The Peres Center for Peace

The Peres Center for Peace Monthly E-Bulletin

August 2009

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.

Ongoing Activities

Listed below are some of the Peres Center's August activities:

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.

Irish Ambassador Breifne O'Reilly and Mr. Milo Corcoran visiting the Football Village of Hope summer camp

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.”

Norwegian Ambassador Jakken Biorn Lian and PalTrade’s trade development manager, Mr. Amjad Al-Qasas, meeting an artisan

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.

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.”

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.

Representatives from the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in the West Bank participating in a seminar focusing on best practices for fertilizers and pesticides

Israeli and Palestinian football coaches from the Twinned Peace Sport School project sharing team spirit

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.

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.

Senior Israeli and Palestinian economists gathering for a roundtable discussion entitled, "Economic Prospects for Israeli-Palestinian Relations”

An inspection tour prior to selecting the demonstrative strawberry farms for the Strawberry Fields for Peace project

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.

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.

Around the World

Israeli Twinned Peace Basketball School delegation to Spain accompanied by Spanish cancer survivors during the Youth Campus Basketball Camp

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.

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.

Mr. Laurent Moyse, recently appointed Chairman of the Friends of the Peres Center in Luxembourg

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.

Peres Center in the News