International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East 16-17 November 2021

The 2021 United Nations International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East will be held virtually this year on Tuesday, 16 November [from 10:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. EST] and Wednesday, 17 November [from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST]. 

Organized by the United Nations Department for Global Communications, in the context of its special information programme on the question of Palestine, this annual event aims to sensitize public opinion to the question of Palestine and promote a peaceful settlement to the Israel-Palestine conflict. It also aims to bring together journalists, media experts, think tanks, diplomats and members of academia from Israel, Palestine, the wider Middle East, Europe, the United States and other parts of the world to discuss media related dynamics and trends connected to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The seminar will open on Tuesday, 16 November, at 10:00 a.m. EST with a recorded message of the United Nations Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres. United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, Ms. Melissa Fleming, will chair and moderate the first panel discussion under the theme: “The 30th Anniversary of the Madrid Peace Conference: Can hope prevail?” Dr. Yossi Beilin, Former Minister and Former Knesset Member, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations and Dr. Grace Wermenbol, Non-Resident Scholar at The Middle East Institute will speak on that panel.

On Wednesday, 17 November, at 10:30 a.m. EST, Ms. Nanette Braun, Chief of Communications Campaigns Service in the United Department of Global Communications will, moderate the second panel discussion, which will be held under the theme: “Solutions journalism in the coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict.” Ms. Dina Aboughazala, Founder of Egab, Mr. Daoud Kuttab, Director General of Community Media Network and Ms. Eetta Prince-Gibson, former Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Report will sit on that panel.

The two-day event will be hosted on http://webtv.un.org/. It will also stream live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unitednations, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNWebTV/, and Twitter: https://twitter.com/unwebtv.

People are strongly encouraged to use the hashtag #UNMediaSeminar to contribute to the discussions and/or send their questions to the panelists via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Questions can be sent in the lead up to or during the seminar.

The event will be held in English, and simultaneous Arabic interpretation will be available.

• For more information, please visit https://un-mediaseminar-blog.tumblr.com/ 
• Trello: https://bit.ly/2021UNMediaSeminar
• Live Webcast: http://webtv.un.org/. The event will also stream live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/unitednations, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNWebTV/, and Twitter: https://twitter.com/unwebtv.
• For questions to the panelists before or during the event: people are asked to tweet/post to the seminar’s hashtag #UNMediaSeminar.