Interviews and Speeches

Educating the Gap
Speech by Ziad Asali at Columbia University - April 20, 2007 - 12:00am

The following speech was given as part of a “Night of Arab-American Culture, Identity, and Solidarity’ at Columbia University. The event was sponsored by the Arab Students Association at Columbia University, the Young Arab Leaders Association at the Columbia Business School, the Rutgers University Palestinian American Organization, and United Arabs at New York University.

Palestine-Israel Peace Process
Speech by Ziad Asali at World Affairs Councils of America - February 2, 2007 - 1:00am

The Palestine/Israel conflict has been a defining feature of the global political landscape for decades. Its resolution would present a major challenge to the status quo and those who benefit from it. It also would badly damage the careers of the legions of Middle East experts the world over.

Remarks by ATFP President Ziad Asali at ATFP Inaugural Gala
Speech by Ziad Asali at ATFP Inaugural Gala 2006 - October 11, 2006 - 12:00am

Back to Gala 2006: Towards Peace and Prosperity Tonight's speaker is a woman of substance. Her accomplishments and interests straddle the worlds of diplomacy, academia, classical music, sports and corporate stewardship. She has brought focus and a global vision to all her endeavors. Her association with Stanford University

Dr. Asali Addresses the World Affairs Council
Speech by Ziad Asali at Carnegie Endowment, Washington DC - December 8, 2004 - 1:00am

The very intractability of the Palestinian Israeli conflict over the past several decades makes it wiser to analyze it rather than to prognosticate about it. However, the long- standing deadlock and the sense of helpless shrugging of the shoulders with despair it generates, have recently been broken by several developments that call for a reassessment.

On the Historic Compromise
Speech by Ziad Asali at Cornell University - November 4, 2004 - 1:00am

Last year, my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting Ithaca and enjoyed the hospitality of Watermargin. The idyllic surroundings, which I assume most of you take for granted, and the kind and inquisitive reception by your students as I addressed them, has created in my mind an association of Cornell with pleasant and soothing memories. So when Professor Michelle Campos asked me to come to Cornell, all we needed to discuss was when, because I could not resist visiting these gorges again.

Beyond Revenge: Support Peace, Tolerance, & Reconciliation
Speech by Ziad Asali at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - October 21, 2004 - 12:00am

We are here today to pay respect to members of the families whose lives have been shattered by the untimely and violent and death of their relatives. They are here today, not just to share their grief, but also to share it publicly so other parents will be spared this unspeakable pain.

What is to be done?
Speech by Ziad Asali at Newark, New Jersey - October 18, 2004 - 12:00am

A consensus, that is, nearly a consensus, about the contours of the final agreement for a genuine and lasting peace is known. It is a variation of the themes of Clinton’s Taba proposal, The Geneva Initiative, Nusseibeh- Ayalon, One Voice and most importantly, the Road Map. Polls and surveys of Palestinians, Israelis, American Jews and Arabs, as well as the general American public, indicate support for a Two-State solution based on what has come to be called the Historic Compromise.

The Past, the Present and a Better Future
Speech by Ziad Asali at Carnegie Mellon University - October 18, 2004 - 12:00am

This is my first visit to Pittsburgh and it is quite a pleasure to be here. In the mid-seventies my son, barely four years at the time, became a big fan of the Steelers and Bradshaw, so I became one too. I watched more football games with him than I would by temperament, past the glory days of his beloved Steelers, to shift my loyalty, after my son’s, to our home team, the Chicago Bears, through their short lived glory in 1985, but we stuck with them. We still support a struggling team.

Palestinian Politics in Crisis: A Trip Report
Speech by Ziad Asali at Foundation for Middle East Peace - Washington, DC - August 3, 2004 - 12:00am

Simply stated, crossing the bridge from Jordan to the West Bank is a hassle. However, it is also an orderly juncture over an established state border with nothing temporary about it. Traversing it gives the traveler a sense of his powerlessness in the dominant military presence of the officials of the State. The July sun scorches the lowest spot on earth and the forbidding arid and naked landscape makes you wonder how strange the Palestinians and Israelis must seem to others: Are these people serious in fighting over this barren land?

The Geneva Proposals for Peace: Still Viable?
Speech by Ziad Asali at Washington, DC - April 15, 2004 - 12:00am

Thank you, Mr. Ambassador Freeman. I will try. Good morning everyone. The Hall of Justice in Geneva was packed with dignitaries, delegates, hardened peaceniks and guests from Palestine, Israel, the Arab world, Europe and the United States. The festive celebration with speeches, music and live performances, correctly and evenly divided between Israelis and Palestinians in joint appearances while a full court of world media was providing sympathetic attention -- an auspicious and promising occasion.

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