The Israeli ambassador, Mr Mark Sofer, and the head of the general delegation of Palestine to Ireland, Mr Ali Halim, will take part together in a discussion on Middle East cultures and politics, at a politics and arts festival in Dingle, Co Kerry, over the May bank holiday weekend, it has been confirmed.
The Middle East theme had been planned for almost a year for the eighth year of the FΘile na Bealtaine festival in west Kerry.
There had been fears that the crisis in the Middle East would interfere with their plans.
Dr Micheβl Fanning, director of the Festival, says the symposium promises an interesting discussion and hopefully something beneficial will come out of it.
Also taking part will be Ms Rifat Iqbal, the Pakistan ambassador to Ireland and Prof Dominic Murray, of the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Limerick.
Luminaries from the Arab literary and music worlds will also participate in the festival, details of which were announced yesterday at a launch in Dingle.
These include Dr Magda Amin from the American University of Cairo, Egyptian poet Mr Abdel Moaty Hegzi.
Mr Brian Keenan, the Irish writer and former hostage is giving a talk entitled "Inside the mind of a Suicide Bomber" on Saturday, May 4th.
Irish Soprano Ms Regina Nathan gives a solo performance at St Mary's Church in Dingle on Wednesday.
There will be two Arab music and dance nights featuring Arab and Israeli music and dance.