Workshop Entitled “The Internal and External Movement of Populations and its Impact on the Palestinian Authority/ Future State”

On Tuesday January 10th, 2011 the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies (IALIIS) held a workshop entitled “The Internal and External Movement of Populations and its Impact on the Palestinian Authority/ Future State”. The workshop is part of a series of workshops the institute organizes on the Political Economy of Dependence and Independence in Palestine.

The workshop opened with the welcome note of  Dr. Munir Qazzaz, Vice President for Community Outreach, who welcomed the audience and participants, and indicated to the importance of the suggested topic of the workshop. Afterwards Dr Asem Khalil, director of the institute, gave a speech in which he spoke about the series of workshops the institute plans on organizing. He also explained the reasons behind holding this workshop and the importance of the topic under discussion. In addition he thanked everyone who contributed in making this workshop possible, from speakers to donors.   

The second session was headed by Tayseer Khaled, Director of Expatriate Affairs Department, and included the intervention of Dr. Asem Kahlil, in which he presented his paper on “The Palestinian Authority/state’s need to regulate Migration Issues under Unstable Political Conditions”. Dr. Asem gave a general perception of migration policies which should be followed towards population and foreign movements. In light of three plausible scenarios manifested in the continuation of the status quo in terms of the limitation of the PA’s jurisdiction;  or in the case of granting the PA more authority over external borders and/or ending the imposed restrictions on populations' movement between West Bank and Gaza Strip while Israeli occupation persists. Lastly, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on recognized international borders, which has complete control over the population and region.

The third session addressed “Socio-Economic Aspects of Migration” and the chairperson of this session was Dr. Oroub El-Abed. During this session Dr. Majdi Malki, Associate Professor in Sociology at Birzeit University, presented his paper on “Palestinian Population Movement in the Palestinian Territories: Policy-Oriented Perspectives”; which revolved around the features and different forms of migration in the Palestinian territories (internal, external and returnees) with revealing its main reasons and outcomes. He concluded with giving a number of recommendations in order to deal with these matters, such as focusing on university education and vocational aspects. Likewise, working to provide a comprehensive andaccurate data for migratory competencies and to encourage communication between them.

Whereas, the fourth and final session was entitled “Demographic Challenges Facing the Palestinian State, in which Dr. Yousef Courbage presented his paper on “Demographic Trends and Challenges in Case of Statehood in Palestine: 2012 – 2048”; which focuses on the demographic competition between Palestinians and Israelis and its impact on the population balance of the region. Statistics indicate that the demographic competition is beginning to tilt towards the Israeli side.  

Both Mrs. Rula  M'haissen and Mr. Asif Said commentated on the first session. On the other hand, Mr Jamil Hilal and Mr. Mahmoud Attia commentated on the second session. Whereas the third session was commentated by both Mr. Abdel Allah Al-Najar and Dr. Niveen Abu-Rmeileh, this was before opening the floor for discussion for all of the participants. Furthermore, Dr. Roger concluded the workshop by presenting and discussing recommendations and gave concluding remarks which ended the workshop.