Palestine & Kashmir: The destruction of indigenous cultural heritage

An international webinar looking at the on-going destruction of indigenous cultural heritage in Palestine and Kashmir.

For seven decades the Palestinian and Kashmiri struggles for national liberation and self-determination have been subjected to measures that have often been described as genocidal. They entailed acts aimed at destroying their national culture, political autonomy and national will.

Whether conducted in whole or part, the destruction of a people’s cultural heritage results in the same consequences – cultural genocide.

In this webinar, our experts assess the political and legal consequences of these policies.

This webinar was organised by Middle East Monitor, in associated with the Centre for Middle East and Africa (CMEA) of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI). The CMEA provides research, analysis, policy input and dialogue on issues related to the Middle East and Africa. It envisions cooperation with these regions in accord with Pakistan’s foreign policy. It also fosters closer ties with the Muslim countries in the Middle East and identifies areas of mutual interest between Pakistan and Africa in keeping with Pakistan’s Engage Africa policy.

Schedule

1.00pm – Introductory Remarks

– Dr Daud Abdullah, Director Middle East Monitor(MEMO)

– Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Director General – ISSI

1.15pm – Panellists’ Remarks

– Dr Salman Abu Sitta, Palestinian historian and Founder, Palestinian Land Society (UK)

– Mushaal Hussein Mullick, Wife of detained Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman (Kashmir)

– Kevin Chamberlain CMG, Former legal adviser to Foreign & Commonwealth Office (UK) and the Palestinian Authority

1.45pm – Keynote Address

– Sardar Masood Khan, President of Azad Kashmir

2.00pm – Panellists’ Remarks

– Dr Salma Malik, Assistant Professor Quaid-I-Azam University (Pakistan)

– Dr Mahmoud Hawari, Palestinian archaeologist and former Director, The Palestinian Museum (Palestine)

– Dr Khuram Iqbal, Assistant Professor, National Defense University (Pakistan)

2.30pm – Q&A2.50pm – Concluding Remarks

–  Ambassador Khalid Mahmood, Chairman BOG, ISSI

Panellists

Masood Khan

President of Azad Kashmir

Masood Khan is a Pakistani diplomat who serves as the 27th President of Azad Kashmir. Masood Khan joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1980 and went on to serve in various diplomatic positions, including serving as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Pakistan’s Ambassador to China.

Dr Salman Abu Sitta

Palestinian historian and Founder, Palestinian Land Society (UK)

Palestinian researcher Dr Salman Abu Sitta is best known for his ground-breaking project mapping historic Palestine and developing a practical plan for implementing the right of return of Palestinian refugees. Abu Sitta has spent 40 years digging for any detail of information about or related to Palestine before, during and after the Nakba (the destruction of Palestine). He is regarded as perhaps ‘the world’s foremost expert on the Nakba’.

Dr Mahmoud Hawari

Former Director-General, The Palestinian Museum (Palestine)

Dr Mahmoud Hawari is currently teaching at Bethlehem University in Palestine, and he is a former Director General of the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit. He was Lead Curator at the British Museum in London, and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford. He obtained his MA and PhD degrees in Archaeology from the University of London. He taught archaeology at Birzeit, al-Quds and Oxford universities. He worked on numerous international projects, including the assessment of sites nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Kevin Chamberlain CMG

Former Deputy Legal Adviser Foreign & Commonwealth Office (UK)Kevin Chamberlain CMG is a former Deputy Legal Adviser for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. During his time as a consultant at the Adam Smith Institute he provided the Palestinian Authority with briefing papers on legal issues, including the status of Jerusalem. Chamberlain authored “War and Cultural Heritage”, an article-by-article commentary on the 1954 Hague Convention and its Two Protocols.

Mushaal Mullick

Wife of detained Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman (Kashmir)

Mushaal Mullick is the wife of detained Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik. She is a staunch advocate for the peaceful settlement of the Kashmir conflict. She is also a human rights activist, a freedom fighter, and craft revivalist who has been struggling to promote and conserve Kashmir’s cultural heritage.

Dr Khurram Iqbal

Assistant Professor, National Defense University (Pakistan)

Dr Khuram Iqbal is an Assistant professor at the National Defense University (NDU) Islamabad. His areas of focus include Peace and Conflict Studies, Strategic Studies and Counter-Terrorism. Dr Iqbal has a PhD in International Security Studies from Macquarie University (Australia). He has worked with research centres and universities in Pakistan, Singapore and Australia.

Dr Salma Malik

Assistant Professor Quaid-I-Azam University (Pakistan)

Dr Salma Malik is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies (DSS), Quaid-I-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad, Pakistan. She specialises in the areas of Conflict and Security Studies, and South Asian Affairs. She is an alumnus of the Uppsala University, Sweden, the Asia Pacific Center for Strategic Studies APCSS, Hawaii and Visiting Research Fellow, Sandia National Labs, New Mexico, USA.