Conversation with Noa Sattath and Udi Ofer event

SPIA Experts on the Crisis in the Middle East

SPIA ReactsDean's StatementEvents
SPIA's accomplished faculty bring their wealth of knowledge and years of experience to illuminate the way ahead, offering invaluable insights and a deep understanding of geopolitical dynamics. We will continue to highlight SPIA experts’ analysis here.
Salam Fayyad, Visiting senior scholar, Daniella Lipper Coules '95 Distinguished Visitor in Foreign Affairs

“It has never been more important to find a way to end the division and fragmentation that has plagued the Palestinian polity since Hamas seized power in Gaza 16 years ago.”

Salam Fayyad, Visiting senior scholar, Daniella Lipper Coules '95 Distinguished Visitor in Foreign Affairs

Salam Fayyad

Fayyad is a former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. His 24-year tenure at the International Monetary Fund included serving as IMF resident representative in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from 1996 to 2001.

2/9/24 - Building the Palestinian State With Salam Fayyad (The New York Times)

Into the Breach: Salam Fayyad and Palestine (Innovations for Successful Societies Policy Memoir)

11/7/23 - 'It is impossible to eradicate a political movement' like Hamas, says former Palestinian PM (Amanpour, CNN)

10/27/23 - A Plan for Peace in Gaza (Foreign Affairs)

10/11/23 - The Palestinian cause has been damaged by factionalism, argues a former prime minister (The Economist)

Amaney Jamal
Amaney Jamal, Dean, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

“Most Gazans do not align themselves with Hamas’s ideology … . Unlike Hamas, whose goal is to destroy the Israeli state, the majority of survey respondents favored a two-state solution with an independent Palestine and Israel existing side by side.”

Amaney Jamal, Dean, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

Amaney Jamal

In addition to serving as dean, Jamal is the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics, and a professor of politics and international affairs. She directs the Workshop on Arab Political Development and the Bobst Center-American University of Beirut Collaborative Initiative. Her book "Barriers to Democracy" (2007), which explores the role of civic associations in promoting democratic effects in the Arab world, won the 2008 American Political Science Best Book Award in the Comparative Democratization section.

12/3/23 – What do Palestinians think of their leaders? (Fareed Zakaria GPS)

11/28/23 – Virtual Media Briefing: Gaza the Day After (Council on Foreign Relations)

11/16/23 - What Do Palestinians Think of Their Own Leaders? (Foreign Affairs podcast)

11/15/23 - Was die Menschen in Gaza über die Hamas denken (Die Zeit, Germany)

11/7/23 - Life in Gaza under siege and one woman's ordeal to escape (ABC News, Australia)

11/3/23 - She Polled Gazans on Oct. 6. Here’s What She Found. (“The Ezra Klein Show,” New York times podcast)

11/2/23 – BBC: The World Tonight

11/2/23 – BBC Newshour

11/2/23 - Amaney A. Jamal: The level of trust in the Hamas government is declining (N1, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

10/30/23 – CNN This Morning

10/30/23 - The Conversations About the War in Gaza We Ought to Be Having (The New York Times)

10/26/23 - Opinions of Hamas from Palestinians in Gaza (The World)

10/25/23 - What Palestinians Really Think of Hamas (Foreign Affairs)

Daniel Kurtzer
Daniel Kurtzer, S. Daniel Abraham Professor of Middle East Policy Studies

“Success against Hamas will be measured not only by the number of Hamas leaders and operatives killed, but also by the degree to which the prosecution of the war does not result in a worse humanitarian calamity in Gaza; and by the degree to which the day after results in a peaceful Gaza that is safe for its population and for Israel.”

Daniel Kurtzer, S. Daniel Abraham Professor of Middle East Policy Studies

Dan Kurtzer

During a 29-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, Ambassador Kurtzer served as the United States Ambassador to Israel and as the United States Ambassador to Egypt, among other high-profile roles.

1/22/24 - Around the globe, the politics of the war in Gaza is local (The Christian Science Monitor)

12/27/23 - Biden Says the Israeli-Palestinian Status Quo is Dead. Can He Build an Alternative? (Haaretz)

12/22/23 - In Dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, America Has No Easy Way Out (Foreign Affairs)

12/14/23 - What Needs to Happen When the Fighting Stops in Gaza (The Atlantic)

12/3/23 - Facing hard truths for both Israel and the Palestinians (New York Daily News)

11/8/23 - Why a Gaza Cease-Fire Is Unrealistic (The Atlantic)

11/2/23 - I Worked With Netanyahu. It's Time for Him to Step Down (Foreign Policy)

10/29/23 - From the Gulf War to Gaza: Israel Must Not Make America's Mistakes (Haaretz)

