Fafo seminar: Security in Palestine: Towards what kind of state?

Fafo invites to the seminar Security in Palestine: Towards what kind of state? at Fafo 29 February 2008 09:00-12:00, Borggata 2B, Oslo.

Events in Gaza threaten international efforts to create a platform for negotiations. The collapse of Gaza’s border with Egypt, the continuation of Israeli incursions and Palestinian rockets, the on-going contest between Fatah and Hamas, and the multiplicity of armed groups, all reinforce the sense that the security situation is deteriorating, not improving. What are the implications of the present dynamics for international efforts to reform the Palestinian security sector?

09:00 Welcome and Introduction, by Åge A. Tiltnes, Middle East Coordinator, Fafo

09:15 Gaza today and the implications for reform of the security sector, by Mouin Rabbani, Fafo Associate

Comments by Are Hovdenak, PRIO

10:30 Break

10:45 Palestinian Security Forces: Lessons learned from the 1990s, by Dr. Brynjar Lia, FFI

Comments, Mark Taylor, Fafo

1200 Ends

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Mouin Rabbani has recently joined Fafo as an Associate, based in Amman, Jordan. Until the end of January 2008, Mouin was Senior Analyst and Special Advisor on Palestine with the Middle East Program of the International Crisis Group. His research at Crisis Group was primarily on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including research on the Palestinian political system and governance; Palestinian nationalism and Islamism; and regional and international approaches to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Are Hovdenak is a researcher at International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO). He is currently studying the political transformation process that has taken place within Hamas with its participation in Palestinian legislative elections in 2006.

Dr. Brynjar Lia is a research professor at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI), where he currently heads FFI’s research on international terrorism and radical Islamism. Trained in Russian, Arabic and Middle Eastern studies, Lia obtained his PhD at the University of Oslo. He was a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University from 2001-2. Lia is the author of several books, including A Police Force without a State: A History of the Palestinian Security Forces in the West Bank and Gaza (Ithaca Press, 2006), and Building Arafat’s Police: The Politics of International Police Assistance in the Palestinian Territories After the Oslo Agreement (Ithaca Press, 2007).

Mark Taylor is Deputy Managing Director, Fafo. His current research includes the historical sociology of armed groups in Palestine.

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Light snack is served during the break. The seminar is open to the public and free of charge. Registration by February 27 by e-mail to pub@fafo.no. Please include name of event, name of participant(s), and place of work. The seminar will be in English.

Fafo is situated in Borggata 2B by the Police House and behind Grønland church. 10 minutes from Oslo Central Station, 5 minutes from Grønland or Tøyen subway stations, Bus no. 37 stops outside. Map