Gershon Baskin focused on the lessons that should be learned from the failures of Israeli Palestinian peace processes and offered conclusions regarding future prospects.
Gershon Baskin at George Mason
Gershon began his presentation by asking “Israeli Palestinian – is it still possible?” He shared his insights on how twenty two years of failed peace process have left the public on both sides of the conflict with a deep sense that there is no partner for peace and that peace is not possible. Israel and the PLO signed six agreements over the years and all of them were breached. Many lessons can be drawn from the long years of experience in negotiations and in implementation (and non-implementation) of agreements. His lecture focused on the lessons that should be learned from the failures of Israeli Palestinian peace processes and conclusions will be offered regarding future prospects. The lessons learned have clear prescriptive dimensions for other conflicts and peace processes as well.
Israeli Palestinian – is it still possible? Twenty two years of failed peace process have left the public on both sides of the conflict with a deep sense that there is no partner for peace and that peace is not possible. Israel and the PLO signed six agreements over the years and all of them were breached. Many lessons can be drawn from the long years of experience in negotiations and in implementation (and non-implementation) of agreements. This lecture will focus on the lessons that should be learned from the failures of Israeli Palestinian peace processes and conclusions will be offered regarding future prospects. The lessons learned have clear prescriptive dimensions for other conflicts and peace processes as well.
Carol Daniel Kasbari, conflict transformation specialist and veteran facilitator for groups in conflict in the Middle East since 1995 moderated the session. Carol managed several USAID programs through local and international NGO’s such as Search for Common Ground, Catholic Relief Services and other in various fields such as in media, dialogue, education and advocacy. She worked with numerous groups such as wounded crossing borders, senior media professionals, high school educators, women activists and many others in Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Greece and Bosnia. She was the co-founder and director of the Israeli Palestinian Media Forum (IPMF) and a consultant for UNESCO’s division of Freedom of Expression for 8 years. In 2011, she held a powerful TEDx talk on “Going beyond the Dialogue of Words” to illustrate through her personal experience the numerous ways to act and reach out to the other, to cross the emotional and physical borders to create a dialogue of actions:
