neighbours.

Tempestuous exchanges between panel members punctuated the discussion – there were spats, shouts, jeers and one panelist threatened to leave the discussion during 90 minutes that underlined how the subject of Arab-Israeli relations relations is a matter of intense debate.

EXTERNAL EVENT HELD AT THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN

IN ASSOCIATION WITH BBC ARABIC

With leaders toppled in Tunisia and Egypt, continuing uprisings in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, the Arab world has seen tumultuous change in recent months. Where does all this upheaval leave Israel? We will be focusing on the response of Israel to the revolutions sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa.

With a panel of Israeli experts and journalists we will explore how Israel and its people view the demands for democracy which are ousting friends in the region such as President Hosni Mubarak.

What happens to the peace process now? We will be discussing Israel’s position on Gaza and the West Bank in the light of changes taking place in the Arab world and of recent events.

Chaired by Samir Farah, one of BBC Arabic’s leading presenters and interviewers. He is the lead presenter of Nuqtat Hewar, BBC Arabic television’s flagship interactive programme and one of the most important interactive programmes in Arabic media. He has led a pioneering series of live interactive interviews with leading personalities across the Arab world, putting politicians and decision-makers directly before a live audience to answer questions and defend their policies. He is also the Deputy Head of Programmes for BBC Arabic TV. Twitter: @Samir_Farah

With:

Ambassador Yitzhak Lior joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1964. In 1967 he was a member of Israel’s Delegation to the Middle-East Peace Conference in Geneva. From 1968 – 81 he did four tours of duty in the U.S: Chicago, New York, Houston and Washington. In Beirut from 1982 – 84 he was head of Israel’s mission to Lebanon  (peace negotiations). In 1987 he was appointed deputy director general of the Foreign Ministry for Middle East Affairs. He served as the ambassador to the UN in Geneva from 1990 – 95 and the ambassador to Tokyo from 2000 – 04.

Daphna Baram worked in Jerusalem as a human rights lawyer, and later as a reporter, news editor and deputy editor in chief of the Jerusalem Based weekly Kol Hair. During fellowships with the Reuters Foundation and a period as a senior associate member at St Antony College, Oxford, she had written her book Disenchantment: The Guardian and Israel (published 2004). Her articles on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were published by the Guardian, the Independent and the New Statesman, among others. She provided commentary for Al Jazeera, the BBC and other news outlets. She works for GRNlive in London as an editor. Twitter: @DaphnaBaram

Eldad Beck, the Berlin-based Europe Correspondent for Israel’s most widely circulated newspaper Yedioth Ahronot.  He is a former foreign affairs editor for Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.  He has also worked as a Vienna based Correspondent for Israel’s Maariv newspaper.  He has served as a Paris-based Correspondent for Israel’s Channel 2 Television station, The Jerusalem Post, Globes; Hadashot and The Jerusalem Report. In Paris, he worked as the Editor and Moderator at Radio Shalom and a Journalist at „L´Arche“. Beck studied at the Sorbonne University, majoring in Arabic and Islamic studies.  During the Oslo process, he served as a correspondent for Arabic affairs on Gali-Zahl Radio Station in Israel. Most recently, Beck has published a book entitled Behind the Border documenting his visits to places such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Miri Weingarten, a Jewish Israeli, has worked for Israeli human rights group Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) since 1999. Based in London since 2009, she currently conducts advocacy/lobby for a coalition of three Israel-based human rights groups – PHR-Israel, Adalah and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, in the EU (Brussels) and the UN (Geneva). She also directs a British media initiative called JNews, which aims to provide alternative Jewish perspectives on Israel and Palestine to British media and the public.

Organised by BBC Arabic.

Followed by a panel discussion chaired by Zein Tawfik presenter of BBC Arabic Question Time.

With:

The film’s producer Ahmed Zaky;

Mohamed Hani, blogger and political editor at London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat;

Ms Nesreen Salem, blogger;

Ms Noha Atef, Blogger.

At a secret rendezvous on the Tunisian border, a young man hands over to Libyan rebels a crate of medical supplies. He’s hoping for a precious cargo in return – memory cards and small video tapes that he will upload to the internet and show the world what is happening inside the Libyan capitol, Tripoli. In the revolutions of 2011, these are the new weapons of the internet age.

BBC Arabic sets out to explore the global information and communication revolution that has helped ferment real revolts, and pull down regimes across the Arab World.

We meet the Tunisian who uploaded the very first video from Sidi Bouzid. In Cairo, a protester learns from a Facebook friend in Tunisia how to use Pepsi against the effects of tear gas, while in Los Angeles an American group provides round the clock web support to keep the voices of the protesters heard. We will introduce you to a new global ‘network’ of protest, and a generation who have learned to use the power of their online connections to make sure they will never be silenced.

With a panel of experts and journalists we will be examining the political realignment taking place in the Middle East and North Africa.

We will be asking what the shifts in Arab world mean for Israel, Iran and Saudi Arabia: What is Israel’s likely response to the emerging democracies that are replacing autocrats who held onto power in the name of “stability” in the region. How will countries like Egypt respond to Israel in the future and how will the balance of power change?

We will be looking to at how Iran and Saudi Arabia respond to the changes taking place and the role of the Arab League in the future.

In association with BBC Arabic

Chaired by Sam Farah, the lead presenter of BBC Arabic’s flagship interactive programme Nuqtat Hewar (Talking Point).

With:

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst;

Abdel Bari Atwan, since 1989 he has been the editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, a major independent pan-Arab daily newspaper published in London and author of The Secret History of al-Qa’ida and A Country of Words, his memoir.

William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation, formerly a journalist and publisher he has been involved in the Middle East for more than 30 years. As Chairman of the International Media Council he has led press delegations to Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Egypt and Syria.

Picture credit: Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs