Mar 21, 2024
Is there a road to peace?
Our panel will cover the following topics and take your questions:
- What will it take to bring a lasting ceasefire in Gaza?
- Is the Biden administration able to secure a change of course by Israel as long as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is kept in power by far-right politicians opposed to any deal with Palestinians?
- How much damage has America’s backing for Israel done to Washington’s standing in the world – and to president Biden’s domestic political support?
- Can the divided Palestinian factions really come together in a postwar settlement in Gaza capable of commanding international and Palestinian confidence?
- Is a two-state solution for Israel’s conflict with Palestinians still viable as the route to a lasting peace?
- What is the role of Israel’s Arab neighbours in bringing peace to and rebuilding shattered Palestinian communities?
- What are the chances of the war spreading to Lebanon – and if so what would Iran do?
- Plus many more audience questions.
James Shotter Panelist
Jerusalem correspondent @ Financial Times
James Shotter has been the Jerusalem correspondent for the FT since 2022. He was previously central Europe correspondent, was posted to Frankfurt covering German finance, and before that to Zurich as Switzerland and Austria correspondent. He joined the FT as a leader writer in 2010.
Raya Jalabi Panelist
Middle East correspondent @ Financial Times
Raya Jalabi is the FT’s Middle East correspondent, covering Iraq, Syria and Lebanon from her base in Beirut. Before joining the FT in 2022, she covered Saudi Arabia and Iraq for Reuters, and was a news editor and reporter at The Guardian in New York.
Edward Luce Panelist
US national editor and columnist @ Financial Times
Edward Luce is the US national editor and columnist at the Financial Times. Before that he was the FT’s Washington Bureau chief. Other roles have included South Asia bureau chief, Capital Markets editor, and Philippines Correspondent. Luce was previously the speechwriter for the US Treasury Secretary, Lawrence H. Summers, in the Clinton administration. He is the author of three highly acclaimed books, The Retreat of Western Liberalism (2017), Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent (2012), and In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India (2007). He appears regularly on CNN, NPR, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and the BBC. He is also the author, along with colleague Rana Foroohar, of the Swamp Notes newsletter, which covers the intersection of money, power, and politics in America.
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Heba Saleh Panelist
Cairo Correspondent @ Financial Times
Heba Saleh is the FT Cairo correspondent. She covers political, economic and business news across all of North Africa. She has been full time with the FT since 2008. Before that she worked for the BBC in both London and Cairo as a radio correspondent and radio producer. She has written for the Economist, the Irish Times and Middle East International.
Alec Russell Moderator
Foreign editor @ Financial Times
Alec Russell is the FT’s Foreign Editor, responsible for overseeing our network of foreign correspondents and our coverage of great global themes. He was the editor of FT Weekend from 2016-2023. During his tenure, it won a series of awards including European weekend newspaper of the year and UK weekend newspaper of the year. He also launched the FTWeekend festival in London and then in Washington. He was previously the FT’s news editor and also the opinion editor. A long-time former foreign correspondent, he has reported from Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Washington, winning a number of awards. He has written three books. The latest is After Mandela: the battle for the soul of South Africa.