Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2001, page 78

Bulletin Board

Prizes

The Niwano Peace Foundation awarded its 18th Niwano Peace Prize to ordained Palestinian priest and educator Rev. Abuna Elias Chacour of Israel, at a ceremony on May 10 in Tokyo. The Prize was established to honor individuals and organizations that contribute significantly to inter-religious cooperation. For more than 30 years Reverend Chacour has dedicated himself to effecting reconciliation between Jews and Palestinians in Israel. As part of this effort, he founded the Mar Elias Educational Institutions, which serve to develop understanding between young people of different religions and ethnicity. For more information or to make a donation, contact Pilgrims of Ibillin, 16 Lakeshore Drive, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236.

Convenings

A conference entitled “Stability and Instability in the Middle East: Consequences for the Region and Beyond” will take place June 25 to 29 in West Sussex, UK. The conference is organized by Wilton Park, an Executive Agency of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Questions discussed will include the potential of a “warm peace” between Israel and its neighbors, the effect of Israel-Palestine relations on the Middle East region, and the respective responsibilities of regional actors and the international community. For complete information, contact Kelley Donnelly, Wilton Park Conferences, Wiston House, Steyning, West Sussex, BN44 3DZ, UK, e-mail <Kelley.Donnelly@wiltonpark.org.uk>, Web site <http://www.wiltonpark.org.uk>.

The Third Annual Mediterranean Program Summer School will take place July 9 to 19 at the European University Institute in Florence, and is open to Ph.D. students. The school will offer workshops focusing on three approaches to the study of the Middle East: political economy, state and society, and international relations. For more information, contact Ann-Charlotte Svantesson, Mediterranean Program, Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Via dei Roccettini 9, 50016 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI), Italy, e-mail <med.summer.school@iue.it>, Web site <http://www.iue.it/RSC/MED/Med-summer2001.htm>.

The University of Maryland’s Department of Government and Politics will offer a course on conflict resolution in the Middle East, co-taught by Palestinian professor Manuel Hassassian of Bethlehem University and Israeli professor Edy Kaufman of Hebrew University. The course, entitled “Conflict Resolution: The Israeli-Palestinian Experiment,” will include collaborative problem-solving workshops, and runs from July 17 to Aug. 23, Tues. and Thurs. For more information, contact the Center for International Development and Conflict Resolution, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, phone (301) 314-7707, fax (301) 314-9256, via e-mail Edy Kaufman at <msek@mscc.huji.ac.il>, Manuel Hassassian at <mhassass@bethlehem.edu>.

The University of Balamand in northern Lebanon is hosting an Academic and Cultural Summer Program for Youth (CONNECT 2001) from July 1 to 29, for youth aged 17 to 25. Participants will engage in academic workshops and tutorials, enjoy cultural, sports and travel opportunities, and work in community-based projects. For more information, contact <connect@balamand.edu.lb> or <UOBalamand@aol.com>, or call Khatmeh Osseiran-Hanna at the U.S. office, (201) 945-1131.

The Middle East Economic Association (MEEA) and the Center of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, SOAS, University of London will host a conference on “Global Change and Regional Integration: The Redrawing of the Economic Boundaries in the Middle East and North Africa.” The conference will take place in London July 20 to 22, and will address the Middle East’s economic challenges in a global setting through a study of changing patterns of trade, investment, finance, and labor flows and how they affect the region’s economies. For additional information, contact Hassan Hakimian, Conference Chair, Department of Economics, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H OXG, UK, phone (44-20) 7898-4537, fax (44-20) 7898-4559, e-mail <H.Hakimian@soas.ac.uk>, Web site <http://www.erf.org.eg>.