10/20/23 - Why Egypt Can’t Solve Gaza’s Problems (The New York Times)

10/18/23 - Biden 'stands fast' with Israel: 'Unusual for US president to visit warzone' sans US troop presence (France 24)

10/17/23 - Netanyahu Opted for Limited Strikes in the Past. This Is His First All-Out War. (The New York Times)

10/17/23 - Biden ‘Outraged’ Over Gaza Blast as He Makes a Wartime Visit to Israel (The New York Times)

10/17/23 - Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza may not be a ‘full invasion,’ says ex-U.S. ambassador (CNBC)

10/17/23 - Why Biden Is Visiting Wartime Israel (Haaretz)

10/15/23 (subscription only) - Hamas, Israel, and the Challenges Ahead (New York Daily News)

10/13/23 - Former US ambassador Kurtzer on Israel-Hamas war: Neither side seems interested in de-escalation (CNBC)

Udi Ofer
Udi Ofer, John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor and Lecturer in Public and International Affairs

"In times of crisis, it is more important than ever for the rule of law to take hold and for a system of constitutional checks and balances to guide government responses."

Udi Ofer, John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor and Lecturer in Public and International Affairs

Udi Ofer

Ofer, the founding director of the Princeton Policy Advocacy Clinic, teaches courses on civil rights, policing, criminal justice reform, and policy advocacy. The former deputy national political director of the American Civil Liberties Union, he chairs the International Advisory Council of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

2/23/24 - Biden Has New Authority To Stop Israeli Settler Violence. His Choices May Shape Palestine's Future. (Huffington Post)

1/26/24 - Why Israel's Supreme Court Must Remain a Strong Check on Power—Especially Now (Newsweek)

11/10/23 - Israeli Civil and Human Rights Degrade in a Time of War (The American Prospect)

10/29/23 - ‘This is our 9/11': The words are like alarm bells for some New Yorkers (Gothamist)

Ken Roth
Kenneth Roth, Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor and Visiting Lecturer

“It is a basic premise of international humanitarian law that war crimes by one side do not justify war crimes by the other.”

Kenneth Roth, Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor and Visiting Lecturer

Kenneth Roth

Roth served as the executive director of Human Rights Watch for nearly 30 years. Before that, he was a federal prosecutor in New York and for the Iran-Contra investigation in Washington, D.C.

2/15/24 - Only Joe Biden Has Power to Stop "Massive Bloodshed" of a Rafah Invasion (Democracy Now!)

2/9/24 - Destroying Gaza’s Health Care System Is a War Crime (Foreign Policy)

2/3/24 - Biden’s sanctions on Israeli settlers are an important step – but not nearly enough (The Guardian)

1/26/24 - The ICJ ruling is a repudiation of Israel and its western backers (The Guardian)

1/13/24 - South Africa’s genocide case against Israel is imperfect but persuasive. It may win (The Guardian)

1/11/24 - Experts give 2 perspectives on accusations Israel is committing genocide in Gaza (PBS NewsHour)

11/7/23 - Under Scrutiny Over Gaza, Israel Points to Civilian Toll of U.S. Wars (New York Times)

11/6/23 - University should stop commenting on world events (Boston Globe)

11/4/23 - The humanitarian situation in Gaza (CBC News)

11/2/23 - 'Collective punishment is a war crime' (L'Orient Today, Beirut)

10/30/23 - Israel warned: Striking Al-Quds Hospital would be war crime (Al Jazeera English)

10/27/23 – CNN International

10/26/23 - A lot of Israeli soldiers will lose their lives (Rediff.com)

10/25/23 - Hamas is not stupid (Rediff.com)

10/23/23 - The ‘godfather of human rights’ criticized Israeli ‘apartheid’ — now he’s calling out the left for making excuses for Hamas

10/14/23 - Atrocities Seeks Extreme Reaction. Don’t Give Hamas What It Wants (Time)

10/11/23 - The attack on Israel has been called a ‘9/11 moment’. Therein lies a cautionary tale (The Guardian)

Zelizer
Julian Zelizer, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs

“Biden will remember the Iran hostage crisis under Carter, and that was pretty devastating.”

Julian Zelizer, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs

Julian Zelizer

New York Times best-selling author Zelizer is a CNN political analyst and a regular guest on NPR’s "Here and Now." He has written or edited more than two dozen books and is a past winner of the D.B. Hardeman Prize for the Best Book on Congress.

11/4/23 - Opinion: Progressives should never tolerate antisemitism (CNN)

11/2/23 - Is Biden Becoming a Wartime President? (Newsweek)

10/21/23 - Will the Middle East War Change Voters’ Views of Biden? (The New York Times)

10/17/23 - The Memo: Hostage crisis will test Biden (The Hill)

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