Talking peace
Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO forum opens Monday. Over 100 NGOs to discuss role of the civil society in a state of 'no progress in the negotiations' and occupation
Palestinian, Israeli and European working teams gathered Monday in Florence, Italy for a two-day conference. The parties were invited by the government of the Region of Tuscany to try and promote the dialogue process at a time when civil society constitutes the main channel of dialogue.
The goal of the conference is to strengthen the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and promote involvement of European states in helping the sides reach a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Among the questions that will be discussed are the role of civil society organizations in a changing reality, how the European Community and the European civil society organizations can contribute in the present reality and whether the “two-state solution” is still applicable, and if not, what the alternative solutions are.
Participants will be divided into five mixed working teams that will discuss the following subjects:
Democracy and civil and human rights, political activity and activism, education, culture and youth, infrastructure development, health and economy, and communications.
The conference will be attended by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and President of the Region of Tuscany Claudio Martini. Additional guests are Fares Kadoura, Jibreel Rajoub, Sufian Abu Zayda, Yasser Abed Rabbo, Avraham Burg, Orit Adato and about 100 representatives of Palestinian and Israeli NGOs.
“Civil society is a rising force that serves as an agent for social and political change all over the world. Its role becomes even more critical in a state of diplomatic stagnation and military deterioration. This might be the last chance to promote a peace process based on dialogue,” said Ron Pundak, cochairman of the forum and managing director of the Peres Center for Peace.
His counterpart, Riad Maliki, cochairman of the forum and managing director of the Panorama Center, said: “Our role is extremely critical at this time. We remain committed to the common goal of the organizations mainly because of the failure of the political institutions and the conflict between the peoples. Since the establishment has shirked its responsibility to take care of the citizens, civil society remains the only possible solution. With our activity we prove there is a Palestinian and Israeli peace camp.”
