Podcast: How Did We Get Here? A Conversation on the Crisis in the Middle East
A conversation with Ambassador Dennis Ross and Ghaith al-Omari
Dear Substack readers,
First, thank you to everyone who joined the live Q&A Zoom session last week (a paid feature). It was a terrific discussion, and I am looking forward to the next one. Happy Holidays to everyone celebrating!
Second, I want to present you with another episode of the World Class podcast that we produce at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford. To understand why the conflict in Gaza is so complex, you have to understand the history of Israel's relationship with Palestine and Hamas well before October 7, 2023. In this episode, we bring you a conversation with Ambassador Dennis Ross and Ghaith al-Omari, two experts on the Middle East, who help contextualize the current situation in Gaza, offer a framework for how to understand the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and share their thoughts on what it will take to bring stability to the region. Their discussion is moderated by Janine Zacharia, a lecturer in the Department of Communication at Stanford University.
Listen below, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the FSI website.
Our speakers:
Ambassador Dennis Ross is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and teaches at Georgetown University’s Center for Jewish Civilization. For more than twelve years, Ambassador Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process, dealing directly with the parties as the U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations.
Ghaith al-Omari, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Senior Fellow in The Washington Institute's Irwin Levy Family Program on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Relationship, is the former executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine. He served as advisor to the negotiating team during the 1999–2001 permanent-status talks in addition to holding various other positions within the Palestinian Authority.
Janine Zacharia has reported on Israel, the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy for close to two decades including stints as Jerusalem bureau chief for the Washington Post, chief diplomatic correspondent for Bloomberg News, Washington bureau chief for the Jerusalem Post, and Jerusalem correspondent for Reuters. She appears regularly on cable news shows and radio programs as a Middle East analyst and is currently a visiting lecturer in the Department of Communication at Stanford.
I look forward to your thoughts after listening to this podcast! And again, happy holidays!
Dennis Ross is an outstanding, long - standing expert on Middle East politics and comprehends the complexities of the Israeli response to Hamas and Hezbollah. Without people like Ross leading the way on policy and commentary with respect to issues such as the Hamas war, a proper voice to public opinion is lost and the blind fears about the Middle East could get stirred into a firestorm. If both sides, arab - palestinian and Israeli, listen to the approach here that dates back some years, the hateful war could be settled. People could go home to their families and rebuild again.
As a hearing impaired person I find the use of Podcasts frustrating. Transcripts, when available, are often hard to find. I had to hunt through the various sites where this podcast is located. By the time I’d found it I’d lost interest due to the frustration.