Ziad Asali, President of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), spoke at several panels at the Sixty-first Annual Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado, Boulder, held from April 6 –10.

On April 6, Dr. Asali joined a panel discussing “Middle East: An Integrated Strategy for Peace,” with Joseph Cirincione, President of the Ploughshares Fund, Egyptian social scientist and activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim and Martin Indyk, Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. Dr. Asali stressed the overriding American national interest in an end of conflict in the Middle East based on two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace.

On the same day, Dr. Asali and Ambassador Indyk addressed the Conference in a plenary session on “Palestine-Israel: Navigating the Fault Lines.” Both agreed on the urgent need for active engagement by the Obama Administration and the importance of an immediate settlement freeze. Advocating the centrality of a tangible improvement in the Palestinian economy and enhanced security, Dr. Asali emphasized that only a political solution that creates a state of Palestine alongside Israel would end the conflict.

On April 7, Dr. Asali also took part in a panel on “Winning Islamic Hearts and Minds,” along with Saad Eddin Ibrahim, James Glanz of the New York Times and Professor Azmat Hassan of Seton Hall University.

In his Conference remarks, Dr. Asali emphasized the prospects for Middle East peace under the Obama Administration and new opportunities for improvement in relations between the United States and the Arab and Islamic worlds. He emphasized the component of dignity and respect when dealing with Arabs and Muslims and pointed out the importance of Palestine to the Arab and Muslim worlds. He commended the Obama Administration for the significant and positive public messages and actions taken by the President including the early appointment of George Mitchell as the Special Envoy to the Middle East. He characterized the Obama Policy towards the Arab and Muslim World as one of “Benign Engagement.”

Click below to watch Dr Asali's Panel Appearances:

Middle East: An Integrated Strategy for Peace April 6, 2009

PLENARY Palestine-Israel Navigating the Fault Lines April 6, 2009

Winning Islamic Hearts and Minds April 7, 2009