Gershon Baskin, Mukhaimer Abu Saada, (Professor of Political Science at the Al-Azhar University in Gaza), and Ali Abu Shahla -Director General of AA Consulting Engineers and Private Sector Representative to the Higher National Dialogue Committee, share their analysis on the political and economic developments in Gaza.
Gershon Baskin, is willing to participate in actions which challenge the system. He travels regularly to Area A, and is not willing to ask for a permit for himself.
Gershon Baskin thinks that we need the historic leader in the mirror to stand tall and to lead – taking the challenge and demonstrating that he really has the rare quality of deciding for the future and not the moment – making history rather than being history.
Embraced by a broad spectrum of Israeli political and ideological fractions upon the conclusion of the prisoner’s swap, Gershon Baskin’s persistence and good faith brought back to surface the important role peace mediators and academics play in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Six months before Shalit was abducted, Gershon Baskin was at a conference in Cairo, where he struck up a friendship with a professor at the Islamic University of Gaza, a member of Hamas, who put Gershon in contact with Ghazi Hamad, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister, and it was this relationship, that ultimately led to the Shalit deal.
Gershon Baskin shares his perspectives of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap.
James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan’s first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush. Baker also served as Secretary of State in the George H. W. Bush administration. In 1988, Baker blocked the creation of Palestine by threatening to cut funding to agencies in the United Nations. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) issued a “declaration Read more
Gershon Baskin often told Hamas leaders the same thing that he is now saying to Prime Minister Netanyahu – when you play with fire you can easily get burned.
Gershon Baskin got a call from a Hamas member three days after Mr Shalit’s abduction asking him to act as a back-channel for talks.
Economic development is Gaza may not be a motivating idea for Hamas leaders, but it is in the interests of Israel.