August 2009 E-Bulletin.
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The Peres Center for Peace Monthly E-Bulletin |
August 2009 |
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The Peres Center for Peace – a non-governmental non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting peaceful relations between Arabs and Israelis – is proud to present the August 2009 E-Bulletin. |
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Ongoing Activities |
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Listed below are some of the Peres Center's August activities: |
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Over 100 underprivileged Palestinian and Israeli children came together for the second annual Football Village of Hope camp, which fosters mutual understanding, builds lasting friendships, and creates a new generation of youth advocates for peace. The camp is run jointly by the Peres Center Sport Department and the Palestinian organization, the Al-Quds Association for Democracy and Dialogue. The children played, learned, and lived together, enjoying football, swimming and other sports, educational and cultural activities, and peace education workshops. In addition to their Israeli and Palestinian coaches, the children were joined by professionals from the Football Association of Ireland. They visited the training ground of Israel’s Premier League champions Maccabi Haifa, and met the players. Football Village of Hope is organized with the help of Milo Corcoran, former President of the Football Association of Ireland and current Chairman of the FAI's International Committee and by Ophir Zardok, former manager of Drogheda United FC. |
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The camp is generously funded by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, through the Irish Aid program and is supported by Minister Michéal Martin and his predecessor, Minister Dermot Ahern.A reflection from Anwar, the head Palestinian Coach: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the kids to meet ‘the other side’ and to work together on the common goal of a better future.” |
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Sixteen Palestinian handicrafts companies presented their products in Israel’s leading house ware gifts exhibition Giftec,providing them invaluable exposure and access to the Israeli market, with a potential for generating millions of shekels in new sales. The Palestinian exhibition, called Artesana – Authentic Handicrafts, is a joint initiative of the Peres Center for Peace and PalTrade, and is part of the Business to Business series that brings together Arab and Israeli businesspeople from parallel sectors with a view to introducing them to the market on the "other side" as well as to potential business partners, thereby encouraging business relations, and ultimately, strengthening cross-border trade. Artesana is generously supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Israel and the Norwegian Representative Office to the Palestinian Authority. |
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Norway’s Ambassador to Israel, Jakken Biorn Lian: “It is of the highest importance to develop economic relations between Palestinians and Israelis and this exhibition is a perfect example of how such cooperation can be developed. It needs to be very concrete, involving people and companies that excel in their trade.” |
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A two day training seminar focusing on best practices for fertilizers and pesticides was held for 17 regional supervisors from the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in the West Bank. The course was conducted by the Agriculture, Water and Environment Department of the Peres Center, in cooperation with the extension services of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, as part of the Peres Center’s agricultural training and capacity building program, which implements knowledge sharing through a unique “Training the Trainers” structure. The seminar was generously funded by the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust. |
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A pre-season Coach’s Training Seminar was held for 50 Palestinian and Israeli coaches from the Twinned Peace Sport Schools (TPSS) project. The seminar enhanced the coaches’ skills and better equipped them to guide the youth participants. A new Peace and Sport manual was circulated and a new bilingual website was launched that will enable the coaches to keep in touch with each other. In light of the fact that the standard of education in any field is ultimately influenced by the ability of the educators, continuous training is imperative for the coaches, who teach over 1,500 TPSS youngsters annually.
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A roundtable discussion of senior Israeli and Palestinian economists entitled, "Economic Prospects for Israeli-Palestinian Relations," was hosted by the Peres Center’s Business and Economics Department in partnership with PalTrade. The dialogue addressed bilateral economic relations with consideration of the current political situation and the concept of 'economic peace' that was recently declared by Prime Minister Netanyahu. The participants included the former Palestinian minister of national economy, the former director general of the Israeli Ministry of Finance, the former Palestinian deputy minister, senior academics, and representatives from the private sector, among others. This successful event will be the basis for a position paper that further investigates the conclusions of the discussion. |
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The model farms for the Strawberry Fields for Peace project have been selected throughout the Qalqilia region of the West Bank, and the first training workshop for the strawberry farmers was held. These farms will serve as centers for research and development, where best practice methods of strawberry growth and production are carried out. Strawberry Fields for Peace is the Peres Center’s cross-border, peace building project that provides capacity building support and advanced training to Palestinian and Israeli agriculturalists in order to enhance local strawberry production and international export. The project is implemented in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and is supported by the Flemish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
