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Israel/Palestine: Initiating dialogue and reconciliation
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The EU Partnership for Peace Programme is a specific EU initiative supporting civil society and promoting non-violence between Israeli and Palestinians. It illustrates the EU concrete involvement in the Road Map to Peace in the Middle East. Under the Euro Mediterranean Partnership, the European Union maintains a political dialogue with Israel and the Palestinian Authority through the Association Agreements. Europe is also the main trading partner of Israel and the largest donor to the Palestinians. Jerusalem. In the first part of the report we meet Robi and Roni, representing two Israeli families who lost their children in the conflict. Together, they pay a visit to a Palestinian family, who shares the same suffering. United in grief and pain, more than 500 Israeli and Palestinian bereaved families have become members of an organisation called “The Parents Circle”. Together, they want to break the circle of violence by initiating a reconciliation process. In the second part of the report we follow Ali Hijawi, a young Palestinian businessman. Twice a week, he takes part in the study programme „Building Business Bridges“, which brings together young Israeli and Palestinian business leaders in a common Masters programme in Haifa. Experiences are exchanged, and joint businesses are being developed. The two projects receive EU funding under the Partnership for Peace Programme – a specific initiative supporting civil society and promoting non-violence on both sides of the conflict.
Jerusalem, the holy city at the heart of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
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Recently discreet but discernible sounds of peace can be heard in the region, bringing
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a glimmer of hope on both sides, but the situation remains very fragile.
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This is David, a gifted musician and student of philosophy at Tel Aviv University.
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In March 2002, he was killed by a Palestinian gunman, along with nine other young men.
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He was just 29.
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For Robbie Demelin, the tragedy is still alive in her memory whenever she flicks through
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the press cuttings covering her son's death.
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And it's called Beloved David, and it's a beautiful, beautiful article.
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In her apartment in Tel Aviv, Robbie receives a visitor.
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It's a good friend of hers, an Israeli Jew, Ronny Hershenson.
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Friendship isn't the only thing Robbie and Ronny have in common.
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And I lost my son Amir, 19-year-old.
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He was in the Israeli army, was a soldier.
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It was Sunday, 22nd of January, 1995.
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He was killed by a suicide bomber.
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In his life, Ronny has had to face more than most.
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Five years after the death of his first son, his second son, Eilat, committed suicide when
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his best friend was also killed by a Palestinian bomber.
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You might expect parents like Ronny and Robbie to hate the Palestinians and want revenge,
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but they feel differently.
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Instead of revenge, most of all, they desire peace and reconciliation.
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I understood that any form of revenge would just create more in the cycle of violence,
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more violence.
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And there is no revenge for a lost child.
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Nothing I could do could bring my child back.
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I said, no, I must raise my voice and let people to hear me, this voice, this voice
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of reasonable solution for the conflict, because the circle of violence won't stop
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unless someone wants to stop it.
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Robbie and Ronny are both members of the Parents Circle, an organization bringing together
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not only Israeli, but also Palestinian families who have lost children or close relatives
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in the conflict and who have devoted their life to peace and reconciliation.
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This is Khaled Abu Awad, a member of the Palestinian Resistance and former mathematics
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teacher.
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Until recently, his mind was set on fighting occupiers to avenge Palestinian martyrs killed
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by Israelis.
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His two brothers were shot dead by Israeli soldiers, and his son was badly injured.
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Khaled keeps his Fatah membership card.
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But his opinions and perception of violence have changed radically since he for the first
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time met Israeli and Palestinian Parents Circle members, who experienced a similar
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tragedy.
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I listened to their stories, and I completely forgot that they were Palestinians or Arabs
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or Jews.
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They became just people who wanted to express their sadness and their personal feelings.
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I felt deep inside that I really belonged with these people.
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United in grief and pain, more than 500 Palestinian and Israeli families have become members of
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the Parents Circle.
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Their association receives EU funding under the Partnership for Peace program, a specific
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initiative, supporting civil society and promoting nonviolence on both sides of the conflict.
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If those who, with the loss of their children, paid the highest price in the Middle East
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conflict are ready for reconciliation, surely everybody in the region can be, too.
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That's what Ronny and other members of the Parents Circle believe.
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In their eyes, the only reasonable solution to the conflict is an independent and democratic
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Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.
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This is also the vision of a huge majority of Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians living
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in the region.
