Well-known experts to debate overseas conflict

NIU's University Honors Program will welcome two well-known experts on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict for a debate on Tuesday, April 30.

David Roet, deputy consul general for the Midwest Consulate General of Israel, and Ali Abunimah, a social policy researcher at the University of Chicago, will discuss issues surrounding the conflict.

The free event begins at 7 p.m. in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Roet, a frequent speaker on Israel's economy and current events, played a key role in the reestablishment of the Israeli Embassy in Seoul, Korea in 1992. Born in Jerusalem, Roet studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Abunimah is a frequent guest on local, national and international radio and television programs. He maintains a Web site on the Middle East and recently co-founded "The Electronic Intifada," an online resource for media activists and journalists. Born in the United States to Palestinian parents, Abunimah grew up in Europe.

"It is important to hear about the conflict from both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides," said Philosophy Professor Tomis Kapitan. "This is one of the most severe political conflicts in the world today, one that has been festering for the past 80 years, and one whose outcome will determine the prospects for world peace over the next half-century."

Kapitan said the United States has played a major role in this conflict through financial, military and political support for Israel.

"With hundreds dying violent deaths every year, tens of thousands living in exile and two peoples living in fear, this is not the sort of problem Americans can turn their backs on," added Daniel Kempton, chair of the Department of Political Science and moderator for the event.

"Hopefully, this event will provide us all a greater sense of the roots of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict and some idea of the constructive role the United States might play in the conflict resolution process," he said.

For more information, call 753-9505 or e-mail ezuroske@niu.edu.