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As part of the Integrated Crop Management (ICM) program, the Agriculture, Water and Environment Department organized a professional research visit to Jericho and Auja for representatives of the Israeli and Palestinian Ministries of Agriculture. The tour was initiated in response to several reported outbreaks of the Red Palm Weevil, one of the most damaging pests to the date palm in the Middle East. It was concluded that joint Israeli-Palestinian cooperation is essential in implementing an immediate plan of action for eliminating this regional pest. The Peres Center launched the ICM program to promote a comprehensive regional approach to crop management and pest control. |
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Around the World |
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Thirteen children from the Twinned Peace Basketball Schools project travelled to Spain to participate in the Youth Campus Basketball Camp, which was jointly sponsored by Casa Sefarad-Israel and the Basketball Foundation for Culture and Society. The children were from the Israeli community of Kiryat Gat and the Arab-Israeli community of Ein Rafa. They were joined by a delegation of 15 Spanish child cancer survivors, organized by the Fundacion Cesare Scariolo. In addition to their intense schedule of basketball and fitness training the children enjoyed a visit to see the national basketball team practice and an opportunity to play in a streetball tournament. World basketball champions Pau and Marc Gasol, Rudy Fernández, Calderón, Garbajosa, Ricky Rubio, and Felipe Reyes, took part in their daily basketball training sessions and shared in the promotion of multiculturalism and integration through sport. |
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The Peres Center is pleased to welcome the newest addition to its international team, Mr. Laurent Moyse. Until very recently, Mr. Moyse served as editor-in-chief at the important French quality newspaper La Voix du Luxembourg. He is an active member of the Luxembourg Jewish community and is well acquainted with decision makers and other key figures. As Chairman of the Friends of the Peres Center in Luxembourg, Mr. Moyse will promote international awareness of the organization and help raise support for its peacebuilding initiatives. The Peres Center recently established a partnership with the Ministry of Development Cooperation of Luxembourg. The Ministry will be generously supporting the IT Peace Project Department’s Peacemaker program and the New Beginnings program of the Culture, Media and Arts Department. These educational initiatives, offered to over 2,000 Israeli and Palestinian youth, will commence this fall. |
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Dr. Ron Pundak, Director General of the Peres Center for Peace, will speak at the First National JStreet Conference in Washington DC, October 25-29, 2009. The Peres Center wishes its colleagues at JStreet success with their plans. For further information about the event or to register, please click here. |
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Peres Center in the News |
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The Peres Center for Peace is pleased to introduce a new feature, which will highlight recent media coverage of its projects and activities.
Put some peace in your tank
A joint Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian biofuel project, initiated by the Peres Center, will alleviate thousands of tons of organic waste and produce one million barrels of biofuel, powering peace in the Middle East. Support for the project is provided by Trilateral Industrial Development Fund (TRIDE). Read more….
It’s how you play the game: Football Village of Hope
100 Palestinian and Israeli children joined together for a Peres Center summer camp filled with football training and peacebuilding activities. The Village of Hope Summer Camp is funded by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, through its Irish Aid program. Read more…
At Peace: Camp a refuge for U.S., Israeli, Palestinian boys
A delegation of Palestinian and Israeli boys from the Peres Center's sport project joined a group of Americans for an interfaith summer camp in North Carolina organized and funded by American Interfaith Camps, Inc. and the Elk Shoals United Methodist Camp. Read more…
'Economic peace no replacement for a political solution'
A new study published by the Peres Center for Peace argues that economic peace, though a helpful tool, cannot replace a political solution with the Palestinians. Read more…
Leonard Cohen concert proceeds to benefit Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation
Proceeds from Leonard Cohen's September 24 concert in Israel will be earmarked for a newly established fund to benefit Israeli and Palestinian peace and reconciliation organizations including The Peres Center for Peace. Read More…
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Group Members
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Chatterbox
| Narda, is this group officially acknowledged by the Peres Center for Peace? i.e. it's ok to post these monthly updates... Wibowo Sulistio 4:25 am
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| I get a monthly newsletter from them. I doubt they'll object but I'll inform them of this page as well as the others I've created yesterday! Thanks for the reminder for good form... Narda Azaria Dalgleish 4:39 am
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| Thanks for being bold Narda! On a worst case scenario, we can change the group name to something 'generic' and not use a particular organization's name... which actually, could be a better approach anyway. That way, it's easier to get people and organizations from both sides to participate here. Wibowo Sulistio 5:57 am
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| Like inviting these folks? --> www.peacengo.org Wibowo Sulistio 5:59 am
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| I have not yet had a response from them. Also, I began checking the palestinian Israeli Peace NGO forum organization and had to remove the first few from the members list. The first one of which had a worning attached so I haven't even opened the page. Narda Azaria Dalgleish 12:49 pm
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| The peace ngo page consists of the 2 addresses. the Palestinian - panorama, and the peres center to which i have already sent an email. I need to make it into 2 pages with the 2 addresses. Try and do it tomorrow. Narda Azaria Dalgleish 1:04 pm
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| Thanks! I've linked the two. Wibowo Sulistio 8:00 pm
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| Welcome to you Zach Perlman. You might like to have a look at - A WiserEarth Palestine-Israel Platform - which has greater data. Delighted to see you here. Narda Azaria Dalgleish 1:28 pm
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| Welcome to you Paul Hawken Narda Azaria Dalgleish 6:34 am
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