The Palestine Center (previously called the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine until 2002) is an independent educational program based in Foggy Bottom,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Their focus is on the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

and other Middle East issues.

Founding

It was set up in 1991 as an educational component of The Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development. The Fund is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

non-profit grant-making organization operating in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Its founders include the late professors Hisham Sharabi of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and

Samih Farsoun Samih K. Farsoun, (1937 in Haifa, Palestine – June 9, 2005) was a professor emeritus of sociology at American University, where he taught for thirty years until his retirement in 2003. He graduated from Hamilton College in New York. He received a ...

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

. Sharabi was a founder of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at

. The current executive director is Zeina Azzam.

Purpose

The center analyzes relations between the

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

with a focus on the Palestinian issue. The center studies specific U.S. policies, publishes reports, briefing, and analysis, and serves as a venue for Palestinian and

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

scholars. The center also houses the

Hisham Sharabi Memorial Library Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ( ar, هشام بن عبد الملك, Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik; 691 – 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrat ...

, one of the largest Palestine-centered collections in the United States. The center employs fellows to conduct policy research. It published extensive online audio archives of its events going back to the early 1990s, a blog and a YouTube page to document its on-site events.

Publications

The center has been referenced by diverse

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

media from the ''

Turkish Weekly ''Journal of Turkish Weekly'' was an English language Turkish news website run by the International Strategic Research Organization, targeted towards policymakers. The journal provided a Turkish approach on global and regional issues. Establishe ...

'' to the '' Washington Times'' and '' Christian Science Monitor''. The Palestine Center publishes press releases as mentioned above, as well as articles written by fellows.

Events

The Palestine Center holds weekly events and often invites distinguished speakers. Speakers at the Palestine Center have included former Israeli

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

member Azmi Bishara, Palestinian diplomat

Afif Safieh Afif Safieh ( ar, عفيف صافية, born 4 May 1950) is a Palestinian diplomat. He has served as a Palestinian delegate to the Netherlands (1987-1990), to the United Kingdom (1990-2005), the Holy See, Vatican (1995-2005), and in Washington as ...

Clovis Maksoud Clovis Maksoud (December 17, 1926 – May 15, 2016) was an American diplomat and journalist. He served as Ambassador of the Arab League to India from 1961 through 1966, to the United Nations from 1979 through 1990 and at the same time to the Uni ...

, Amb.

Nabil Fahmy Nabil Fahmi (born 5 January 1951) is an Egyptian diplomat and politician who served in the government of Egypt as minister of foreign affairs from June 2013 to July 2014. Early life and education Nabil Fahmi was born in New York on 5 January 195 ...

, Egyptian Ambassador to the United States,

Hanan Ashrawi Hanan Daoud Mikhael Ashrawi ( ar, حنان داوود مخايل عشراوي ; born 8 October 1946) is a Palestinian politician, legislator, activist, and scholar who served as a member of the Leadership Committee and as an official spokesperson ...

, Palestinian Prime Minister

Salam Fayyad Salam Fayyad ( ar, سلام فياض, ; born 1951 or 12 April 1952) is a Jordanian-Palestinian politician and former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority and Finance Minister. He was Finance Minister from June 2002 to November 2005 and ...

, and

John Mearsheimer John Joseph Mearsheimer (; born December 14, 1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar, who belongs to the realist school of thought. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the Univers ...

, among others.

Notes

External links