An Internship with the Peres Center for Peace

An outline of the roles and tasks I carried out as a project manager intern with Israel's leading peacebuidling NGO, the Peres Center for Peace (2011-2012)

1. The Peres Center For Peace
An Internship in the
Business and Economics Department
September – December, 2012
“People build peace, not just governments”

2. •Founded in 1996 by Shimon Peres
•Established at the height of the Israeli-Palestinian peace optimism
•To pursue his vision of a ‘New Middle East’
•Has it’s mission statement evolved in light of fluctuating peace context?
(Goal Displacement)
•“Israel’s leading non-profit org. promoting peace-building Israel and its Arab
neighbours”
•Peace-building with whom?
•Regional Neighbours (i.e. Egypt and Jordan)
•Palestinians
•Arab-Israelis
•Main Goals of Projects:
•Socio-economic cooperation
•People-to-people interaction
•Empower people to engage actively in peace-building
•Location in Jaffa
History of the Peres Center

3. Peres Center: Building Peace
or maintaining Status Quo?
There is no evident effort being made to change the political and
socioeconomic status quo in the occupied territories, but just the
opposite: Efforts are being made to train the Palestinian population to
accept its inferiority…
With patronizing colonialism, the center presents an olive grower who is
discovering the advantages of cooperative marketing; a […] and of course
soccer competitions and joint orchestras of Israelis and Palestinians,
which paint a false picture of coexistence.
There is no chance that the activists and administrators of the peace center
will participate in the daily struggle of the Palestinian olive pickers; in the
frustrating efforts to transport critically ill people via the checkpoints; or
to breach the economic siege and sea blockade of Gaza.
The Peres Center for Peace […] does not warn about Israel's responsibility
for this situation; after all, it is not a club of Israel-hating anarchists but
one of respectable people, who mostly contribute to peace in the
generous funding of glittering events and participation in them…
Meron Benvenisti, “A monument to a lost time and lost hopes”, Haaretz, 30/10/2008

4. Organisational Structure
Departments
•Agriculture, Water and Environment
•Business and Economics
•Civil Leadership
•Culture, Media and Arts
•Health (“Medicine in the Service of Peace”)
•Sport
•Youth Dialogue through Technology
•Community Programmes in Jaffa
Director of Peres Center
Department Director Department Director: Department Director
Project Manager Project Manager Project Manager
InternIntern
Business and Environment

5. Business and Economics Department
Business-to-Business & Market Entry
Capacity Building
Economic Research

6. Coordinator and Publisher
of Research Work
Gaza Strip
Crossings: Israeli
Policies in a Broader
Perspective
The Peace Process:
Seventeen Plans in
Ten Years

7. Recent and Ongoing Projects
•Aix Group Research
–The September Process from a Regional-Economic Perspective
–The Arab Peace Initiative and Israeli-Palestinian Peace: The Political Economy of a New Era
•Capacity Building and Market Entry Events
–Private Sector Partnership
–Partners in Business, Partners in Peace
•Urban Development
–Barta’a: A unique urban planning rehabilitation project
•Business Coaching
–Training of Trainers: A Business Course for Entrepreneurs
•Tourism
–One Holy Land, Two Peoples: Tourism without Borders
•Business Directory
–2012 Palestinian Business Directory

8. Aix Group
An Israeli-Palestinian-international economic
study team.
Aims:
• Inform policy makers of the economic costs
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
•Provide policy makers with economic
solutions towards a two-state solution.
•Detail how both sides stand to benefit by
improving economic cooperation.
My Involvement:
• Steering Committee Meetings in Ramallah and East
Jerusalem
• Wikipedia entry
• New Website
• Cataloguing Aix Group’s mentions in the media

9. The September Process from a Regional-
Economic Perspective
Main Points:
•UN Move: An opportunity to break
the deadlock
•Three Scenarios:
1.Possibility for economic
development
2.Unsustainability of the Status Quo
3.Worst-Case Scenario
My Involvement:
•Editing of paper
•Attending presentation of findings
to the World Bank
•Drafting possible op-ed articles

10. New Aix Group Publication: The Arab Peace
Initiative and Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Main Points:
• Envisioning a ‘New Middle
East’, post-conflict
• Four Research Areas
1.Regional Trade
2.Investment and Labour
Institutions
3.Cooperation in
Transportation,
Environment and Energy
Infrastructure
4.Palestinian Refugees
My Involvement:
•Translating ‘Foreword’
•Attending Steering Committee meetings
in East Jerusalem and Ramallah (taking
minutes)
•Designing evaluation form post-
conference
• Rewriting Palestinian Refugee article
• Summarising conference discussion

11. Capacity Building and
Business-to-Business (B2B) Projects
Private Sector Partnership
Promoting Palestinian-Israeli
Economic Cooperation
Funders: Norwegian Embassy
Budget: ca. 1,2 million NIS
Duration: 12 months
Key Elements:
•Business-to-Business Program
•Capacity Building Workshops
•Exhibition of Palestinian
Businesses/Products at Israeli
Trade Shows
Partners in Business, Partners in
Peace
Increasing Capacities for Israeli-
Palestinian Business Cooperation
Funders: European Union
Budget: ca. 2.3 million NIS
Duration: 24 months
Key Elements:
1.Needs Assessment Study
2.Capacity Building Training
Courses
3.Market Entry B2B Program
4.Market Entry Public Relations
Campaign
Projects in partnership with:

