Event reports
The seminar is part of a series of events on the role of national narratives in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that provides Palestinian and Israeli PhD students and young university lecturers with a platform for mutual exchange of their personal, as well as national narrative. Hereby, understanding for the other side can be developed.
Walid Salem, director of the Center for Democracy and Community Development, elaborated on the visions for the future of different Palestinian groups with respect to Israel, as well as concerning domestic politics in the Palestinian Autonomous Territories. Hereby, he underlined that the momentary context of stagnant peace negotiations, of the continued settlement development and of the ideological, as well as territorial partition of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip leaves only few options from a Palestinian perspective. In his presentation about the options advanced by the PLO, the government of Salam Fayyad and the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip Salam Fayyad analysed commonalities and differences of the three approaches towards Israel and accentuated the quest for non-violent resistance. In conclusion, he debated the current inner-Palestinian conflict.
Following the lecture the participants of the seminar had the opportunity to further discuss with Walid Salem and to look into the background and details of the Palestinian scenarios for the future. Thus, participants could gain an important insight into the Palestinian perspective on the subjects of Jerusalem, the holy places of both nations, as well as the question of the right of return of Palestinian refugees and the democratic character of a future Palestinian state. Also the ideas of the Fayyad-plan and consequences of a potential inconclusive end of the current peace negotiations were intensely discussed.