Conference Reports

The following reports are based on information supplied by the sponsoring organizations. Editorial changes were made to meet formatting and space requirements.

International Commission for Security and Cooperation in West Asia
Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research
Istanbul, TURKEY: March 6-7, 1999

The International Commission for Security and Cooperation in West Asia was established at this gathering to explore the possibilities for a peaceful settlement of the conflicts in West Asia. It includes distinguished diplomats and scholars from the nine littoral states (Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen), the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the UN secretariat, all in their personal capacities.

The idea for this indigenous West Asian regional security regime stems from several factors, the most significant being the fact that two wars and the threat of a third have sobered the littoral states and their leaders. The decline in oil revenues has also resulted in a curtailment of arms purchases in the area. In addition, population pressures are inducing regional governments to pay more attention to the development needs of their own peoples. These factors create an historic opportunity to generate new cooperative efforts in the region.

During its deliberations, the Commission focused particularly on how to start a confidence- building process toward common and comprehensive security through cooperation among the littoral states and outside powers. The Commission will hold a series of meetings during the next several years on steps to promote mutual understanding and confidence among the peoples of the region. In this initial meeting, the members recommended the establishment of a center for the promotion of regional cooperation and confidence building in the security, political, economic, social, and cultural arenas.

The co-sponsors of the Commission include: The Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research; the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI); the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs; the Center for Islamic and Arab Studies of the Australian National University; and the Iranian Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS). Expert advisors from these organizations are providing research and support facilities for the Commission.

For additional information, contact Professor Majid Tehranian, Director, The Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, 1600 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1111, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814, USA; phone (1-808)955-8231; fax (1-808)955-6476; e-mail ; website http://www.toda.org.

May 4, 1999: Implications of Declaring the State
Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine (CPAP)
Washington, DC, USA: January 22, 1999

This symposium examined the possible declaration of a Palestinian state and its potential effect on the different actors in the Middle East peace process. The consensus was that a Palestinian state was inevitable; however, the advisability of a May 4 declaration, the nature of any declared state, and the relevance of any declaration were all contested.

Richard Curtiss, Executive Director of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, commented on the American position vis-à-vis the potential declaration of a state. US diplomats, he said, will urge Arafat not to make a declaration, warning that it will ruin the chance for a "good peace." He believes that these admonishments would be accompanied by threats to cut off economic aid to the Palestinians should such an action be taken.

Presenting the official perspective of the PNA, Nasser El-Kidwa, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN, downplayed a declaration of state. He stated that there will be no inconsistency if actions are taken after May 4, since, barring an extension of the interim agreements, there will no longer be any agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. In the likely event the negotiations do not recommence at the end of the interim period, El-Kidwa contended the Palestinians would (barring major changes on the part of the Israelis) move toward independence.

Gadi Wolfsfeld, professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, stated that Israeli society is moving more and more toward the two-state solution as is evinced by Netanyahu’s meeting with Arafat. Right-wing Israeli politicians simply have to move to the political center, said Wolfsfeld, if they want to win the upcoming elections. He would be surprised, therefore, if there is a declaration of a state; it would simply help Netanyahu too much.

John Quigley, professor of law at Ohio State University, concluded that Palestine’s status as a state is already well established, with the most powerful defense of its existence implicit in Israeli’s posture toward the Palestinians. Although avoiding the word "state" in all its negotiations with the Palestinians, Israel treats Palestine as a state merely by engaging in those negotiations, and by seeking (as at Oslo) Palestinian recognition of Israel as a state.

Raif Zreik, an attorney and activist from Nazareth, Israel, refuted the entire concept of statehood. He believes any type of state the Palestinians could declare would be derived from negotiations based on an uneven balance of power and would, therefore, be a sham. The real goal should be to focus on issues of importance to the Palestinian people, and not become bogged down in an argument over statehood.

For additional information, contact the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, 2435 Virginia Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA; phone (1-202) 338-1290; fax (1-202)333-7742; e-mail jfcpap@palestinecenter.org; website http://www.palestinecenter.org.

Middle Eastern Minorities and Diasporas
The Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace in the Middle East and the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies
Jerusalem, ISRAEL: December 13-14, 1998

Despite the appearance of stability in most of the countries in the core Middle East, many of them are undergoing noticeable change. Partly as a result of domestic needs (such as economic difficulties and tension between radicals and moderates, and religious and secular groups) and partly as a result of the influence of global trends (such as tendencies toward greater openness, liberalization and democratization on the one hand and conservative reactions on the other), there are indications that some regimes are relaxing their control over the political sphere.

