Highly regarded experts in the field of Middle Eastern politics came together at the University of Sussex last week to mark 50 years of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank & Gaza.

The two-day conference, ‘The Occupation at 50: Pasts, Presents, Futures’, was organised by the Sussex Centre for Conflict and Security Research (SCSR) and three other Sussex research centres, and took place on 11 and 12 May. 

The conference was attended by over 120 participants who came to see leading Israeli, Palestinian and international researchers and practitioners speak on a range of subjects including the peace process, settlements, refugees, resistance and the future of the occupation. 

Professor Jan Selby, who co-convened the event, said: “I’m very proud that at Sussex we’ve able to bring together people on all sides of this most complex of debates. There have been some extremely productive discussions which will have given everyone involved something to reflect on – even if the political and academic positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remain as polarised as ever.”

For more information about the conference please visit: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/scsr/newsandevents/events/occupationat50