“There’s no such thing as a conflict that can’t be ended. They’re created and sustained by human beings, they can be ended by human beings.”

This quote by George Mitchell was chosen by the leaders of our “Up and Coming Politicians” course as the working title for the negotiation workshop in Aqaba, Jordan. The leaders of the group were chosen democratically by their peers- Dr. Yaela Ra’anan was chosen as Israeli Prime Minister, Dr. Radi was chosen as Palestinian President, and Amir Fakhouri was chosen as Chairman of the High Follow-Up committee for Arab Citizens of Israel.

The Up and Coming Politicians course is a 16 month program during which participants from Israel and Palestine will undergo leadership training to advance peace.

For this part of the course, the participants will simulate negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians to end the conflict. The negotiations will center around core issues relating to the conflict; borders, autonomy, Jerusalem, historical justice and more.

Do not fall into the ‘no-solutions’ trap, the unexpected connections in our group will bring new ideas to the negotiation table. We need to think outside the box. These were the words of the three leaders to the negotiation teams before they started.

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