Making sense of Middle East conflict
A speaker with decades of experience in the Arab-Israeli conflict is bringing his “different perspective” on the issue to Kamloops.
Avi Melamed will be at Thompson Rivers University on Tuesday, Nov. 6, delivering a presentation on the current state of the Middle East.
“Basically, I’m talking about it from a different perspective — what is the essence of this event? What drives this event?” Melamed told KTW.
“I provide a more complete picture so people will be able to connect the dots.”
Melamed said his vast resume allows him to take an approach not common when it comes to the Middle East — a neutral one.
“I’m not standing for any political view, not speaking for any political lobby,” he said.
“People basically come out with the feeling that the whole chaotic thing that is the Middle East, they are more able to connect the dots and more able to understand the context.”
Melamed is Jewish, but speaks fluid Arabic.
That, he said, means he’s able to experience both sides of the Middle East’s problems.
After a career in combat intelligence with the Israeli military, Melamed became a senior advisor to two mayors of Jerusalem.
He then entered the private sector and founded a consulting company focusing on Arab affairs.
Following that, Melamed taught high school until 2010, when he started feenjan.com — a website designed to present Israel to Arabs in Arabic, with the goal of creating a community based on common goals.
Melamed has given presentations across North America and in Europe.
He said the talks have the potential to go a long way in repairing the Middle East.
“These meetings are enormously important,” he said.
“They are educational, but sometimes you have speakers who come and speak out their political views.
“I’m not doing that.”
Melamed’s talk, titled Winds of Change and Quicksand: The Arab Awakening, Israel and the Region, is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. in room IB1015 inside TRU’s International Building.
Admission is free, and free parking will also be provided in TRU’s Lot A.
For more information, go to this website.
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