Israel : Conference in Haifa, For a Middle East Free of Nuclear Weapons

The Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Israel Office, invite you to an international conference : "For a Middle East Free of Nuclear Weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction", tomorrow, Thursday, December 5, at the Dan Panorama Hotel, Sderot Hanassi 107, Haifa ; and on Friday, December 6, at the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Sderot Hanassi 89, Haifa. The conference will be held in Hebrew and English with simultaneous translation.

Thursday 05.12.2013

09:30 - 10:00 Registration
10:00 - 11:00 Opening Panel : "From Mutual Threat to Collective Security"

Chairperson : Prof. Naomi Chazan Former MK., Dean of School of Government and Society at the Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffo

Prof. Tadatoshi Akiba – "From Hiroshima to a World-Free of Nuclear Weapons" Former Mayor of Hiroshima & President of "Mayors for Peace", Chairman of MPI (Middle Powers Initiative)

Avraham Burg – "Is the Middle East ripe to adopt new ideas ?" Former Speaker of Israeli Knesset, Senior Fellow and International Coordinator of Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue

Issam Makhoul – "From the old nuclear order to a Middle East free of nuclear weapons" Former MK, Chairman of the Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies

Dr. Emily Landau – "The Long and Winding Road to Helsinki : Should we Start Talking ?" Senior Researcher at the National Security Institute, Head of Project on Weapon Control and Regional Security

11:00 - 11:10 Interval
11:10 - 11:15 Welcome Greetings - Yona Yahav, mayor of Haifa.
11:15 - 12:00 Open Discussion : "From Mutual Threat to Collective Security"
12:00 - 12:15 Interval
12:15 - 13:30 Second Panel : "Round-Table Discussion : The Nuclear Issue in the Knesset" Led by MK. Dr. Dov Khenin
13:30 - 14:30 Lunch Break
14:30 - 15:30 Workshops :

. Nuclear Involvement under International Law - Humanitarian Implications of Use of Nuclear Weapons Dr. Johny Aassi, Nadav Shaltiel, Dr. Henry Lowendorf

. Nucleus, Society and Democracy - Nuclear Opacity or Public Discussion Gideon Spiro, former MK Tamar Gozansky

. Nucleus and Environment Former MK Mousi Raz, Dr. Thabet Abu Ras

15:30 - 15:45 Interval
15:45 - 17:15 Third Panel : "Iranian threat, Israeli Threat - Option of a Middle East free of Nuclear and Mass Destruction Weapons" Chairperson : Alfred Marder Honorary President of International Association of Peace Messenger Cities – IAPMC

Prof. Colman Altman – "Nucleus and Oil in the Middle East" Emeritus Professor, Department of Physics, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
Prof. Uri Bar-Joseph – "The Iranian Threat : A Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone as an Israeli Option" Department of International Relations, School of Political Sciences, University of Haifa.
Sharon Dolev – "Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone in Middle East : Obstacles and Ways".
Director, “Israeli Anti-Nuclear Movement”

19:30 - 21:00 Festive Session Open to General Public, Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Sderot Hanassi 89, Haifa

Reception by Haifa Municipality, Artistic Program and Short Addresses : Yona Yahav - Mayor of Haifa ; Dr. Angelika Timm- Director, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Israel and Alfred Marder - Chairman of International Committee for Haifa International Conference

Friday 06.12.2013
Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Sderot Hanassi 89, Haifa

09:30 - 11:00 "The Role of Europe in Face of Nuclearization of the Middle East and the Need for its Demilitarization", under the auspices of GUE/NGL - European United Left/Nordic Green Left
11:00 - 11:15 Interval
11:15 - 12:45 : "Round-Table Discussion : Civil Society and the Anti-Nuclear Movement"

Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, “United for Peace and Justice”
Dr. Ruhama Marton, Founder and President of "Physicians for Human Rights – Israel".
Aida Touma-Sliman, Founder and Director of "Women against Violence", "Al Itihad" daily newspaper Editor in Chief.

12:45 - 13:00 Interval
13:00 - 14:00 Closing Session.

(03-12-2013 - Communist Party of Israel)