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 Launched in January 2008 with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the “Advocates for Change” program was designed to bring together Jews and Palestinians who are working in important target sectors: mental health workers, lawyers and civil engineers and urban planners. The goal was to create a cadre of committed leaders equipped with knowledge and tools to address issues related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The “Advocates for Change” program addressed many of the most difficult issues of the conflict: language, land, rights, security, racism, superiority, inferiority and privilege. Participants gained a better understanding of the sources of conflict, and the ability to analyze more realistically factors that escalate conflict. The goals of the program included:
- training and empowering social change agents,
- contributing, through these agents, to meetings between members of both societies,
- building a culture of non-violence, moderation, respectful understanding and dialogue,
- promoting values that lead to equality, reconciliation and forgiveness inside and between Israeli and Palestinian communities.Participants sharing their experience: An Israeli participant: “The first bi-national workshop was more intensive in the dialogue between us and more emotional since it was the first meeting but now, I feel more optimistic that we came out with something we can practically do, something real.” A Palestinian participant: “In the first bi-national workshop I felt there were many barriers between us and I had doubts about the continuation; in this workshop many of the barriers fell down. I have optimism on the continuation of our cooperation. What helped really is that we could go out with something practical that we can continue to work on.” Participants repeatedly report that they have acquired a leadership role with respect to Arab-Jewish, Israeli-Palestinian issues at their places of employment. They raise challenging questions in an attempt to combat inequality or racism. They organize special trainings for their co-workers. In short, they are now functioning as agents of change in their societies. Download two success stories: mental health workers initiating social change in their communities and how Advocates for Change participants organized an event in Jaffa during the conflict in Gaza.
“Advocates for Change: Israelis and Palestinians in Dialogue and Action” was made possible with the generous support of USAID and the American People in cooperation with the School for Peace at Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam and Hewar Center for Peace and Development.
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