Q: Why do you think Hamas didn`t accept the terms of the ceasefire?
Rashid Khalidi (RK): Hamas has insisted that there be a lasting resolution of the basic problem of Israel`s siege of Gaza,..
Noura Erakat is a human rights attorney and writer. She is currently a Freedman Teaching Fellow at Temple University, Beasley School of Law and is a member of the Legal Support Network for the Badil Center for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights. She has taught International Human Rights Law and the Middle East at Georgetown University since Spring 2009. Most recently she served as Legal Counsel for a Congressional Subcommittee in the House of Representatives, chaired by Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich. She has helped to initiate and organize several national formations including Arab Women Arising for Justice (AMWAJ) and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). She is a board member of the Trans-Arab Research Institute (TARI); a Policy Advisor of Al-Shabaka; a founding member of the DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival; the development consultant for Legal Agenda; and a contributor to IntLawGrrls. Noura has appeared on MSNBC`s "Up With Chris Hayes," Fox’s “The O’ Reilly Factor,” NBC’s “Politically Incorrect,” Democracy Now, and Al-Jazeera Arabic and English. Her scholarly publications include: "Litigating the Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Politicization of U.S. Federal Courts" in the Berkeley Law Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Law, "BDS in the USA: 2001-2010," in the Middle East Report, and "U.S. vs. ICRC-Customary International Humanitarian Law and Universal Jurisdiction" forthcoming in the Denver Journal of International Law & Policy. She is a Co-Editor of Jadaliyya.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @4noura.
Mouin Rabbani is a Contributing Editor of Middle East Report and has published and commented widely on Palestinian affairs and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He was a Senior Analyst of the Middle East with theInternational Crisis Group. Previously he worked as Palestine Director of the Palestinian American Research Centre. He is Co-Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine.
Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies in the Department of History at Columbia University. He has taught at the Lebanese University, the American University of Beirut, Georgetown University, and at the University of Chicago, and is past President of the Middle East Studies Association. His books include Sowing Crisis: American Dominance and the Cold War in the Middle East(2009); The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood (2006); Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America’s Perilous Path in the Middle East (2004); and Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness(1997; reissued 2010), and he is the author of over a hundred articles on Middle Eastern history. His latest book is Brokers of Deceit: How the US Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East (2013).