By Anna Levin, Events Coordinator

On March 8th, The City of Sunny Isles Beach in cooperation with The Middle East Society (MES) of the School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University presented a FREE lecture by Middle East expert Haim Malka titled “New Players, New Realities: Does Middle East Peace Have a Chance?”  A sequence of events—including the recent war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, Barack Obama’s election in the United States and the triumph of the political right in the latest Israeli elections—provide both challenges and opportunities for the Middle East peace process.

Haim Malka is deputy director of the CSIS Middle East Program; Washington D.C. addressed the regional strategic challenges and hopes in the Middle East. “We have been asking the wrong questions for the past 15 years. We should be focusing on what kind of agreement can be achieved given the circumstances Israel faces.”

Over 100 people from the community engaged themselves in this complex discussion and assessed the strategic challenges facing the countries of the Middle East and the region as a whole. The discussion of facts and viewpoints enables us to forge better understanding as a community and as a country to better equip ourselves to confront the developments, realities and prospects of the region.

It was a common understanding that the countries of the region, together with the United States and other peace-loving nations must join hands in the battle against terror.  This event stressed the importance of being more attuned to local and regional developments and their broader repercussions.

We hope the lecture was enjoyable, educational and instrumental for increasing public awareness of the stormy weather of the peace process in the Middle East.

For more information on upcoming events and lectures please call, Cultural and Human Services at 305.792.1706