These trends provide the backdrop for new developments among ethnic minorities and diasporas in the region. These processes also create new dilemmas for host governments as well as for these ethnic groups. Although pursuing cautious tactics, some of these ethnic minorities and diasporas are looking for new ways to secure their interests as coherent groups and to ensure their rights. As in other parts of the world, these developments also generate tension and conflicts.

The conference provided a venue for a systematic, comprehensive and comparative discussion of these and related issues, such as the power of the state in the Middle East and the relation of nationalism and ethnic minorities and diasporas. It dealt with these issues both from a theoretical and practical perspective and covered such topics as the Kurdish Diasporas, the Palestinians in Jordan, Ethnic Groups and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and Discourse on Minorities in the Arab World. More than 60 people attended each session, mostly Israelis but also some Palestinians and Jordanians.

The starting point was that the ethno-religious factor is a key issue in contemporary stability or tension and change in most of the countries in the region. These factors affect regional conflicts and inter-state controversies, regional integration and the internal politics of most countries in the Middle East including Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, and to a somewhat lesser degree in Egypt, Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The conference proceedings will be published in the near future.

For additional information, contact Prof. Gabriel Sheffer, Dept. of Political Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus Campus, Jerusalem 91905, ISRAEL; phone (972-2)588-3161; fax (972-2)534-2461; e-mail msgabi@mscc.huji.ac.il.

Strengthening Lifeline Media in Regions of Conflict
International Centre for Humanitarian Reporting
Cape Town, South Africa: December 6-11, 1998

This conference was designed to help identify "best-practices" in the field of media and peace building. Sixty individuals working in media-driven projects in different conflict areas or in NGOs, academic institutions and international agencies gathered to share experiences, pursue new ideas and take stock of the international community’s attempts to intervene through media in humanitarian and conflict zones. It was organized by the International Centre for Humanitarian Reporting, a Geneva-based NGO which uses media as a tool for development and conflict management activities, in partnership with the South African Media Peace Centre.

The challenge before the practitioners was perhaps put most aptly by Rob Manoff of the Center for War, Peace and the News Media: To convey information in such a way that it helps persuade media consumers to "celebrate otherness" among peoples. But "otherness" has another significance when it comes to implementing media projects with a peace building agenda. The message was clear from participants that media practitioners - traditionally lone wolves - need to work closely with other professions to make the most of their peace building potential.

Concretely, this means that media interventions should be envisaged as partnership ventures. This may include partnership with local broadcasters, engaging local staff, or establishing formal cooperation agreements with community representatives. Media should never be imposed on a population, even if it "is for their own good."

Crucial to the process of producing entertaining programs on peace building themes is contact with the audience, not just as passive media consumers, but as individuals actively involved in the design of the media intervention. The aim is to transfer information "ownership" to the audience, so they will be more able to identify with it and to act on it. This "bottoms-up" approach is crucial and distinguishes itself from many media interventions by international agencies, which are often designed primarily to support the activities of that agency in the field.

During the conference it emerged that there is an increasing blurring of distinctions between journalism and peace building on the one hand, and pro-active programming and peace building on the other. Although the workshop was originally designed with the two as separate entities it became clear that they maintain a symbiotic relationship. For example, one of the best ways for peace-building program credibility to be achieved is through accurate and verifiable news reporting that is produced or distributed by the same broadcaster. In the specific field of pro-active programming, the vital importance of the basic journalistic skill of "storytelling" came through clearly in the course of the workshop, along with the rich variety of how this can be done to promote peace building.

For additional information, contact Ms. Loretta Hieber, Co-Director, International Centre for Humanitarian Reporting/RadioPartnership, Villa de Grand Montfleury, 1290 Versoix, SWITZERLAND; phone (41-22) 950-0750; fax (41-22) 950-0752; e-mail info.ichr@ties.itu.int.

EcoTourism
Palestinian-Israeli Environmental Secretariat (PIES)
Bethlehem: November 12, 1998

More then 60 Israeli and Palestinian participants representing various environmental NGOs, the tourism sector and relevant Palestinian and Israeli ministry representatives attended this workshop on eco-tourism, the last in a series on this topic organized by the Palestinian-Israeli Environmental Secretariat.

