The NSI has launched its signature annual event, the African Global Dialogues, aimed at addressing major political and policy challenges relevant to South Africa and the Global South. The initiative aspires  to mark the beginning of the new phase of positive engagement on the most pressing global issues. This year, the conference will address the Narrative Conditions Towards Peace in the Middle East.

Featuring a stellar lineup of experts from various fields and from around the world, including our own NSI researchers, the conference aims to critically engage current political framings, with a view to opening a discursive space about Israel/Palestine and the region that is conducive to more positive engagement.

Context of the Dialogue

Since the physical assault on Israel on the 7th of October and the subsequent Israeli war with Hamas in Gaza, the public discourse on Israel/Palestine has radicalized in crude and violent ways. The protracted occupation of the West Bank has come to resemble an annexation, calling into question the conditions for a just resolution of the conflict. Right-wing extremism and messianism in Israel, moreover, threatens the fabric of democracy, the rule of law, and puts Israel in existential danger.

At the same time, many Israelis, including those who are deeply critical of the current Israeli government, find difficulty being heard in the public domain unless they are willing to reject the right of the Jewish state to exist at all. Palestinian politics, especially since the rise of Hamas, entertains fascist strategies and messianic fantasies. The atrocities committed by Hamas are symptomatic of a profound malaise.

The Importance of Nuance

What has been lost on all sides is an appreciation of nuance and complexity and, in turn, the search for constructive ways out of the current dead-end. Informed by the idea that political narratives, especially about history, concepts, friends and enemies, matter, we seek critically to engage current political framings, with a view to opening a discursive space about Israel/Palestine and the region that is conducive to more positive engagement.

As the War Continues 

As the war continues, with increasingly catastrophic consequences for Palestinian civilians and growing danger for the hostages held by Hamas, so does the polarization of the public discourse – which only hinders attempts to break out of the zero-sum logic of conflict and destruction, and the increasingly wide gulf between friend and enemy.

To address these complex issues, the African Global Dialogues (AGD) will host an event featuring esteemed speakers, including:

• Ivor Chipkin – Director of the New South Institute
• Marco Sassòli – Professor of International Law
• Chile Eboe-Osuji – Former Head of the International Criminal Court
• Yuval Shany – Professor of Humanitarian Law
• Hadil Al-Ashwal – Activist, Writer, and Public Speaker
• Radmila Nakarada – Sociologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Belgrade
• Benny Morris – Professor of History in the Middle East Studies Department at Ben-Gurion University
• Ayşe Zarakol – Professor of International Relations at the University of Cambridge
• Fania Oz-Salzberger – Historian and Writer

The event will be broadcast online, allowing for global participation. To express your interest in attending the dialogue virtually, please visit the AGD website and register by clicking here.