Unite the Field Panel – “Think Global, Act Local: Can the Diplomatic Community & Israeli-Palestinian Civil Society Come Together and Build a Cohesive Strategy for Peace & Equality?”

Earlier this month, ALLMEP’s ‘Unite the Field’ hosted a panel discussion titled, “Think Global, Act Local: Can the Diplomatic Community & Israeli-Palestinian Civil Society Come Together and Build a Cohesive Strategy for Peace & Equality?”, moderated by ALLMEP’s U.S. Director, Kari Reid. 

While civil society plays a key role in connecting with local populations, the diplomatic community brings leaders together to bridge gaps on key issues, and provides incentives that can help make peace more attractive. This discussion aimed to tackle the question of how civil society peace builders and the diplomatic community can work better together?  

The panel featured an expert lineup of speakers, including the following:

George Salem, Chair of MEPPA’s PPF Advisory Board, discussed the role of MEPPA in building the kind of trust that we know is absolutely critical for future peace agreements to not fail: “It is very difficult to get people out of their safe space, and to deal with someone who has a different narrative. And that’s what this work is about”. George discussed the long term concerted advocacy efforts of Israeli and Palestinian peace builders to get MEPPA passed, and what we can learn from this example of how civil society peacebuilders can impact policy in this region: “Basically, politicians follow the people. Many think they lead the people, but in areas like this, they follow where their constituents lead them.”  

Dr. Yael Braudo, the co-direct of Women Wage Peace (WWP), spoke about WWP’s push for a diplomatic solution and how a women-led grassroots approach can disrupt the current conflict dynamics. Dr. Yael highlighted the ‘top down’ role of the diplomatic community, in the formal world of diplomacy and track one processes, but also the ‘bottom-up’ role of the diplomatic community, which is to cultivate, encourage and support the grassroots initiatives: “Support, I would say, has a very good potential to impact and re-visit chances for peace”. Finally, Dr. Yael emphasizes the importance of hope and spreading the word, around the world, that there exists a vibrant community of Israeli and Palestinians that are dedicated to building peace, together.  

Andrea Pontiroli, Delegation of the European Union to Israel, provided his insights into how the EU sees civil society in the Israeli-Palestinian context and what policies the EU should pursue to ensure greater coordination and effectiveness between these diplomatic and civil society tracks. He re-stated the EU’s dedication to advancing the two state solution, and highlighted the importance of bringing ordinary Israelis and Palestinians closer together to achieve this. He also emphasized the need for perseverance, and that “we should never stop to create the conditions for peace to become possible”. He concluded by underscoring that the EU will continue to promote peace and help move forward the process until the two sides decide to sit down together on a diplomatic level. 

Huda Abuarquob, ALLMEP’s Regional Director, discussed the steps that civil society and diplomats should take to better coordinate their efforts and allow for greater impact: “Coordination between civil society in general and the diplomatic corps is a must in order to create the popular demand”. She spoke about the discrepancy between the high representation of Palestinians in civil society and the representation of Palestinians on a diplomatic level, which is much lower. Huda also emphasized the importance of engaging young Palestinians in peacebuilding programs: “our young Palestinians, with a true partnership with the world, would be our new advocates.”

Dr. Gil Murciano, the CEO of Mitvim, spoke about Mitvim’s role of having civil society and the diplomatic community interact with one another, and what improvements need to be made within this realm. Dr. Gil emphasized the need to continue to work with government officials, even while criticizing their policies. He stated that one thing that Israeli civil society can do better is to “pick our battles.”

John Lyndon, ALLMEP’s Executive Director, concluded the panel, and the conference, by pointing to the sense of hope in the room, “and that’s something that is oppositional to what you usually see: Israelis and Palestinians in the same space, diplomats and civil society in the same space partners, academics, think tanks, everybody committed to peace and equality for a day as a single community”.