On September 6, 2024, Dr. James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, sat down with Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley at the City Club of Cleveland to discuss the multifaceted questions of the United States’ relationship with Israel, the domestic debate about Washington’s position on the war on Gaza, what priorities a new administration should set in the Middle East, and more. A few major topics:
- 19:17 – What position(s) the U.S. should take on holding Israel accountable for violations of law
- 20:52 – A vision for a Middle East stability architecture
- 25:23 – The issue of Palestine at the Democratic National Convention
- 30:33 – Republican Party views on Gaza
- 39:01 – Student protests on Palestine
- 46:15 – Is there internal Palestinian leadership that could be a partner for peace?
- 48:35 – The Israeli relationship with Palestinian Authority and its control of the West Bank
Dr. James Zogby co-founded the Arab American Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community, in 1985 and continues to serve as its president. He is Director of Zogby Research Services, a firm that has conducted groundbreaking surveys across the Middle East. For the past 3 decades, he has served in leadership roles in the Democratic National Committee. He currently serves as Chair of the DNC Ethnic Council, and from 2000 to 2017, he served on the DNC’s Executive Committee.
Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley is a member of the Middle East Policy Council’s Board of Directors. She has held senior positions in the U.S. government, including Ambassador to the Republic of Malta, Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of U.S. Cyber Forces, Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Director for the Office of Egypt and the Levant at the U.S. Department of State, and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the U.S. Department of State. Amid these roles, she expanded our counterterrorism partners and programs and coordinated the largest evacuation of American citizens from a war zone since WWII. Earlier in her career she participated in election monitoring in the Gaza strip and actively supported gender equality in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the first woman to lead a diplomatic mission there. She has served as Chairwoman for Middle East Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, has held senior positions at the Defense Department and at the National Security Council focused on the Middle East, and was a Presidential Management Fellow with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She has degrees from The George Washington University and The Johns Hopkins University.