Middle East Institute and Foundation for Middle East Peace  

invite you to a presentation and discussion with 

Sammy Smooha Professor, University of Haifa
Asa'ad Ghanem Professor, University of Haifa

The Status and Fate of the Palestinian-Arab Minority in Israel  

 Wednesday January 27, 1:00 - 3:00pm

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1st floor

1779 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC    

Sammy Smooha and As'ad Ghanem, both professors at the University of Haifa, have been polling Israel's Arab citizens for years, examining their opinions of their current status and future in Israel. Mr. Ghanem and Mr. Smooha's views diverge but they agree that Israel is a deeply divided society and the status of the Palestinian-Arab minority is one of the gravest problems facing Israel. Mr. Ghanem and  Mr. Smooha will discuss the relationship between Israel's Arabs and the Israeli state and the prospect for their future.

Sammy Smooha is a professor of sociology at the University of Haifa. Mr. Smooha specializes in ethnic relations in Israel and elsewhere and in the social dynamics of Israeli society.  He has published widely on the internal divisions and conflicts in Israeli society, especially on the relations between Mizrahim and Ashkenazim, and between Arab and Jewish citizens. He has authored several books including, Israel: Pluralism and Conflict and Arabs and Jews in Israel.  He is currently a senior research fellow at the United States Institute of Peace; he is working on a comparative study of Israel's treatment of its Arab minority to the treatment of minority populations in N. Ireland, Estonia, Slovakia and Macedonia.

As'ad Ghanem is a researcher and lecturer at the School of Political Sciences, University of Haifa.  Mr. Ghanem's theoretical work has explored the legal, institutional and political conditions in ethnic states. He is an expert on Palestinian political orientations, the political structure of the Palestinian Authority, and majority-minority politics.  He has initiated and designed several policy schemes and empowerment programs for Palestinian-Arabs in Israel. He has authored and edited numerous articles and books including Palestinian Politics After Arafat: A failed National Movement, and the forthcoming Ethnic Politics in Israel - The Margins and the Ashkenazi Centre.

Sandwiches will be served

Please RSVP to: info@fmep.org