Op 18 en 19 juni vindt er in Den Haag een conferentie plaats van de International Dialogues Foundation over Jeruzalem. Of ik daar op mijn weblog aandacht aan wilde besteden. Okee, hierbij. Ik ben niet zo’n aanhanger van die dialoog gedachte, typisch een ’tweetje’ (zie hier), om te denken dat je wat oplost als je maar een stelletje Palestijnen en een stelletje Israeli’s bij elkaar zet om met elkaar te praten. Ik bedoel: dialoog is mooi, als je het hebt over gelijkwaardige partijen en je denkt dat een gesprek de misverstanden en de vooroordelen kunnen verminderen. Is wat mij betreft in de Palestina/Israël niet het probleem, en dat mag nu wel eens een keertje doordringen. Het wordt tijd voor partijdigheid, voor laten zien waar je staat.

Neemt niet weg dat de IDF (grapjassen zijn het – nooit aan gedacht met wie ze die afkorting delen?) een keur aan vooraanstaande lieden als sprekers hebben weten uit te nodigen, misschien juist wel omdat je je aan zo’n ‘dialoog’ geen buil kunt vallen. Dus voor wie geïnteresseerd is: hierbij het programma:

Hereby, we would like to invite you to participate in the Conference on
‘Jerusalem: Coalitions for Justice and Peace’, which will be held at
Christus Triumfatorkerk on Juliana van Stolberglaan 154. The conference is
organised on 18 and 19 of June 2010 in The Hague in The Netherlands. We
would appreciate your active participation in the discussion on the round
(square) table. Besides the speakers mentioned in the program we also would
like the participation of experts and representatives of organisations. In
these roundtables interventions are possible.

As being in charge of the scenario I would like to hear from you if and on
which session you would prefer to participate on the discussions. You will
be approached by one of the board members (Leila Jordens Cotran for the
legal dimension discussion, Bram Rutgers for the religious dimension and
Peter Idenburg for the political dimension and the discussion on the
coalitions).

I would like to receive your reaction as soon as possible, because of the
limitations of seats on the table.

For further information please do not hesitate to contact International
Dialogues Foundation at Idenburg.idf@xs4all.nl or by phone 0031 –
0703785528 and my mobile phone 0031 – 624369309.

We are looking forward to meeting you at our conference.

Sincerely yours,

On behalf of International Dialogues Foundation Board Members and Team,

Helena Uzelac
Project secretary

Program 18-19 June Conference at The Hague, Netherlands
International Dialogues Foundation
JERUSALEM: COALITIONS FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE

Venue: Christus Triumfatorkerk
Juliana van Stolberglaan 154
2595 CL Den Haag Tel. 070 3857655

Friday June 18, 2010

10:00 Welcome speech by Gerben Meihuizen, (chairman of the Board of IDF, former ambassador in several Arab Countries)

10:10 Introduction to the discussion

Menachem Klein, (professor at the Bar-llan University¸ Tel Aviv, former member of the Israeli political advisory team for Prime Minister Ehud Barak, advisor on Jerusalem affairs. Took an active role in the Geneva Initiative.)

Ziad AbuZayyad (co-editor of the Palestine- Israel Journal, former Minister and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.)

10:40 Discussion

11:00 Coffee Break

11:15 Keynote speech: ‘East-Jerusalem: a testcase’ by Dries van Agt, (former Dutch Minister of Justice and Prime Minister of The Netherlands, chairman of The Rights Forum)

11:45 Discussion focusing on: Human Security and Law in Jerusalem
Chair: Paul de Waart (emeritus professor international law University of Amsterdam)
Introduction by Ziad AbuZayyad
Speeches by Walid Salem (Director of the Society of Democracy and Community Development.) and Sarah Kreimer (Associate Director of Ir Amim) and interventions by steering group members and other experts

13:00 Lunch break

14:00 The Religious Dimension and its consequences for coalition formation
Chaired by Bram Rutgers (vice-chairman of the board of IDF and President of Tabitha Ministries)
Introduced by Moshe Ma’oz (Professor Emeritus of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at The Hebrew University, Jerusalem and Visiting Scholar at Harvard and Oxford)
Speakers:
Menachem Klein (Jewish), Bisharah Awad (Christian, President of Betlehem Bible College) and Mustafa Abu Sway (Islamic, associate professor Philosophy and Islamic studies, Al-Quds University Jerusalem and Honors College, Florida Atlantic University, USA)

16:00 Tea break

16:15 Roundtable discussions
Chaired by Wim Deetman (former Mayor of The Hague and Chairman of the Advisory Committee)
1st Part:
Presentation by Moshe Ma’oz on his book ‘Meeting of Civilizations’
Presentation by Menachem Klein on his upcoming publication about certain tendencies in Israel
2nd Part: Political Discussion
Discussion leaders: Mouin Rabbani (independent analyst, seated in Amman, especially on the Palestine and Israeli relations. Worked as an analyst at the International Crisis Group) and Hillel Schenker (Co-editor Palestine-Israel Journal) and Moshe Ma’oz

18:00 Closure

Saturday June 19, 2010

10:00 Roundtable discussion on Coalition Formation

Chaired by Kemal Abu Jaber (President of the Jordan Institute of Middle East Studies and former Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Hedy d’Ancona (former Dutch Minister of Health and State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment)
Introduced by Mouin Rabbani
Speakers:
Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (former Dutch Vice Prime Minister and Minister of European Affairs and Minister of Agriculture), Hesham Youssef (chief of staff Arab League), Muriel Asseburg (deputy director Institut fur Wissenschaft und Politik, Germany) and Giles Scott Smith (Roosevelt Foundation, and proffesor transiclantic relations Leiden University)

12:00 Lunch break

12:30 During the afternoon the speakers of the morning will discuss with the representatives of civil society, like NGO’s, educational institutions and press, the question ‘What does it mean practically?’. This meeting will be round up with the ideal of ‘Jerusalem: City of Justice and Peace’, discussed on the basis of some reflections by Mouin Rabbani and Menachem Klein.

14:00 Tea break

14:15 Conclusion of the discussions by Menachem Klein and Ziad AbuZayyad

14:45 Plans for the future by Peter Idenburg (Executive Chairman of IDF and coordinator of the program ‘Justice and Peace for Israel and Palestine’)

15:00 Closing speech

15:20 Closure