National Resistance, Settler Colonialism and Palestinian Dispossession in Gaza and West Bank
The latest phase of the long-running Palestine-Israel conflict has entered its crucial period. The current round was triggered by Hamas’ hostage taking and killing of Israeli civilians on October 7. The much-predicted retaliatory Israeli action has broadened into a full-blown invasion – and possible reoccupation – of Gaza amid the killing of more than 10,000 Palestinians so far. The Israeli rampage has raged undimmed despite vociferous international calls ranging from humanitarian pauses to full-scale ceasefire. The developing situation has raised profound long-term concerns about the equal application, and observance, of international humanitarian law, the broadly defined, and infinite, self-defence warfare of Israel verging on genocide, the role of the Israel-Western backers in perpetuating the misery of the Palestinian people, future of the two-state solution and media coverage of the conflict. Despite large demonstrations calling for immediate ceasefire becoming regular weekend occurrences in the Western and non-Western capitals, Israel continues to bombard hospitals, civilian infrastructure, killing women and children in thousands in Gaza. The session will discuss background to the current round of hostilities from the Balfour declaration to the founding of the Israel state, expulsion of the Palestinians, Oslo accord and the Palestinian leadership and the work of key Palestinian thinkers and writers as well the future direction of Israeli politics and the rise of the new historians in Israel offering an alternative perspective.
About the Discussants
● Arif Azad, a public health specialist, is also a columnist, political commentator, and art critic. Writing widely on world literature, history, politics, culture, and art, his work work has appeared in the Guardian, Index on Censorship, Tehelka, BBC, and the Dawn. Author of “Thinkers, Dreamers and Doers”, a collection of his essays, he currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal Of Humanitarian Affairs, published by Manchester University. He also contributed to an edited volume titled Creating Space for Freedom, published from London. Other contributors included Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, Albie Sachs and Achille Membe.
● Arshad Waheed is a novelist. He has written two novels “Gumaan” and “Other days”. Also, he has translated two novels, namely, ‘Love in the time of cholera‘ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and ‘Immortality’ by Milan Kundera. He has also translated a book of essays, ‘The art of the novel’ by Milan Kundera. He works as a social policy consultant in Islamabad.