Published: 5 March 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN STUDENTS recently participated in the largest-ever congress to negotiate trust-building measures and solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at Haifa University’s Leon Charney Resolution Centre.
The congress—held in cooperation with the university and a non-governmental organisation called Minds of Peace—united 100 university students and 50 high school pupils from all over Israel and the West Bank.
The Palestinian negotiators were required to obtain permits and pass through security checkpoints to attend the event. Alaa Amro, a 23-year-old university student from Hebron, told The Media Line that for her getting to Haifa was difficult.
“Considering my age, I have only two ways of getting a permit: either for medical reasons and (through work) with NGOs,” she said, explaining that it took five years to get the permission via the latter path.
To kick off the event, students formed smaller units which engaged in round-table discussions. At the end of the conference, each group was required to present two agreements, after hashing out their differences beforehand. One ground rule for the negotiations included a prohibition on entering into historical debate about the origins of the conflict or contentious issues of the past, as the focus was on improving present conditions.
FULL STORY Building NextGen bridges: Young Israelis and Palestinians talk peace (Ynet)
Photo: Israeli and Palestinian students engage in mock peace talks at Haifa University
