SARASOTA, Fla. — The New College Office of Public Policy Events announces the first event in the “The Socratic Stage Dialogue Series” will take place Thursday, November 30, 5:30-7 p.m. in Mildred Sainer Pavilion, 5313 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota. Jason Greenblatt, a former White House Special Envoy to the Middle East, and Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, will discuss and debate topics to include the Israel-Hamas war, the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the future of the Middle East.
The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. Online registration is now open. Priority will be given to New College students, faculty and staff. The event will be filmed and the video will be made available through the Office of Public Policy Events webpage.
“The Socratic Stage Dialogue Series will create a forum for well-reasoned conversation and civil debate on the most important topics of the day, and it’s exciting to have two distinguished experts on the Middle East joining us,” said New College President Richard Corcoran. “This is the first of many great debates New College will host, as we are ambitiously setting out to build a series that will one day rival the societal impact of the Munk Debates.”
Jason Greenblatt is a diplomat, lawyer and commentator who served as an Assistant to the President and the White House Special Envoy to the Middle East in the Trump Administration. In his role, Jason served as one of the chief architects of the Peace to Prosperity plan between Israel and the Palestinians, and was one of the key players in laying the foundation for the Abraham Accords. He is the Senior Director of Arab-Israel Diplomacy for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, and author of In the Path of Abraham.
Ghaith al-Omari, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Senior Fellow in The Washington Institute’s Irwin Levy Family Program on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Relationship, is the former executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine. He served as advisor to the negotiating team during the 1999-2001 permanent-status talks in addition to holding various other positions within the Palestinian Authority.
The New College Office of Public Policy Events seeks to advance civil discourse and engagement through facilitating events that foster open discussion and debate on relevant public policy issues. Such debates or group forums will provide opportunity for a wide range of viewpoints and perspectives to be presented. Future events will include speakers from within and without the state university community that hold broadly divergent and opposing perspectives.