The aim of the workshop was to investigate alternative methods for encouraging communities to care for their environment by utilizing nature as a source of income. Participants discussed the impact of tourism on the environment, the environmental and economic advantages of eco-tourism, the concept of village tourism, natural parks and nature reserves in Palestinian areas, desert eco-tourism and hiking trails, tourism related to bird migration and the Bethlehem 2000 project.

Out of the concluding discussion arose the need to explicitly define what is friendly eco-tourism and how to live in harmony with the environment in a sustainable manner before devising an eco-tourism plan. Participants highlighted the region’s location at the junction of three continents and its attraction for the tourism sector. This led to the important point that the need exists in the Middle East for qualitative tourism rather than massive tourism, which will also take into consideration local tourists who are often neglected. In addition, participants agreed that politics must not be an obstacle that will prevent protection of the environment; efforts should focus, therefore, on what can be done rather than on what cannot.

Finally, while recognizing that political developments will be an important factor, the idea was raised to develop a regional hiking trail including Israel and the Palestinian autonomous areas – a proposal that left participants looking forward to a better future.

The workshop was funded by the South African Representative Office to the Palestinian National Authority.

For additional information, contact Ms. Victoria Katan, Palestinian-Israeli Environmental Secretariat, 21 Ikhwan Alsaffa Street, Wadi Joz, P.O. Box 66839, Jerusalem, ISRAEL; phone (972-2) 626-6307; fax (972-2)626-2306; e-mail pies@p-ol.com.

Middle East Water: Issues and Solutions
APS Energy Group and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
Beirut, LEBANON: October 13-14, 1998

This conference brought together ministerial level and executive-level participants from the Middle East, the CIS and Europe to discuss problems resulting from water shortages in the region and the various solutions being proposed for them. It was co-organized by the APS Energy Group and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

The discussions held at the conference resulted in a series of recommendations by the participants, which included the following:

A higher level of management and planning skills must be achieved in the Middle East. This is regarded as a basic requirement for the other recommendations to be workable. Without efficient policy implementation skills, policies in themselves are useless.

The private sector must play an important role in facilitating water solutions in the region, particularly at the micro-level, from which wider regional solutions may eventually be derived.

Moreover, macro-level water issues must be dealt with effectively by addressing micro-level issues. This includes the creation of awareness among local populations about a range of issues, such as methods to prevent waste through wastewater treatment and ways to achieve this through private sector participation. In addition, governments should gradually withdraw subsidies on water resources to introduce a greater degree of market-driven efficiency into the sector.

Participants agreed that water conservation trends should be actively promoted, with emphasis placed on technological upgrading, particularly through the application of new methods and techniques in intensive use sectors like agriculture. This may be accomplished through the creation of water user associations, with private sector participation, as a way of enhancing conservation and efficient irrigation/drainage methods. The fledgling efforts in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia are seen as an encouraging sign. The participants also agreed that the use of desalted brackish water for producing fruits and vegetables in the Middle East should be increased as in other parts of the world.

Desalination must be looked at as a serious alternative for all coastal cities because of the increasing cost of building dams, reservoirs and pipelines. Planners must also focus on emerging trends in desalination technology, which include the development of hybrid processes using membrane and thermal methods, simpler processes involving less chemicals and greater levels of automation.

Even if only some of these recommendations are implement-ed, the Middle East will see its overall water situation improve over the next decade. The alternative is that the worst-case scenarios outlined by some speakers may be realized sooner than expected.

For additional information, contact The APS Energy Group, APS House, P.O. Box 23896, Nicosia, CYPRUS; phone (357-2)351-778; fax (357-2)350-265; e-mail apsnews@spidernet.com.cy; website http://www.aps-energygroup.com.

Palestinian Refugees - 50 Years On
The Ecumenical Institute for Advocacy on Development Policy (BBO)
Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands: September 25, 1998

This conference provided a forum for discussion of issues related to Palestinian refugees in order to tackle some of the complications that a comprehensive settlement of the refugee issue would entail and to contribute to raising public awareness. Scholars, government officials, representatives from international organizations and other s from the Middle East, Europe and North America attended this event.

Most of the speakers stressed the importance of resolving the refugee issue in order to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East. At the same time, refugees themselves made clear that their voices and concerns are not represented in the current Oslo process.

