Dr Mohammed Dajani, founder of the Wasatia Movement, discussed the formation of Al Wasatia, the first Islamic Palestinian organisation to call for a negotiated peace with Israel and to suggest the adoption of liberal values such as tolerance, freedom of speech, rule of law, pluralism, and a strong respect for civil and human rights.

Dr Mohammed Dajani is from one of Jerusalem’s most distinguished Palestinian families and holds doctorates from the University of Texas and University of South Carolina. He was founding director of the Jerusalem Studies and Research Institute, chair of the board of directors of the House of Water and Environment in Ramallah, and a member of the board of directors of the YMCA, Jerusalem. He has written extensively on Arab culture and politics, including an International Herald Tribune op-ed which he co-authored with Robert Satloff entitled ‘Why Palestinians should learn about the Holocaust.’

He is currently the Weston Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and formerly Head of the American Studies Program at al-Quds University in Jerusalem, where he controversially led a group of Palestinian students on a historic visit to Auschwitz, ultimately leading to protests by faculty and his resignation from the school.