Popular Revolutions and Political Impass: Israeli and Palestinian Bloggers Discuss Diplomacy and Regional Changes

Description: The Arab world was swept by a protest movement that brought down regimes; Israel has seen the biggest protest movment in it’s history this summer, yet the effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has never seemed so hopeless. As Palestinians trun to the UN despite pleas and threats from Jerusalem and Washington, and Israel expanding the settlement activity in the West Bank, many say that the hope to resume negotiations is all but gone, and the window for the two solution is rapidly closing. But if the old framework is disappearing, what is there to replace it?

Four leading Israeli and Palestinian political bloggers – all contributors for the progressive +972 Magazine – will discuss these questions in a panel @ Bus Boys and Poets, this Sunday at 6PM.

Noam Sheizaf, an Israeli journalist who has worked for various Israeli papers including Haaretz, Maariv, and others. His work focuses on Israeli politics, both on the grassroots and the party level.

Lisa Goldman, one of the most well-known Israeli bloggers in English. Lisa has made a name for herself with her independent reporting from Beirut during the second Lebanon war, and from Egypt after the revolution.

Joseph Dana, an American-born journalist and blogger, based in Ramallah/Tel Aviv. His writing focuses on the Palestinian street and on life under the occupation. Joseph has intimate knowledge of the unarmed struggle in Palestinian villages.

Aziz abu-Sarah, a columnist with Al Quds newspaper and co-executive director of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. Dividing time between East Jerusalem and Washington, DC, Aziz also runs tours to the Middle East with a focus on Israel and the West Bank.

+972 is a web-based magazine jointly published by a group of Israeli journalists and bloggers, and was recently named by Israel’s Channel 2 as one of the best 5 news projects on the web this year. Launched in the summer of 2010, the goal is to provide fresh, original, on-the-ground reporting and analysis of events in Israel and the Palestinian territories for an English-speaking audience. The +972 team includes 18 people: 13 bloggers, 2 editors, designer, developer and attorney — currently almost all of them volunteers.

Named for the telephone area code that is shared by Israel and the Palestinian territories, +972 features a diversity of progressive voices, has no editorial position on current political questions, but was founded on the following principles: A commitment to civil rights and freedom, support of freedom of information and opposition to censorship, and opposition to the Israeli occupation.