Several speakers noted the enormous dimension of this problem. In 1997 an UNRWA census revealed that there are now more than three million Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East. Maha Abu Daya Shamas, director of the Women’s Legal Aid and Counseling Center in Jerusalem and member of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Platform, stated that 77 percent of the population of Gaza, 37 percent of the West Bank, 2.5 percent of Syria, 10 percent of Lebanon and 32 percent of Jordan are refugees.

Andrew Robinson of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade discussed the Refugee Working Group (RWG), one of the five multilateral working groups that came out of the Madrid Conference. He noted the growing convergence between the issues raised at RWG meetings and those that must be addressed in the final status negotiations. In his opinion, a just and lasting solution to the refugee problem will be inextricably linked to other permanent status issues, particularly those that touch on the future powers and responsibilities of the Palestinian entity.

Lex Takkenberg, deputy director of UNRWA operations in Gaza, discussed the status of Palestinian refugees in international law. He pointed out that Palestinian refugees in UNRWA’s area of operations (Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the West Bank) are not protected by UNHCR and do not fall under the regulations of the international conventions for the protection of refugees. Formally UNRWA is not in a position to protect the Palestinians in the way UNHCR protects refugees. On the other hand, the budget of UNRWA is per capita twice as high as the budget of UNHCR. UNRWA has tried to fill the protection gap by its physical presence.

The conference was hosted by the Commission for Interchurch Aid; the Mission and World Service of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands; and ICCO, the Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation, with support from the Ecumenical Institute for Advocacy on Development Policy (BBO). Funding came from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, private sources, and the National Committee on International Cooperation and Sustainable Development.

For additional information, contact Ms. Mirjam van Dorssen, The Ecumenical Institute for Advocacy on Development Policy (BBO), Plein 9, 2511 CR, The Hague, The Netherlands; phone (31-70)345-2206; (31-70)356-1496; e-mail middle-east@bbo.org.

Religion between Violence and Reconciliation
German Orient-Institut Beirut
Beirut, LEBANON: September 11-13, 1998

This symposium was part of a Euro-Arab interdisciplinary research program on coexistence and collective memory in Lebanon launched in 1997 by the Orient-Institut Beirut of the German Oriental Society (OIB) and the Centre d’Études et de Recherches sur le Moyen-Orient Contemporain (CERMOC). It was sponsored by the MEDA program of the European Union. The symposium brought together 30 scholars and discussants from Lebanon, Europe and the US.

Taking Lebanon as a starting point, the participants were invited to address the contribution of religion to the promotion of peace and/or violence in multi-confessional Middle Eastern societies. A broad understanding of the term "religion" was proposed, including not only theological doctrines but also the pragmatic use of religious symbols, spaces, texts and organizations.

Panel topics included the interplay between religion and politics in Ottoman Lebanon; the transmission of traumatic experiences in religious discourses; conflict and coexistence as measured in contemporary opinion polls in the Middle East; and others. The last panel focused on problems of religion and reconciliation in post-war Lebanon.

The keynote speech was given by Elias Khoury of An-Nahar daily on "Forgetting and/or Forgiving." Khoury started with a discussion of the so-called "Reconciliation Walks" of young Americans and Australians in Beirut who asked forgiveness for the Crusades. He compared the readiness to apologize for aggressions that occurred 900 years ago to the silence of Western media on aggressions taking place today, for instance in South Lebanon or Palestine. Turning to the recent history of Lebanon, Khoury discussed the dangers resulting from superficial reconciliation based on forgetting, destroying or being silent about the past.

The achievements and shortfalls of inter-religious dialogue in post-war Lebanon were addressed by the president of the Christian-Muslim National Committee for Dialogue, Muhammad as-Sammak, and by the commit-tee’s vice-president, Prof. Dr. Séoud al-Maula. Maula outlined the history of the committee, which was formed with seven members (three Muslims, three Christians and an Armenian Christian) after a meeting of 17 religious leaders in 1993. As-Sammak started from an ancient Babylonian dictum: "Where there is complete truth, there is no peace. And where there is peace, there is no complete truth." He concluded that the lesson to be learned from conflicts all over the world is "that peace, i.e. prosperity and development, means never having it all your way."

The revised symposium papers will be published as a book in the "Beiruter Texte und Studien" series of the Orient-Institut in fall 1999.

For additional information contact Dr. Thomas Scheffler, Orient-Institut, c/o Deutsche Botschaft Beirut, Postfach 1500, D-53105 Bonn, GERMANY; phone (961-1) 602-390; fax (961-1)602-397; e-mail oib@netgate.com.lb.