Ateneo Global and RGLSOSS host EmbLEM lecture with Palestine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates

On 20 November 2025, Ateneo de Manila University hosted a lecture by Her Excellency Varsen Aghabekian Shahin PhD, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine, at the Leong Auditorium at Ateneo's Loyola Heights Campus. The lecture was part of the EmbLEM Series: Embassy Lectures, Encounters, and Masterclasses series of the Office of the Assistant Vice President for University Partnerships and Internationalization (Ateneo Global), in collaboration with the Department of Political Science of the Dr Rosita G Leong School of Social Sciences.

Accompanying HE Minister Shahin was His Excellency Mr Mounir YK Anastas, Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the Philippines.

HE Minister Shahin received a master's degree in nursing administration from Indiana University–Purdue University in 1983 and a doctorate in educational policy and management studies from the University of Pittsburgh in 1988. Before her appointment as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, she served as a dean and associate professor at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem.

The event was opened by Maria Luz C Vilches PhD, Ateneo Vice President for Higher Education, who welcomed Dr Shahin to the University and introduced them to the assembled crowd of Ateneo students, faculty, and administrators.

Following Dr Vilches, HE Ambassador Anastas took to the podium to deliver a short speech on the significance of the Palestinian National Day, 15 November. In addition, he also pointed out why they were celebrating 18 November 2025. The latter date is when the Philippines and Palestine signing a memorandum of understanding to hold regular political consultations and launching talks on a visa waiver for diplomats. The event also saw the first ever visit of a Palestinian foreign minister to Manila — making HE Dr Shahin the highest ever Palestinian official to visit the Philippines since their bilateral relations were established 36 years ago.

For HE Minister Shahin's lecture, she began with a short history of modern Palestine and the conflict with Israel, starting with the UN Partition of British Mandatory Palestine in 1947 to the Oslo Accords in the mid-1990s, to the present day. This included how the original partition was for 56 percent to become what we know as Israel, and 42 percent to Palestine, with the remainder being an international zone. Despite the near equal split, Israel spent decades occupying parts of what the UN had given to Palestine. As such, the Oslo Accords only gave 22 percent of the territory to the Palestinian Authority.

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Despite this, however, Israel continues to occupy more and more land that should be, by law, for Palestine, leading to the situation we have today.

All throughout this, Her Excellency emphasized a few important point. First that this was not a conflict along religious or ethnic lines, but rather a territorial and humanitarian one. What is being fought for is land originally designated by the UN and international law for Palestine. The lives being affected by Israel's continuing occupation include Christians in addition to Muslims. As such, calling out Israel's actions and supporting Palestine is not anti-semetic.

More importantly, she emphasized that by continuing to occupy the Palestinian territory, Israel is violating international law, and is being allowed to do so by other states that support it. This then raises the question of what power does international law actually hold when a state like Israel is able to continue to violate it without consequence.

Following her lecture, HE Minister Shahin and HE Ambassador Anastas engaged in a lively open forum with the students in attendance. Dr Ma. Lourdes Veneracion, Chairperson, Department of Political Science, RGLSOSS moderated the open forum.

After the open forum, HE Minister Shahin and HE Ambassador Anastar were presented tokens of appreciation. The tokens were presented by Dr Benjamin “Benjie” Gerardo T Tolosa Jr, Ateneo de Manila Vice President for Mission Integration and University Officer-In-Charge, and Dr Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu, Dean RGLSOSS.

The event closed with Vice President Tolosa PhD delivering a message on behalf University President Fr Roberto C Yap SJ. In the message, Dr Tolosa HE Minister Shahin and HE Ambassador Anastas, as well as the Ateneo offices who made the lecture possible. He also expressing Ateneo's solidarity with the Palestinian people and affirmed their right to self-determination and sovereignty.