Israel-Palestine: Creative Regional Initiative: News from Israel and Palestine

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News, reports and upcoming events. Dear Friends and Supporters, IPCRI would like to thank you for your continued support. Your commitment to IPCRI and our vision encourages us to do our best. It is 6 and a bit after the war. Now that this one is behind us, it is becoming clear that all the death, destruction and suffering could have been avoided. Hamas achieved very little, and it is very doubtful what Israel achieved. As testimony of this, the Israeli Army recommended late last week that the blockade be eased, salaries be paid etc. It is a tragedy that so much devastation had to take place to reach a conclusion and prompt actions that could have easily been taken without it. Thus, another senseless war has been waged by visionless and cowardly politicians.    One thing that is very clear to us is that in the absence of a political solution we are now only in a lull between the war that has just ended and the next one. Since the ceasefire came into force, Israel has announced further measures guaranteed to obstruct peace, such as appropriating 4,000 dunams for expansion of settlements, and seizure of Palestinian Authority tax revenues. Based on these steps one can only conclude that the Netnayahu government continues to refuse to be serious about peace and continues to reject any notion of a two state solution. This clearly puts the Netanyahu government on one of two tracks: either towards a fully democratic one-state solution which would mean an end to a Jewish state, or - much more likely - an ethnocentric single state, which would mean an end to a democratic state and the solidification of Israel as an apartheid state. Whoever reads this newsletter should consider what she or he supports and what they intend, if anything, to do about it.    As for IPCRI, we continue to work tirelessly. The war took a serious toll on us but we are back on form. We conducted an excellent Afternoons with IPCRI event on the last day of July, hosting Dr. Anat Kurz from the Institute for National and Strategic Studies and Prof. Mukhaimer Abu Sada from Al-Azhar University. You can view the recorded event here. Yesterday, we hosted another Afternoons event. Dan moderated a panel of two, comprising Meron Rapaport, a journalist who is leading the "Two States in One Homeland" Israeli group; and Dani Dayan, former chairman of the Yesha Council and the person behind the idea of Peaceful Nonreconciliation. As you may know, IPCRI has been researching the idea of an Israeli-Palestinian confederation or union as part of a project called "Two States in One Space". The central research question we have put before our five working groups is how we can reconcile two sovereign nation states that allow for full freedom of movement between them. The confederation would have to start thin and thicken over time but this concept holds great promise, as it creatively addresses some of the issues that seem unsolvable via the well-known separation plan. We are making progress here. Our five working groups are: A) citizenship, residence and freedom of movement; B) governance and common institutions; C) Jerusalem and holy sites; D) Right of Return, Law of Return and Immigration; and D) security. They will be submitting their working papers by the beginning of October. We should have them ready for publication by the beginning of November and are planning a conference to examine their findings. You will, naturally, all receive electronic copies of this when the time comes. Our newsletters have been generating interest in our organization and bringing in donations, and we are grateful for every dollar/Euro we receive. These are very hard days for NGOs: donor fatigue and multiple pressing humanitarian issues mean that there is less and less to go round. We hope that we have demonstrated to you - and will continue to demonstrate - that we do not do "more of the same" and that we continue to represent a fresh, innovative and bold voice with a clear vision. Not all we do necessarily works but the chances of them working are better than long tested and tried ideas that continue not to. Thank you for your attention. Sincerely, Dan and Riman IPCRI needs all the support you can give; please consider donating! Stay up to date by following us on Facebook We are against normalization. We are for ending the occupation and a just and sustainable resolution of the conflict Our mailing address is: Israel Palestine Creative Regional Initiatives PO Box 11091 Jerusalem 91110 Israel