The Economic Research Forum for the Arab countries, Iran, and Turkey (ERF), with support from the World Bank, is organizing a workshop on the “Analysis of Poverty and its Determinants in the Middle East and North Africa.” The workshop will take place in Sana’a, Yemen July 31 to Aug. 1, and will bring together regional and international researchers working on poverty and its causes in the area. Topics include the incidence and severity of poverty at the national, sectoral and regional levels, gender dimensions of poverty, and the impact of agricultural policies on rural poverty, among others. For more information, contact Mrs. Abda El Mahdi, Workshop Coordinator, The Economic Research Forum, 7 Boulos Hanna Street, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt, phone (20-2) 337-0810, fax (20-2) 761-6042, e-mail <erf@idsc.net.eg>, Web site <http://www.erf.org.eg>.

The Social Communication Center, a Beirut-based NGO, and Al-Awda Refugee Support Committee is co-sponsoring a summer camp to establish permanent bonds of communication between Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and students from Europe and North America. The camp will run Aug. 11 to 21, feature workshops and lectures, and will involve student delegations from 1948 Palestine, the occupied territories, and refugee camps, as well as a Belgian delegation. Ten to twelve North American students are invited to apply. The deadline is June 30. For more information, contact Ribhi Huzien at <Einkarem1948@aol.com>, phone (973) 594-9617 after 6 pm EST.

Obituaries

Field Marshall Habes Al-Majali, who had served as Jordan’s defense minister, chief of staff of its armed forces and its army commander, died April 21 in Amman at the age of 87. Marshall al-Majali joined the armed forces in 1932 and became a close friend of King Abdullah and, later, of his grandson King Hussein. In 1948, Marshall al-Majali’s regiment in the Arab Legion prevented the Hagana, the Jewish defense force, from capturing the town of Latrun, near Jerusalem. Arab historians say that his regiment captured, but later released, more than 200 Hagana fighters, including Ariel Sharon. In 1949, he was appointed private escort to King Abdullah, who was assassinated two years later. King Hussein appointed Marshall al-Majali chief of staff of the armed forces in 1957, a position he held until shortly before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. That year he became defense minister, but was again appointed army chief when Palestinian guerillas threatened King Hussein’s rule in 1970. Under Marshall al-Majali the army put down a rebellion led by Yasser Arafat, killing thousands in what was known as the Black September war. In the last 20 years, al-Majali distanced himself from the army and served several terms in the upper house of parliament.

Raji Habib Sahyoun, Palestinan activist and journalist, died April 27 in Beirut. Mr. Sahyoun dedicated his life to working in the media on behalf of Palestinians. After the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964, he became head of the organization’s media department. In 1965, he started Saut Filistin (The Voice of Palestine) Radio, and in 1966 established the Akhbar Filistin newspaper in Gaza. He was also a member of the Palestinian National Council. He published his memoirs and the history of the Palestinians in 1997 in a book entitled Lest We Forget.

L. Dean Brown, former U.S. ambassador to Jordan, the State Department’s deputy undersecretary for management in the 1970s, and president of the Middle East Institute from 1975 to 1986, died May 2 in Washington, DC at the age of 80. A native of New York, he graduated from Wesleyan University in 1942 and served in Europe during World War II as a junior infantry officer in the Army. Mr. Brown began his Foreign Service career in 1946 and was named ambassador to Jordan in 1970. During the 10-day civil war that same year between Palestinian refugees and the Jordanian army, he came under criticism from the Arab world because of Washington’s backing of King Hussein. In 1973, he was recalled from Jordan and became deputy undersecretary for management. After Henry Kissinger became secretary of state, Mr. Brown was one of his key aides and was one of the “diplomatic dozen” who presided over a reorganization of the State Department. In 1974, he was sent as a special envoy to Cyprus, after the U.S. ambassador was killed during an anti-American protest by Greek Cypriots. After his retirement from the State Department, he was asked by Mr. Kissinger in 1975 to organize the Vietnamese airlift that allowed thousands of Americans and South Vietnamese to escape Saigon. A few months later, he was sent as special envoy to Lebanon during that country’s civil war. Later, he engaged in a round of diplomacy between Syria and Israel that resulted in a tenuous understanding between the two parties. Mr. Brown was a frequent critic of U.S. policy in the Middle East. He served on various boards, including the American Institute for Islamic Affairs. He was president of the Jordan Social Development Fund, and an adviser to the National Council on U.S.-Arab relations and the Council for Palestinian Social and Economic Development.

