Building on the past cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, which has taken place on an ad hoc basis, the Forum creates a network to enable organizations to share and develop the skills needed in a changing political environment, providing them with greater means of communication and information flow.
The past six or so years of Intifada have been defined almost as much by the lack of contact between citizens and civil society, as they have been by the ongoing violence and diplomatic stagnation. This has served to polarize the Palestinian and Israeli populations even further, and to reinforce negative attitudes about the "other", which constitute a major impediment to reconciliation at the people-to-people level.
Recent developments – including the rise of Hamas to the Palestinian leadership – have not assisted the situation, maintaining the wide gaps between the Israeli and Palestinian leadership at the governmental level. The changes have created an environment of uncertainty across both societies, with Palestinians Peace NGO members particularly concerned about their futures.
Furthermore, movement restrictions limit face-to-face contact between Israelis and Palestinians, limiting opportunities for reconciliation activities and humanization of the other side.
In November 1999, the "Helsinki Seminar to Evaluate Palestinian-Israeli Civil Society Cooperation" was held bringing together 29 Palestinians and Israeli representatives from various NGOs for a two-day dialogue conference. The seminar prompted frank and informative dialogue among participants, enabling research to be conducted on the state of NGOs and people-to-people projects. The overall success of this gathering inspired another meeting in Rome in November 2002 which brought together 36 Palestinian and Israeli representatives from various NGOs and several international guests. Based on the success of the Helsinki gathering, the Rome seminar united Palestinian and Israelis at a time when such encounters were almost non-existent, following the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000.
Following a long period of limited contact, the Peres Center for Peace and Panorama Center facilitated a conference in Seville, Spain, in November 2005, which included some 35 representatives from Palestinian and Israeli Peace NGOs. The conference included many discussions about the upcoming medium of the "Peace NGOs Forum", with both sides expressing their keen interest to work together to advance common goals.
In November 2005, the Peres Center and Panorama Center commenced preparations for the launch of the "Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGOs Forum". |