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The two-state solution has always been the objective of the International Quartet, bringing
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together the major players in the Middle East peace process, the United States, Russia,
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the UN and the European Union.
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We are members of the Quartet, and there we, of course, have been supporting both sides
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in their very, very difficult task to go ahead according to the roadmap in order to find
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a comprehensive and secure peace.
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The European Union maintains a political dialogue with both sides through the association agreements
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under the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
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Europe is also the main trading partner of Israel and the largest donor to the Palestinians.
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Every year the European Union spends 250 million euro to rebuild destroyed infrastructure,
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to provide a humanitarian lifeline to the Palestinian people and to support political
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and financial reforms.
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While recognizing Europe's important assistance effort, the Palestinians would prefer to see
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Europe acting more firmly towards Israel.
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It took me three months and two days to sign an association agreement.
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It has taken Egypt about 14 years.
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But it took me eight years to persuade the Commission to start restricting settlement
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exports to Europe, which are a violation of the European Union's own laws, which means
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it's easier to give the Palestinians than to put pressure on the Israelis.
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As regards Israel, it highlights the coordination between the key actors in the region, but
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it also recognizes the role of the EU in the peace process.
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The European Union is a superpower, both politically and economically.
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And I think that therefore we need to recognize that Europe has an interest in the Middle
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East, and therefore it is entitled to pursue these goals of reaching stability and increasing
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the security of its environment.
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And therefore we believe that Europe has a role to play.
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Seven o'clock in the morning, Palestinian Ali Hijawi is crossing the checkpoint between
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Ramallah and Jerusalem.
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Today it took him ten minutes to go past the Israeli guards.
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On other days it takes him one hour or more.
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Movement is still very difficult for Palestinians from the West Bank, cut off by the security
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wall built by Israel.
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Ali is a businessman.
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He has a master's degree in pharmacy and works as a quality manager in a big pharmaceutical
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firm.
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Every Thursday he travels with a group of other Palestinians from the West Bank to Israel.
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Destination, the University of Haifa, where two days a week Ali and his friends participate
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in the study program, Building Business Bridges.
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This is another initiative co-financed by the European Union under the Partnership for
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Peace program.
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It seeks to foster Israeli-Arab economic cooperation by bringing together and training the best
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qualified Israeli and Palestinian young business leaders.
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After twelve months of study, Ali is very satisfied, both on a professional and personal
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level.
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The picture became more clear because what I know for Israel that I know the soldiers
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killing people, so now I know the human beings which I started dealing with.
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Getting to know each other often means heated debates between Israelis and Palestinians.
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We have fights sometimes, we agree on certain points, we disagree on certain points, which
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makes a more clear view of what we are living in.
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After two hours of driving, Ali and his friends arrive at the University of Haifa.
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After the inevitable security check, the students take their seats in the classroom.
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The classes start with a lecture on financial management.
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With the Building Business Bridges program, the University of Haifa is a pioneer and leader
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in the cause for peace.
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This unique program, bringing Jewish and Arab people together, helps to overcome the barriers
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between the two communities.
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The students get closer to each other and invite classmates to their homes on family
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occasions.
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This personal relationship is long-lasting, as students who graduated last year testify.
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From a personal point of view, it was very enriching in a way that it allowed me to get
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to know both Palestinians and Israeli Arabs from inside.
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After two years in the program, not only I have business connections, but I also have
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friends.
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The only way to solve the conflict is to let both sides understand the other side.
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Promoting understanding and building bridges between the two communities will remain a
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priority for the European Union, determined to play an active role in the roadmap to peace
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in the Middle East.
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- Idioma/s:
- Niveles educativos:
- ▼ Mostrar / ocultar niveles
- Nivel Intermedio
- Autor/es:
- The European Union
- Subido por:
- EducaMadrid
- Licencia:
- Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
- Visualizaciones:
- 619
- Fecha:
- 16 de julio de 2007 - 9:34
- Visibilidad:
- Público
- Enlace Relacionado:
- European Commission
- Duración:
- 10′ 11″
- Relación de aspecto:
- 4:3 Hasta 2009 fue el estándar utilizado en la televisión PAL; muchas pantallas de ordenador y televisores usan este estándar, erróneamente llamado cuadrado, cuando en la realidad es rectangular o wide.
- Resolución:
- 448x336 píxeles
- Tamaño:
- 52.09 MBytes
