Annapolis and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

[Rex Brynen]

I'm not a huge fan of the game (I've got too many quibbles with its realism), and I doubt that its distribution will change many attitudes. However, it must be said that the Peres Center does outstanding work promoting so-called P2P ("people-to-people") activities. The Director, Ron Pundak, has done outstanding work for Palestinian-Israeli peace--indeed, he was among the original negotiators of the Oslo Accords.

Coincidentally, Ron sent this email around a few days ago.. its a long post, but worth reproducing for the many varied activities it recounts:

Just Another Day at the Peres Center for Peace

Wednesday --just another day at the Peres Center for Peace.

In the morning, the inaugural meeting of the initiative "Wo.Me.N. the Women's Media Network" was held in the offices of one of our Palestinian partner organization. The meeting was attended by leading Israeli and Palestinian female journalists from the top-ranked broadcast and written media sources in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel. The women discussed their objectives for the professional network. A second meeting is set to be held in November, comprising the project's 16 Palestinian and Israeli participants.

In the afternoon, at Shenkar College of Engineering & Design in Tel Aviv, we held a professional training seminar for Palestinian businesspeople from the field of textile manufacturing, in cooperation with our partner PalTrade (Palestine Trade Center). Sixteen manufacturers from across the West Bank (Hebron, Bethlehem area, Tulkarem, Nablus, Jenin and Ramallah) took part in this 2-day seminar comprised of professional sessions that focused on use of cutting-edge computer programs for pattern design and other elements in the production process. During the afternoon of the first day, the participants received warm greetings from Mr. Dov Lautman, President and former Director-General of Delta Textiles.

Also on Wednesday morning, the Peres Center held the first meeting in a series of five encounters for a group of Israeli and Palestinian experts in agriculture, post-harvest care, marketing, and agricultural policies. The project is jointly undertaken with a Palestinian partner, and the initiative's research study has been submitted to "Action Against Hunger —Spain" (ACF-E). Within the framework of this project, joint research has been undertaken regarding the marketing of agricultural products from the Palestinian region of Tubas to Israel and abroad, and the meeting therefore focused on how to advance such business relations. At the end of the meeting, the participants proposed an initial business model, whose main goal is to support and expand the existing joint work of Palestinian and Israeli agriculturalists. The next meeting will be held in November.

Throughout that same day, as has been the case with nearly every day over the past four years, 12 Palestinian children were referred by their doctors to the Peres Center's "Saving Children" program, an initiative that allows Palestinian children to benefit from consultations and surgical procedures in Israeli hospitals when such treatment is unavailable in the Palestinian Authority. Five Palestinian children visited and/or were admitted to Israeli hospitals for diagnoses, treatment, and/or surgery.

In parallel, 40 Palestinian doctors who are undertaking fellowships in a variety of specialties and sub-specialties, continue to be trained and worked in multiple Israeli hospitals. Additionally, on Wednesday, a working session was held at Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem with representatives from the Peres Center in order to discuss the progress of the development of the first Palestinian center for cochlear implants =96 microchips surgically embedded in a hearing-impaired patient's skull, saving the patient from permanent disability. Until the Palestinian center is established, these hearing-impaired children and youth are brought to Israeli hospitals for this complex surgery, via the "Saving Children" program.

Also during the visit to Augusta Victoria Hospital, Peres Center representatives were given a tour of the hospital's renovated wing, which is being built with funds recruited by the Peres Center. This wing is the first specifically dedicated to Palestinian children suffering from cancer. According to the plan, Palestinian doctors, nurses, and technicians who work in this wing will be trained in Israeli hospitals, through the facilitation of the Peres Center.

Then, during the afternoon hours, two meetings were held at the offices of the Peres Center for Palestinian and Israeli coaches' coordinators from the "Twinned Peace Sport Schools" program. The first meeting was held for coordinators from the "Twinned Peace Basketball Schools" program, and following their meeting, some 20 Palestinian and Israeli coordinators from the "Twinned Peace Football Schools" program met (the coaches came from Kiriyat Gat, Nehora, Kiriyat Ekron, Beit Shemesh, Shapir, Jericho, Sderot, Ein Rafa, Beit Safafa, Bethlehem, Tulkarem, Abu Tur, and Aqbat Jaber Refugee Camp). The Peres Center's "Twinned Peace Sport Schools" program includes 55 dedicated coaches from both sides, who jointly participated in a two-day seminar held a month and a half ago in preparation of the new academic year. The 2007-08 program includes some 2,500 Palestinian and Israeli boys and girls who benefit from sport training (football or basketball), Peace Education activities, auxiliary educational support and joint Palestinian-Israeli sporting and social activities.

And really, it was just an average Wednesday at the Peres Center for Peace

Dr. Ron Pundak
Director General
The Peres Center for Peace