Talk Peace Make Peace

The Peace Process in the Middle East has opened the door to big opportunities for both sides of the conflict. Talk Peace Make Peace is a collaborative project of Reut-Sadaka, the Palestinian Scout Movement and the Library on Wheels for Non-Violence and Peace. Its goals are to build trust between young Palestinians and Israelis as a basis for multicultural and multinational coexistence and cooperation.

The organizations participating in the Talk Peace-Make Peace project do not endorse any particular political solution to the Middle East problems. They believe in the justice of the Palestinian cause, the rights of the Palestinian people to self- determination, and accept the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority. They also believe in the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security, within its borders as agreed upon by international agreements.

The dramatic changes in the relationship between the Israeli and Palestinian people since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority and the beginning of the Oslo peace process provide a window of opportunity for educational meetings between Israeli and Palestinian young people. This window must be taken advantage of while it is still open because despite the progress of reconciliation between the two peoples, there are still forces on both sides pressing for violent responses to this conflict. These forces find support in their communities. Mutual fear and hostility run so deep that any provocation from either side can spark disastrous results, and efforts toward change face enormous difficulties. The main obstacles to reconciliation are mutual suspicion and fear. On the other hand, most people believe that change is vital for the survival of both peoples.

Signing of agreements between politicians is not enough. The involved peoples must accept these agreements and norms, values and entrenched habits must change. No lasting peace can be established without building a "culture of peace."

Program Goals and Objectives

As stated above, the overall goal of the Talk Peace-Make Peace program are to build trust between young Palestinians and Israelis as a basis for multicultural and multinational coexistence and cooperation.

In keeping with the mission of improving relations between Israelis and Palestinians, the following objectives have been set for the program:

1. Interpersonal acquaintance

2. Acquiring awareness of each other's culture

3. Acquiring awareness of pluralism within each group

4. Reducing stereotypes, prejudice and ethnocentrism

5. Internalizing feelings of respect for others

6. Learning about and understanding each other's attitudes regarding real life issues such as equality and discrimination, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, etc.

7. Increased ability of participants to deal with conflict through communication rather than violence

8. Increased willingness of participants to meet again.

Project Description

The Talk Peace-Make Peace project consists of two parallel frameworks: one for meetings of youth group members and one for meetings between youth group leaders of the three partner organizations. The project is intended to transmit the basic ideals of equality and coexistence to Palestinians and Israelis ages 15-25, through a continuous educational process of monthly meetings, workshops and seminars.

Framework I:

Youth Group Meetings

These meetings will be run by professional facilitators and will consist of four stages

1. Uni-national workshops

2. Bi-national workshops

3. Bi-national seminars

4. A concluding seminar

The Israeli and Palestinian organizations will first hold separate uni-national weekend workshops devoted to discussions about their expectations concerning the planned meetings with their counterparts, stereotypes, prejudices and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. One month later, a second uni-national workshop (continuer's workshop) will be held for each community. These workshops will be devoted to problems of each society and will include discussions, lectures and meetings with representatives of each group.

Four bi-national weekend workshops will be held, once a month, in which Israeli and Palestinian participants meet in mixed educational groups to discuss personal, cultural and ethnic identity, to deal with each other's feelings, and to recognize and break down stereotypes and prejudices.

Two bi-national weekend seminars will be held. They will be devoted to social and political problems of each of the societies. The participants will cope with such issues as democracy, social structure, international cooperation, national and international security through lectures, group activities and discussion.

The final phase of the program will comprise a three-day joint field trip/concluding seminar. This f ield trip/seminar will be devoted to social activities, feedback, conclusions and decisions about ways in which to continue the connection and to build common programs between the project's participants beyond the barriers that still exist between the two peoples.

Framework II:

Group Leader Meetings

Re'ut-Sadaka and Palestinian Scout group leaders will also attend meetings run by professional facilitators. Slated to start one month before the youth group meetings, they will provide a framework for personal contact between the leading educational personnel of the two organizations.

