Many Canadians are aware of the injustices facing Palestinians in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gaza. But Israeli academic Ilan Pappé refers to the Palestinians living inside Israel as the ‘Forgotten Palestinians. ’

Following up on a trip to Jerusalem and the West Bank made two years ago, Dr. Peter Larson, NCCAR’s Board Member, returned to the area recently. This time, he spent two weeks inside Israel, interviewing civil rights activists (Jewish and Palestinian), teachers, lawyers, journalists, members of the Knesset and church leaders. He travelled from Be’er Sheva in the Negev where Bedouins are fighting to keep their traditional lands, to Acre in the north, where Palestinians are struggling to protect their language and civic rights.

His findings might surprise you. The Palestinian citizens of Israel are (mostly) materially better off that their counterparts in the WB or Gaza, however, they face very significant discrimination in a “Jewish State” and they are just as determined to seek equality and democracy.

Our Speaker: Dr. Peter Larson

Dr. Peter Larson specialises in strategic planning, executive development and machinery of government.

Prior to establishing his own management consulting practice, he was Executive Vice-President of the Public Policy Forum (PPF). He has wide experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors including periods at the Conference Board of Canada, Le Droit, and with several Federal government departments and agencies. In addition he was well known as a syndicated columnist with the Southam Newspaper chain.
He has authored or directed many studies on governance and public administration, and has worked internationally on projects with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the ILO and the UNDP.

In recent years, he has taken a particular interest in human rights issues in the Middle East. He has made several trips to the area, including the Palestinian occupied territories of the West Bank, Israel and Iran.

He is a member of the National Capital Chapter of the Canadian International Council, and serves as the Chair of its Middle East Study Group.  Peter graduated in Economics from the University of Western Ontario in 1968.  He also holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy from Université de Grenoble, France. In addition to English, he speaks fluent French and Spanish and passable Italian. -