With Israeli-Palestinian relations perhaps entering a new post-Oslo phase and with Quartet efforts to revive peace talks falling decidedly flat, the Palestinians are exploring strategic alternatives, including internal reconciliation, external appeals to the U.N., and the popular local mobilization that characterized the dramatic events of the Arab Spring. Yet all these seedlings of Palestinian alternatives remain uncertain and fragile and realities on the ground suggest a more rather than less entrenched Israeli presence. Mustafa will be looking at what next strategically for the Palestinian freedom struggle, in the face of stalled peace talks, the narrowing two-state window and the breathtaking pace of developments in the region. Finally Dr. Barghouti will discuss why there has been no Palestinian Spring so far, might it happen, and what is the state of Palestinian democracy?

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti is a Palestinian democracy activist and Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, a movement that campaigns for political reforms. He was a candidate for the presidency of the Palestinian National Authority in 2005, finishing second to Mahmoud Abbas, with 19% of the vote. A medical doctor by training, he founded the NGO Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees in 1979. He was previously nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. He served as a minister the PA Unity Govt of 2007 and is currently a member of the Palestinian legislative Council

Daniel Levy is a senior policy fellow at ECFR. He also co-directs the New America Foundation’s Middle East Task Force and is an editor of the Middle East Channel at ForeignPolicy.com. Levy was previously an official negotiator for the Israeli government in peace talks with the Palestinians under Prime Ministers Rabin and Barak. Levy served as the lead Israeli drafter of the Geneva Initiative. He is a board member of the New Israel Fund and a founder of J Street.