Tag it:

The International Seminar in Bethlehem: A First Assessment Two weeks ago, on the 2-3 of December, we at the Alternative Information Center (AIC) together with the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG) and the Health Work Committees (HWC) held our second international seminar??Building a Joint Future: Alternatives to the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.? The event was organized to explore both potential solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on democratic and humanistic values, and discuss the joint Palestinian-Israeli-International struggle for peace and justice.

During the seminar there were more then 300 participates including 60 internationals from 13 different countries, 80 Israelis, and 200 Palestinians. One of the highlights of the conference was the keynote presentation, during which Sarah Lachiani and Rawda Odeh, both mothers of political prisoners, addressed the audience. During the conference the participants had the opportunity to hear from fourteen speakers, eight of whom were women, on four separate panels. Six of the presenters were Jewish Israeli, five were Palestinian (four from the 1967 occupied territories, and one Palestinian with an Israeli ID), and three speakers were internationals. The breadth of experiences and expertise among the presenters facilitated rich and engaging discussions during the workshops, which were held at the end of the event.

The process of organizing the seminar was loaded with many logistical and political hurdles. For Palestinians coming from outside of Bethlehem, travel is notoriously difficult, degrading, and potentially dangerous. It is also currently illegal under Israeli law for Israeli citizens to travel into major Palestinian urban areas. These difficulties and restrictions transform even the most basic elements of conference planning into significant challenges. Furthermore, in structuring these sorts of events?where Israelis and Palestinians meet together?organizers always run the risk of creating an environment where the socio-political realities of the conflict, namely, the ongoing Israeli occupation, become normalized. Though such challenges are not new to the AIC, they are nonetheless significant obstacles that we must continue to confront.

Despite all these hardships and potential setbacks we felt that the conference was a great success. The issues discussed during the presentations and workshops continue to generate interest and active engagement among the communities who attended the seminar.

We are now beginning a logistical, political, and organizational evaluation of the seminar. We hope that this review will prepare us for future conferences and events in Palestine and facilitate the ongoing joint engagement of Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals in the struggle for a just solution to this conflict.

In order to complete this task to the fullest, we ask you, our partners, to help us with the process of evaluation, by giving your own evaluation/critiques of the seminar.

 First of all, we would like to thank you all for your essential participation at the Alternative Information Center (AIC), Health Work Committees (HWC) and the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG) 2^nd International Seminar under the title ?Building a future Together: Alternatives to the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse? on 2-3 December, 2005.

We aimed the seminar to serve as a platform for the often unheard discussion within and between Palestine, Israel and other countries about possible political solutions. The yearned for goal was to search for and formulate the  future conditions essential to a just, equal and democratic bases on which a true and lasting peace can be founded.

To listen to audio recordings of the panel discussions, please visit the AIC website at: http://www.alternativenews.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=326

In order to improve our future programs, and in order to respond precisely to your needs, difficulties, and other requests, we wish to ask you a few questions. Your opinion about this seminar is very important to us, therefore we thank you in advance for taking the time to answer the following questions and send them back to us.

 We underscore that these questions are meant to provide you the opportunity to present your opinion, your comments, and for us a way to understand your expectations and better focus our methods. Every critique is welcome in order to upgrade our efforts towards future plans.

Thank you again for your support!

Dr. Naim Abu Teir, HWC

Michael Warchawski, AIC

Rami Kassis, ATG

Questionnaire

Note: Please send your answers to this questionnaire to Yossi Bartal at your earliest convenience. Yossi?s e-mail address is: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Were the topics covered in the seminar sufficiently inclusive of the relevant issues you believe needed to be dealt with?

What did you find least satisfactory about the seminar?

Did the seminar meet your expectations?

What suggestions/thoughts do you have for future seminars?