Paris, 22 May – The Arab Reform Initiative and EuroMesco will be holding a public panel event to present the results of an international working group led by Salam Kawakibi, ARI Associate Researcher and Director of Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies - Paris.

The event will focus on the origins and development of the idea of “minority” in the Middle East and North Africa. It will present three case studies: Amazighs in Morocco, Christians in Syria, and Black people in Tunisia.

It will feature Paolo Maggiolini (ISPI, Italy), Georges Fahmi (EUI, Egypt), Said Bennis (CRESS, Morocco), Maha Abdelhamid (ARI, Tunisia), and Lurdes Vidal (IEMed, Spain).

This project is supported by European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and the European Union.

Due to limited space, PRIOR REGISTRATION is required for those wishing to attend.

Programme Agenda

Venue: EUISS, 100 Avenue de Suffren, Paris

9:30 – 9:45
Welcome Remarks by
Florence Gaub, Deputy Director, EUISS – European Union Institute for Security Studies
Salam Kawakibi, Associate Researcher, ARI – Arab Reform Initiative;
Director, Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies – Paris

9:45 – 10:00
The Origin and Development of "Minority": A Multi-Level Analysis
Paolo Maggiolini, Associate Research Fellow, ISPI – Italian Institute for International Political Studies

10:00 – 10:15
Political Attitudes of Syrian Christians After 2011
Georges Fahmi, Research Fellow, EUI – European University Institute

10:15 – 10:30

Coffee break

10:30 – 10:45

Perspectives et questionnements sur la gestion de la diversité dans la région MENA
Said Bennis, Professor, CERSS - Centre d'études et de recherches en sciences sociales

10:45 – 11:00 Le tâtonnement du mouvement noir en Tunisie
Maha Abdelhamid, Associate Researcher, ARI – Arab Reform Initiative

11:00 – 11:15 Comments by
Lurdes Vidal, Director of the Arab and Mediterranean World
Department, IEMed – European Institute of the Mediterranean

11:15 – 12:15 Q&A