Mr. Tor Wennesland- the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process met the Post-Graduate students of Arab American University – Ramallah Campus, who are studying in the programs of PhD in Conflict Resolutions and Master in International Law and Diplomacy.
The meeting was entitled “The role of the United Nations on the peace process: between the final status files and the exit strategy from the current situation”. This meeting came as part of the Diplomacy course that Dr. Dalal Iriqat teaches in the Faculty of Graduate Studies in AAUP.
Dr. Iriqat welcomed the guest, Mr. Tor Wennesland, and the audience of students and emphasized on the importance of this meeting that hosts this great professional person of high level from this international organization and that aims to enhance students’ theoretical knowledge and practical implementation in the field, especially that the curriculums of the Faculty of Graduate Studies adopt the approach of blending between theory and practice. Dr. Iriqat also talked about the importance of the diplomacy role, the United Nations’ role and the international organizations role in the Palestinian cause and the region in general.
Mr. Tor Wennesland- the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process appreciated the role that Arab American University does in organizing such meetings for its students as meeting researchers will impact them positively. He started his speech by talking about current situation in Palestine and went through the sequence of the development of diplomatic events since the negotiations stopped during Obama’s time, then to the time of Trump and his diplomacy against Palestine, and finally to the current situation with the US President Biden. He also talked about the facts that Trump imposed during his time as president and the resulting normalization agreements that changed a lot in the region.
Mr. Wennesland discussed the role of the United Nations in directing the political process as he mentioned the joint committees meetings AHLC in Norway and the Quartet role, and ensured that the Quartet role should be activated back again in the region. He also explained the fact that despite the importance of the human rights and economic files, but the United Nations is still committed to the political file related to the Palestinian cause and ending occupation.
In his speech, Mr. Wennesland discussed some important topics such as the settlement, Jerusalem, human rights, Gaza, Democracy and elections from the UN perspective and emphasized on the importance of ending the internal division.
Many questions and enquires were raised by students and led to a deep and rich discussion about the Palestinian cause and the related international events.
In his visit to AAUP, Mr. Wennesland was accompanied by Mr. Basim Khaldi- the Political Advisor and Ms. Margret Lalend- the Communication Advisor with the Diplomatic Missions.
Before his meeting with the students, Mr. Wennesland was received and welcomed by Prof. Mohammad Asia- the VP for the Medical Schools Affairs, Eng. Bara Asfour- the Assistant to the President, Dr. Shahinaz Najjar- the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Dr. Ayman Yousef- a Lecturer in the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Dr. Raid Badawyeh- the Head of the Social Sciences Department and Dr. Dalal Iriqat- the VP for International Relations who talked about the establishment of the university, the main undergraduate and graduate programs and the joint agreements and relation between Arab American University and the international universities.
