Middle East

This panel will focus on the various aspects of BDS (what it is and how to get involved in this movement) and the Palestinian Right of Return as a human right that is practical and feasible. Palestinian refugees number more than six million; this comprises nearly one-third of the global refugee poplulation. According to Salman Abu-Sitta, 80% of Israeli Jews live in 15% of present-day Israel, and 90% of the Palestinian village sites are still vacant today. There is ample space in present-day Israel to accommodate all Palestinian refugees.

Most close observers of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict acknowledge the death of the ѓ??two state solutionѓ?ќ and rebirth of the ѓ??one state solutionѓ?ќ whereby Israelis and Palestinians would live together as equal citizens before the law in the land between the Mediterranean and River Jordan. In the past few years, consideration and support for the one democratic state have been expressed via several conferences in Madrid, Boston, London, Haifa, and Dallas. Panelists will briefly discuss the unfeasibility of the two-state solution, and the conditions including apartheid practices in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and adherence to international law that make the case for one democratic state--the homeland for both peoples. The goals of this panel are to educate forum participants about the one state idea and stimulate discussion for action.

The consequences of Obama administration's undeclared remote control war has yet to be fully understood. Two renown experts of drones and insurgency in South Asia will describe their experiences reporting on this war from the ground. With Anand Gopal, journalist and fellow at the New American Foundation, and Madiha Tahir, journalist and editor of Tanqeed magazine

James Russell, Chair, Eastern Connecticut State University, Levon Chorbajian, Panelist, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Anoush TerTaulian, Panelist, Independent Scholar. After a series of anti-Armenian pogroms beginning in the late 19th century, the Ottoman Turkish state orchestrated a genocide against its Armenian minority beginning in April 1915. In all between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians perished. Within the first month of the mass killings the Entente powers sent a letter to the Sublime Porte protesting what they called 'crimes against humanity and civilization.' The Porte responded that there were no killings, only deportations of Armenians from the Caucasian front. The Porte also claimed that Armenians were in rebellion, deserting the military, joining Russian forces, cutting supply lines, and engaging in guerrilla combat behind the front lines. In such a troubled context, argued the Porte, it was only exercising its right as a sovereign state to protect its interests. Thus begins nearly a century of continuous Turkish genocide denial that has been played out in Congress, the European Union, and even Hollywood and seen lawsuits, bullying of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and even the creation of a denialist press at the University of Utah. The paper addresses both Armenian Genocide denial and the broad consequences for social justice in the aftermath of other genocides post-1950.

In this panel economic and [political consequences and potentials of the recently negotiated deal between Iran and 5+1 will be discussed.

Hear about the situation in the area directly ruled by the Saudi dynasty and the countries like Yemen and Bahrain who are victimized by this ally of the U.S. elite. Reports on human rights situation and resistance to Saudi intolerance, aggression and intervention. View a section of "Bahrain Witness" and talk to the filmmaker.