Israel-Palestine: Peace in a different way
At a time when the winds of democratic revolutions are blowing across the Arab world, the International Forum for Peace is organizing a conference on April 13, 2011 from 7 to 9 pm at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, 27 rue Saint Guillaume (amphithéâtre Chapsal), on the theme :
“Made in Peace: economic cooperation, a key element in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process”.
An estimated 12 trillion euros has been lost to the wars that have bloodied the Middle East since 1991. Unemployment is a chronic problem in the Palestinian Territories, reaching over 25% and generating an annual loss of earnings of 800 million dollars, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Employment. The poverty rate is 24% in the West Bank and over 55% in Gaza, with the majority of Gazans living on $2 a day.
If the Israeli occupation and blockade are an obstacle to socio-economic development and the creation of opportunities to exploit Palestinian human potential, economic cooperation would provide opportunities for mutual benefit. Facilitating access to international markets, providing technical assistance to Palestinian businesses, creating jobs and sharing know-how.
Encouraging economic cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian companies is therefore one of the fundamental dimensions of a lasting peace. In addition to the essential political agreements, it is in the tangible construction of a common future that the great hope of peace lies.
Among other things, the Forum is committed to economic cooperation initiatives between Israelis and Palestinians, such as the Jenin-Gilboa tourism initiative and the joint creation of an industrial zone, or the Bethlehem Palestinian industrial park, as well as other projects to support the Palestinian economy.
This conference is part of a series entitled “Israël-Palestine, la paix autrement”. The aim of the Peace Forum is not to take stock of the conflict in the Middle East once again, but to shed a different light by analyzing the points of convergence between Israelis and Palestinians, as factors conducive to the establishment of a peace agreement and the creation of a Palestinian state in 2011.
The conference will bring together :
– Anis el Qaq, former Secretary of State for International Cooperation of the Palestinian Authority, co-founder of the International Peace Forum
– Hasan Abdel Rahman, Senior Advisor to the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (FUNGLODE), former Ambassador of the Palestinian Authority to Morocco and the United States
– Pierre Duquesne, Ambassador in charge of economic, reconstruction and development issues at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
– Gilbert Benhayoun, Professor of Economics, Director of CEFEM (Paul Cézanne Aix Marseille University) and Chairman of the Aix Group
– Ofer Bronchtein, President of the International Peace Forum
Registration on : http://www.moxity.com/events/made-in-peace
Contact: Camille Lorette 06 14 57 11 98
