Israeli, Palestinian and International students simulate peace talks
Students from around the world will join Israeli and Palestinian students at the negotiating table to try and establish trust, moderated by professional conflict resolution academics.
By OMRI RONCharney Center for Peace founder Tzili Charney with 11th grade EMIS students in peace talks simulations held at Kfar Hayarok(photo credit: GUY YECHIELY)
Israeli, Palestinian and 11th grade Eastern Mediterranean International School (EMIS) students from around the world (a school hoping to educate for peace and sustainability in the Middle East), will participate in a peace talks simulation marathon, aiming to reach an agreement within 24 hours.This simulation marathon will be hosted by the Leon Charney Resoulution Center, located at EMIS, Kfar Hayarok, and will be facilitated by Dr. Sapir Handelman, winner of the Peter Baker Award for peace and conflict studies. Handleman leads Israeli-Palestinian public negotiating congress assemblies in the US, as well as in Israel and the PA.Also moderating will be Prof. Peter Jones, an expert in conflict resolution from the University of Ottawa, and Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Israela Oron, former commander of the IDF Women’s Corps.The peace talks simulation will be split into two tracks; one will establish negotiations to arrive at an agreement, while the other will attempt to develop new ideas and principles in an attempt to find creative, out-of-the-box solutions to resolve the conflict. The peace talks simulation is the culmination of an intensive course and workshop in peace mediation and conflict resolution that the students have taken over the past few months.Once complete, the agreement will be signed at a ceremony in the presence of Jose Vericat, director of the Carter Center for Israel and Palestine, and Tzili Charney, the Israeli-born wife of the late Leon Charney and founder of the Charney Resolution Center.The Leon Charney Resolution Center opened in 2015 with the goal of promoting future negotiations. The center is named after the late Leon Charney, a lawyer and former adviser to US president Jimmy Carter, prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and president Ezer Weizman. Charney played a role in the Camp David Peace Accords, which led to the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. The center proclaims its "hope to promote peacemaking activities in multiple dimension."