Nikos Giorgiades Sampson, president of Cyprus for eight days after the 1974 overthrow of Archbishop Makarios, died on May 9 in Nicosia at the age of 66. Mr. Sampson belonged to the Cypriot guerrilla movement EOKA that fought against British rule and supported union with Greece. Often masquerading as a journalist, he was linked to the killing of 20 British servicemen, as well as Greeks suspected of collaborating with the British. In the mid-1950s he was convicted of murdering a police sergeant and sentenced to death, a term reduced to life imprisonment after complaints that he had been tortured. He served three years and was released when Cyprus became independent. There he founded a right-wing newspaper, Mahi, advocating union with Greece. When fighting began between Greeks and Turks in 1963, Mr. Sampson led several government-supported attacks on Turkish communities. After the military coup in 1974, he served as president for eight days but, with no support at home or abroad, resigned his post to Glafkos Clerides, a respected Greek Cypriot leader. In 1977, he was the only person put on trial for his role in the 1974 coup, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Two years later, he went to France for medical treatment and remained there for 12 years. On his return, he was re-imprisoned for a short time and then released.

Exhibitions

The Search for Common Ground presents an exhibition entitled “A Breeze from the Gardens of Iran: New Art From Iran,” which will tour several American cities. Until July 15, the exhibition will be housed in the White Meyer Galleries of the Meridian International Center, 1630 Crescent Place NW, Washington, DC. Several related events are planned, including a poetry reading and a lecture on Persian carpets and textiles at the Textile Museum in DC. A schedule of events and ticket information is available at <www.sfcg.org>. For more information, call (202) 939-5595 or visit Meridian’s Web site at <www.meridian.org>.

Miscellaneous

Ambassador Charles Warren Hostler recently pledged a gift of $11.7 million to the American University of Beirut for the establishment of the Charles Hostler Memorial Student Center. The Center will include student activities and athletic facilities, a new viewing stand and a theater-auditorium. Ambassador Hostler is an alumnus of AUB, where he received an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies in 1955.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) aired the first live video feed of the weekly Muslim Wavelength webcast from MPAC headquarters in Los Angeles. The show will be broadcast every Tuesday at 2 p.m. PDT at www.islam.org/mpac and will present discussions of current events affecting the American Muslim community and the Muslim world.

The Web site <www.PetitionOnline.com> is hosting an online petition to stop American taxes from aiding Israel. The petition was created and written by Kim Storz and is entitled American tax dollars should aid in peace, not war. It can be accessed at <http://petitiononline.com/31113/petition.html

An Islamic Peace Corps has been established by Projects for the Needy-Task Force Houston, through which Muslims can volunteer to work on relief and development projects in Muslim countries. The first mission is leaving Houston from mid June through July, and will focus on educational and health projects in Pakistan. For more information, contact Syed Ahmed, phone (281) 376-8719, e-mail taskforce-houston@hotmail.com

The Web site <www.stopaidtoisrael.com/uses/php> was launched April 15. There currently are 10 news topics under which visitors can post news, and five discussion forums. For more information, visit the site at http://www.stopaidtoisrael.com/user.php or contact editor@stopaidtoisrael.com

The site for the Electronic Intifada has recently been updated. For more information, visit http://www.electronicIntifada.net/new.html

Several career foreign service officers have been named by the White House for ambassadorships in the Middle East and North Africa. Theodore H. Kattouf will head the embassy in Syria, C. David Welch will be ambassador to Egypt, Maureen Quinn is to run the embassy in Qatar, and Marcelle Wahba is going to the United Arab Emirates.