Legal scholar and Harvard law professor Robert H. Mnookin will present "The Past, Present and Future of West Bank and Gaza Settlements: The Relevance of the Internal Conflict Among Israeli Jews" on March 17 at UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Saltman Center on Conflict Resolution and will be held at noon in Room 102 of the law school.
During his presentation, Mnookin will discuss the issue of Jewish settlements within the occupied territories and the internal conflicts among Israelis and Palestinians that must be addressed before the issue can be resolved. Specifically, Mnookin will explain how a successful and enduring program of resettlement will need to address more than just the political needs of the national government.
The lecture is part of a collaboration between the Harvard Program on Negotiation, which Mnookin heads, and the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution at UNLV. The goal of the partnership, according to Mnookin, is to draw on academic insights, legal and economic research, and on-the-ground workshops in Israel to help resolve the issue of the settlements in a peaceful manner.
"We are thrilled to be a part of this collaboration," said Michael Saltman, founder of the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution. "We're hopeful that together we can help raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities that exist for bringing peace to the troubled Middle East."
UNLV's Saltman Center and Harvard also partnered in October of last year when they co-sponsored a multi-day interdisciplinary program in Cambridge, Mass. to discuss the many issues surrounding the potential relocation of Jewish settlers. As part of his presentation, Mnookin will discuss and analyze the results of that gathering.
"UNLV is honored to be part of such an important discussion regarding the potential for peace in the Middle East," said Dick Morgan, dean of UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law. "It is through this kind of meaningful discourse that we can begin to better understand the complexities of the conflict and hopefully accomplish some progress toward a peaceful and just resolution."
Mnookin is the Samuel Williston Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, the chair of the steering committee of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard, and the director of the University's Negotiation Research Project. He is considered a leading scholar in conflict resolution, and has served as a consultant to governments, international agencies, major corporations, and law firms.
He has written nine books on conflict resolution and negotiating, most recently "Beyond Winning: Negotiating to Create Value in Deals and Disputes," in 2000, which won the CPR Institute of Dispute Resolution's Book Prize.
For more information about the March 17 presentation, call the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution at 895-0490.
The Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution, led by director and Saltman Professor of Law Jean Sternlight, was established in 2003 at the William S. Boyd School of Law in order to provide a venue for advanced study of the nature of conflict and the methods through which conflicts may be resolved. The work of the center encompasses conflicts arising out of regional, national, and international concerns, and involving both the public and private sectors.
