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Grassroots Negotiations Congress on the streets of Tel-Aviv
Israelis & Palestinians to hold
A Grassroots Negotiations Congress
On the streets of Tel-Aviv
Thur. September 3, 2015, 10AM – 6PM


It will take place tomorrow, Thursday, September 3, 2015 – an Israeli
delegation, a Palestinian delegation and as many members of the general
public as want to participate, will hold street-level grassroots
negotiations on a main Tel Aviv street. They will discuss and debate all
contentious issues – even the most difficult and sensitive - and try to
reach mutually satisfactory solutions. It will be held on the plaza at 48
King George St. opposite the Dizengoff Center Shopping Mall – a major Tel
Aviv thoroughfare, frequented by people of varied ethnicities and walks of
life at all hours of the day and for much of the night.

Each delegation will include 20 people, reflecting to a broad spectrum of
backgrounds in both the Israeli and the Palestinian society: Israeli
generals, Palestinian commanders, Israeli settlers, Palestinian ex-
prisoners, academics, business people, and students. Members of the general
public are most welcome to observe and also take an active part – both those
who come especially and passers-by who happen on the grassroots negotiations
completely by chance.

The grassroots congress is co-chaired by Dr. Sapir Handelman – an Israeli
who received the Peter Becker Award in Peace & Conflict Studies; and Mr.
Wisam Seder – a prominent Palestinian athlete and educator.

This event is part of an ongoing campaign aimed at establishing of a broad-
based Israeli-Palestinian Grassroots Negotiating Congress, with enough
public support in both societies to gain concrete political power which
decision makers would be able to ignore . To that end, we are building
international and domestic coalitions designed to involve the people in the
peacemaking struggle and press leaderships to conclude agreements.

The Tel Aviv grassroots deliberations are to be divided into three forums:

Peacemaking – negotiating central issues, such as: borders, Jerusalem and
refugees.
Peace building – trust building measures, education,economics, and so on.
Peace keeping – civilian, political and militaristic mechanisms to keep
peace and stability.

Obviously, neither members of the Israeli delegation nor their Palestinian
colleagues have any official standing or credentials, and any agreement they
reach will not be binding. However, it is far from unimportant that, even
under the present inauspicious conditions, Israelis and Palestinians can
meet cordially in public, discuss even the most difficult issues troubling
their two peoples – and reach agreement. The fact that this is possible
could and should serve as an example and inspiration to the decision makers
on both sides – who do have the power to make a binding agreement. Leaders
on both sides should engage in official negotiations – not as a PR stunt or
power game, but in order to genuinely reach a peace agreement and actually,
fully implement it. Is it complicated? Is it difficult? Going on with the
present situation is more complicated, more difficult and far more painful.

The Minds of Peace Organization has successfully led 27 small-scale Israeli-
Palestinian grassroots negotiating congresses around the US and Canada, in
the Middle East, and at open public places in Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. In
nearly all of the congresses, the respective Israeli and Palestinian
delegations succeeded in reaching agreement – a remarkable result
considering that these delegations were deliberately formed so as to include
people with widely different political views and from all walks of life in
both societies.

To view the agreements and videos of past grassroots negotiations sessions
visit: www.mindsofpeace.org and facebook: ‘minds of peace’

Israeli - PalestinianPublic Negotiating Congress, Hamashbir Plaza,
Jerusalem, August 22-23, 2013

For more information:

Dr. Alain Mordezki: 972-52-860-5272; “Minds of Peace”; peace.public @
gmail.com

IshaiPolatchek: 052-660-9828; “Minds of Peace”;polatchek@bezeqint.net

Wisam Seder: 972-52-264-8388, `Minds of Peace`

LotanCommunications, Tel: 972-3-5667474; Fax: 972-3-5667030
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