12. Capacity Building and
Business-to-Business (B2B) Projects
My Involvement:
•Attending meetings with donors (Norwegian Embassy and EU representatives)
•Redesigning log frame matrix
•Discussing budgetary issues
•Planning work schedule
•Attending preliminary workshop (handicrafts)
•Needs Assessment: Draft copy of ‘Terms of Reference’

13. Objective Tree: Partners in Business…
Improved
Economic
Relations
Strengthened
Capacities
Improved
Market Entry
Greater Awareness
of Palestinian
Products in Israel
Understanding of
Palestinian
business needs
A newly
Improved
Palestinian
product ranges
Stronger
Palestinian
businesses
with updated
skills
Needs
Assessment
Report &
Israeli Market
Survey
Capacity
Building
Courses
Successful
completion of
market entry
events
B2B Meetings
Exhibitions &
Trade Fairs
Successfully
Conducted PR
Campaign
Associated
activities
Overall Objective
Specific Objectives
Results/Outputs
Activities

14. Palestinian Business Directory
Goals:
“Encourage trade and improve relations
between the two sides [and to]
improve accessibility of Palestinian
Businesses to their Israeli and
international partners”
My Involvement:
•Meeting with partners (principally
IPCC) to discuss content and design
•Editing ‘Introduction’
•Extensive proof-reading
•Working with publishers during final
editing

15. Tourism Without Borders
One Holy Land, Two Peoples: Tourism
without Borders
•An “impartial” tourism portal/map
•Challenge the presentation of
Jerusalem as “unilateral city” with
tourists “experiencing only the Israeli
or Palestinian perspectives and
attractions”
 ideally present tourists with a
“more whole experience”
My Involvement:
• Attending meeting with designers and local
tourism specialists.
• Coordinating meetings
• Suggesting content

16. Urban Development Project of Barta’a
A Divided Village between
Israel and the Palestinian
Authority:
“The conceptual idea is to
transform the valley from a
symbol of conflict and
cooperation to a common
space representing
environmental sustainability,
business cooperation, and
peace”
My Involvement
• Meeting with partners
M.A.P. to discuss urban
development
• Adding elements to
conceptual plan
• Visit to Barta’a with
possible donor

17. Other Activities
50 Reasons to say
“Yes” to a
Palestinian State
(Palestinian Israeli
Peace NGO Forum)
Managed the
@perescenter
Twitter account
General
administrative
tasks
General
learning
about Israel,
Palestine and
the conflict

18. Importance of Networking

19. Political Barriers to Cooperation?
Anti-Normalization MovementAnti-Israeli Sentiment in Region
Anti-NGO Legislation
Facts on the Ground

20. Israeli-Palestinian Peace and
Israeli Public Opinion
10%
22%
31%
35%
2%
Strongly Believe
Somewhat Believe
Somewhat Disbelieve
Strongly Disbelieve
Don't Know/Refuse to
Answer
To what extent do you believe that
negotiations between Israel and the
Palestinian Authority will lead to peace
between Israel and the Palestinians in
the coming years?*
Israeli public opinion support to
the Oslo process 1994-2010*
* Data from The Israel Democracy Institute, 2011

21. Case Study:
Peres Center Projects in Jordan
•Anti-normalization sentiment is strong
• Very hard to find partners and
projects (especially if cooperation
becomes public)
• Unofficially they would like to
cooperate
• Focus on universal, day-to-day
concerns such as environment, water
management, energy etc. (under the
radar, avoid politics)
• Explore cooperation through
universities and research institutes,
particularly under the guise of EU
initiatives.
•Hard to publicize programmes as Peres
Center programmes

22. Internship Experience
Positives:
+Learnt about Israel, Palestine and conflict.
+The Arab side of Israel
+East Jerusalem to Ramallah
+Met with many different actors
+Local NGOs, International donors, academics,
Palestinian partners
+Working relationship with colleagues
+Felt part of the team and that my work was
appreciated and valuable
+Valuable source of knowledge
+Used skills from Glocal
+e.g. Log Frame, budgets
+Gained an understanding how a large
professional NGO works
+Found my level in ‘development’ work
+‘Project Management’ as a skill?
Negatives:
-Was it true development work?
-Chopping and changing between projects
-No ownership of a single project
-Lack of actual field work
-Department was between projects
-Disconnect between the office and reality…?
(Development from afar/armchair development)
-Travelling between Jerusalem and Jaffa
-Language Issues
The Peres Center as an NGO:
-Style over substance?
-Legitimate questioning of project’s
effectiveness
-Is the Peres Center helping (inadvertently)
maintain the status quo?
-Apolitical NGO?
-See points in rasied in “A monument to
lost time and lost hopes” article

23. Theoretical Approach
Poster Project:
•Detailed description and analysis of ‘Partners in Business…’ project
Final Paper:
Overarching theme = Conflict Resolution and/or Management through cooperation in
economic, business, or trade.
•What’s the Angle?
–How does an NGO from the ‘occupiers’ cooperate with those who are the ‘occupied’?
Should this be left to an INGO?
–Is economic and business cooperation more relevant post-conflict or can it be a driver of
peace? What do other conflicts tell us?
•Which Region?
–Focus solely on Israel/Palestine?
–Or branch out to other conflict areas?

24. The End