First Ever Online Peace Conference  - continued...

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Through soccer training, peace and inter-language education, and people-to-people social events, the program serves to break down deep routed stereotypes and barriers towards the "other". In addition, the prioritization of the inclusion of girls and women, the program serves to promote female empowerment and to raise awareness at the community level to issues of socio-economic and gender equality. Targeted communities include the southern town of Kiryat Gat, the Yoav Regional Council, the village of Yatta, located in the Southern Hebron hills, Jericho and East Jerusalem.

January and February have been packed with activities:- bi-weekly activities for all groups, a very successful joint activity at Kibbutz Ruhama for 80 girls, a joint meeting for the young apprentice coach that participate in the program, serving as role models for peers in their cities. Some 20 coaches in the program took part in a training seminar at the Wingate Sports Institute and the parents of the girls that participate in the program also came along to a joint encounter to learn about the program and to meet the other parents.TPSS/USAID has just taken off the ground and the feedback is unanimously positive. Much more to come, including a special entry in April, edition, with our mini world cup - watch this space!

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At a recent meeting held between representatives of the Peres Center and Zeraim Gedera, it was decided that the Profitable Crop Production program will continue this year, with training workshops planned for the coming months. These training programs will take place in Israel and the West Bank, led by experts from Zeraim Gedera - Syngenta and other agricultural professionals, with the aim of developing the agricultural capacities of the local farmers. The training workshops will also provide a forum where farmers can consult with technical experts on specific problems they have experienced. This program is jointly supported by Zeraim Gedera - Syngenta and the Fund for Reconciliation Tolerance and Peace. 

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Before they were brought together for a joint weekend workshop in Neve Shalom, the Israeli and Palestinian kids met separately with peace education experts to discuss the upcoming encounter.  At the joint workshop, the teenagers got to know each other, talked about their fears and apprehensions regarding the "other" and made group rules and a charter. They are now participating in dialogue online through a facebook group book built for the group, where they have met the Ukrainian kids online in the lead up to their visit to meet the Israelis and Palestinians at the end of March. This project is being funded by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. 

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"El HaLev" works to reduce violence against women and other groups through learning self-defense and martial arts. During the seminar the girls experienced Judo, Karate, Taekwondo, self-defense, consolidation games, the assembly of puzzles, and creative activities. In between they sang, laughed, danced, jumped on trampolines and kicked around footballs. The joint evening was sealed with the screening of the movie "Bend it like Beckham", which focuses on female soccer players of Indian origin in England, and with a camping-style sleepover in one big room. The following morning started with an amazing sunrise and a delicious breakfast cooked by the girls themselves. The women of the staff brought their immense experience, strength and leadership, and gave their attention the teaching, educating and promoting the girls, as well as reinforcing the girls. The message was clear: everyone has the strength and the right to protect herself and her body. The seminar ended in a physical block-breaking session. The girls all managed to break heavy stone blocks with only their hands. Large and small, Jewish and Arab - all the girls succeeded in breaking the psychological barrier and went home with a piece of the block she had broken - a reminder of the strength and power.

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The atmosphere at the session was very intimate and supportive, even when difficult conversation about crises, trauma, and personal painful stories arose. This is the first time that these youth have engaged in a pure dialogue session, deepening their insights into the complex issues of the conflict, without giving way to the fear and hatred, no doubted validating the trust-building activities in the sports fields over the years. Hopefully, this team will educate and lead many more children in the future - both as coaches and as leaders in their communities - in the Peres Center's programs and other programs alike.

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Recognizing the power of artistic expression to convey messages of peaceful relations and coexistence, this project, run in partnership with the "Museum on the Seam" is based on an international traveling exhibition. The exhibition fosters messages of respect for 'the other', human rights and liberties, respectful communication, and rejection of violence as a solution to social, political, religious and ethnic conflicts, and challenges viewers to evaluate their existing opinions, beliefs and ideas.

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This meeting was opened with an explanation about the Peres Center's work, and about the cooperation with the Israel Cricket Association (ICA). Hamed, a young Bedouin from Ar'ara village, who is also a staff member of the ICA, gave a charismatic opening, connecting the children with a game of language and sports. The children then split between three stations: a game station, training station and language station. The children, Bedouins and Jews, boys and girls, merged into one group, placing their efforts into the game, and all the while they played and cooperated in a respectful and polite manner, as only the game of Cricket can bring about.

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Mr. Farrow expressed the State Department's interest in Yala as a successful new media model for promoting liberal values and cooperation. Farrow stressed the State Department's desire for ongoing collaboration with YaLa and the Peres Center for Peace in general, and regarding the youth councils they are currently developing in the Middle East.

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