The Group Leaders' Meetings have four purposes:

1. To prepare the group leaders for joint leadership of Palestinian-Israeli youth groups

2. To bring together the young leaders of the project on an ongoing basis in order to provide an opportunity for the leaders to approach each other and to learn, through personal experience, about each other's concerns on individual, cultural and national levels

3. To meet experts in fields of common interest, in order to learn various techniques of coping with conflict and interpersonal dynamics, to exchange ideas, and to explore further avenues of cooperation and project expansion

4. To prepare a generation of young leaders devoted to the idea of peaceful coexistence and non-violent conflict resolution. The Group Leaders' Meetings will take place in three stages over the course of 11 months (starting one month before the Youth Group Members' activity) and will consist of four weekend workshops, two weekend seminars and five one-day workshops

Translation will be provided whenever necessary because each group has a distinct native language,. Since the partner groups are working together on a grand scale for the first time, there is a certain amount of risk or uncertainty involved. However, the planning stages have gone smoothly and a basic trust and confidence in each other's ability has been established.

Our Partner Organizations in the Talk Peace-Make Peace Project

The Palestinian Scout Movement:

Established in 1912, the goals of the Palestinian Scout Movement's include the education of young people and development of individuals to their full potential. The Scouts aim to build peace and a better future based on justice, understanding and consideration of the needs of their people. Further, the Palestinian Scouts believe that peace is a vital need of this region. For the past 85 years, despite tremendous political change, the Palestinian Scouts have been proud carriers of the Scouting spirit: teamwork, self-discipline, community service, and good citizenship. The Palestinian Scouts are part of the World Scout Movement. In accordance with the principles of the movement, the Palestinian Scouts came to the conclusion that educational steps must be taken to change the state of violence, which has existed for many years. In 1994, following the agreements between Israel and the Palestinian people, the Scouts began to cooperate with other organizations, which hold similar beliefs and goals.

The Palestinian Scouts hold that the following principles should be realized in cooperation with the Israeli people and the rest of the peoples of the Middle East: It is necessary to reformulate the elements of our educational ideals, to emphasize trusting other people and understanding their needs. It is our responsibility to end the cycle of violence and open a new era of peace and tranquility. The Palestinian people have the right to self-determination, the right of return, and the right to establish a Palestinian state. Jamal M. Julani, The Palestinian Scout Movement's Project Coordinator, serves as the organization's representative and is responsible for managing the project in conjunction with the Project Coordinators from the other partner organizations.

The Palestinian Scout Movement POB 54214 Jerusalem Tel 972-52-673419 Fax 972-2-5824018

Library on Wheels for Non-Violence and Peace (LOWNP)

LOWNP's primary goal is education. It serves as an active library with an interest in promoting peace, nonviolence and young leadership training. LOWNP's objectives include:

• Providing educational materials to children in areas with no access to public libraries

• Exposing readers to information that can benefit growth and development

• Providing opportunities for self-expression and social interaction

• Opening minds to receive new ideas

• Promoting the ideas of peace, coexistence and nonviolence as a way of life

• Promoting the idea of SALAAM in Islam, SHALOM in Judaism and PEACE within the respective religious traditions of all inhabitants of the Holyland

Year-round LOWNP activities include:

• Visiting more than 100 locations throughout the West Bank

• Distributing/Loaning children's books in Arabic to Palestinian children in isolated villages

• Distributing educational materials and supplies such as crayons, pencils, markers and coloring books to kindergartens that lack proper supplies

• Distributing an Arabic language version of the "UN Convention on the Human Rights of the Child" and "Teach Children Peace" (Published by LOWNP) to parents and teachers on visits

• Providing Books on Tape for blind children

• Offering a touring puppet show for children which emphasizes the values of cooperation and nonviolence

• Offering financial support to pay for children's school fees in situations where the family cannot afford the cost

Nafez Assayly, coordinator of LOWNP, serves as advisor to the Talk Peace-Make Peace project and is involved in the steering and planning committees of the project.

Our Board Members