The effects of the Arab uprisings of 2011-12, the devastating war in Syria and the mass displacement of the Syrian population are posing unprecedented challenges for governments and communities across the region and beyond. In the background, the US Secretary of State John Kerry, has chosen this moment to pursue peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

We invite you to come and discuss the implications of these developments for the Palestinians in particular. What will be the fate of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip now that the Egyptian authorities have reclosed the border and most of the tunnels? How has the Palestinian situation been affected (especially in Jordan) by successive new flows of refugees, from Iraq and now Syria? What is the future of the Palestinian refugees in the Arab host countries? And supposing that John Kerry’s initiative produces a ‘two-state’ formula for them and the Israelis – what would that actually mean?

On the panel:

Dr Ahmad Khalidi is a Senior Associate Member of St Antony’s College, Oxford, a former Palestinian negotiator and adviser to PLO leader Yasser Arafat, and the co-author, with Hussein Agha, of A Framework for a Palestinian National Security Doctrine (Chatham House, 2006)

Oroub El-Abed specialises in refugee issues in the Middle East and has worked with the World Bank, the UN, Jordanian Department of Palestinian Affairs and various INGOs. Her book, Unprotected: Palestinians in Egypt since 1948, was published in 2009 and she is currently completing a PhD at SOAS on the Palestinian-origin Jordanians living in Amman and the economic opportunities they have been able to access since the late 1980s.

Ahmed Ziat grew up in Balata Refugee Camp near Nablus. He has a BA in English Literature from An-Najar University and a BSc in International Politics from City University, where he was awarded an Olive Tree Scholarship (2008-11). He is now working as a researcher for a series of projects on Palestinian politics directed by Dr Karma Nabulsi at Oxford University.

In the Chair: Prof Rosemary Hollis, Director of the Olive Tree Programme and Professor of Middle East Policy Studies.

For more information please click here.