Professor Mark Tessler, Samuel J. Eldersveld Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan, will provide a selective historical overview of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, focusing on “watershed” events that have impacted the trajectory and evolution of the conflict. This will include attention to challenges and opportunities, including missed opportunities, over the course of the conflict. He will also offer some preliminary thoughts about the present situation and what may lie ahead for Israelis and Palestinians.

The lecture is from 5-6pm, with Q&A and refreshments to follow.

This lecture was organized by the Lecture Series Faculty Working Group, part of GW’s Strengthening our Community Initiative.

Mark Tessler is Samuel J. Eldersveld Collegiate Professor of Politics at the University of Michigan, where he also served for nine years as Vice-Provost for International Affairs. He attended university and/or has conducted field research in Tunisia, Israel, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine (West Bank and Gaza), and Qatar. Professor Tessler is co-founder and co-director of the Arab Barometer, which has carried out scores of political attitude surveys in MENA countries. Among his sixteen books are Public Opinion in the Middle East: Survey Research and the Political Orientations of Ordinary Citizens (2011), Islam and Politics in the Middle East: Explaining the Views of Ordinary Citizens (2015); Religious Minorities in Non-Secular Middle Eastern and North African States (2020); and Social Science Research in the Arab World and Beyond: A Guide for Students, Instructors, and Researchers (2023). He has also written extensively on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His 1,000-page book, A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, has won national awards.