“Partnership for Peace” (formerly "People to People") is an EU Program which supports the Peace Process between Israelis and Palestinians through civil society cooperation activities. Actions supported by this Program aim to promote peace, tolerance and non-violence, with the purpose of increasing a feeling of confidence between the two civil societies, and enhance mutual relationships.

EU Partnership for Peace: “More than Words”: A Joint Palestinian-Israeli Action to improve Media Coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

“More than Words” is a joint Israeli and Palestinian action that seeks to improve Israeli and Palestinian media coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through media-monitoring, research and advocacy work targeting  journalists and media consumers. The project is a continuation of the media-monitoring action “Words Can Kill, Too”, which KESHEV and MIFTAH have been carrying out jointly since 2004. This second stage is presented in cooperation with CIPMO.
For the past year and a half, KESHEV and MIFTAH have monitored ten major Israeli and Palestinian media outlets on a daily basis, and published a dozen reports detailing problematic patterns of media coverage, including manifestations of egregious bias, distortion or de-legitimization and de-humanization of the otherside. The two organizations are partners in this joint project, which operates from two platforms: Palestinian one operated by MIFTAH and based in East Jerusalem and Ramallah, and an Israeli one operate by KESHEV and based in West Jerusalem.
 
Meeting of Pavia, September 2007

From September 6th to September 10th 2007, on the premises of the Pavia University and the Media Osservatorio of Pavia, an encounter took place between Israeli and Palestinian journalists, regarding the role of media during conflict, regarding their ability to influence public opinion and regarding the ways in which a more moderate and tolerant language can be defused among their channels of communication.

The participants in the Pavia seminar shared the results of a year-long work of monitoring their respective national media and have created a base for the development of a joint strategy of action, which is deemed crucial in enhancing their respective credibility and their influence in their discussions with editors and journalists. Their objective is to be able to work ever more closely with their respective media outlets in the future, beginning with the next important event: the international summit announced by Bush.
Peace, in fact, is not reached if the leaders meeting around the negotiations table are along. Rather, the support of their respective public opinions is extremely important.

The encounter has also enjoyed the presence of Antonio Bengiovanni, Councilor for Cooperation and International Relations of the City of Pavia who opened the official session, Prof. Gianni Vaggi, Director of CICOPS and Roberto Ronza, the Delegate of President Roberto Formigoni for the Development and Consolidation of International Relations.

"It is a tragedy, the permanent crisis that blocks the relations between Israel and the Palestinians", said Ronza. "We are speaking of an area that is too rich, both culturally and humanly, to allow us not to intervene in the defense of values of peace and of development." Ronza then confirmed the dedication of the institution he represents to sustain such initiatives in the defense of the peace process, underlining "the necessity that the European Community and Italy would advance concrete proposals to bring an end to the conflict in the tormented region of the Middle East."

The participants also took part in a public conference on Thursday, September 6th, in the Magna Hall of the University of Pavia, in the framework of the cultural event "“Festival dei Saperi”, in the presence of the Mayor Piera Capitelli, who expressed great appreciation of the initiative and the hope that the City would be able to support similar initiatives in the future.

In this public event titled "Jerusalem: the Heart of the Conflict and the Possible Heart of Coexistence", presentations were made by the following speakers: Hagit Ofran (Peace Now Settlement Watch), Mousa Qous (Arab Media Coordinator - Miftah) and Ugo Traballi (Journalist from Il Sole-24 Ore).


1999-2001 Three seminars about Jerusalem
In the context of this Program CIPMO participated in a project that ran from 1999 to 2001 and which focused on the issue of Jerusalem. The Project was implemented in cooperation with the Palestinian Arab Studies Society (Orient House, Jerusalem, directed by Feisal Husseini, Minister, Palestinian National Authority) and the Israeli Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF, Tel-Aviv, directed by Dr. Yair Hirshfeld and Dr. Ron Pundak). Different religious, urban and sociologic aspects of the Jerusalem question were studied, in order to develop ideas and provide basic documentation for the development of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians on the final status of Jerusalem; indeed, Jerusalem, according to UN resolution 242, is going to be the capital of the State of Israel and of the coming State of Palestine.
This project included the realization of three seminars: "Jerusalem: Models for future coexistence", "A special religious regime for Jerusalem in peace", and "The future of Jerusalem".
•    "Jerusalem: Models for future coexistence" (Montecatini, December 1999): Israeli and Palestinian scholars and members of the two Parliaments discussed the Jerusalem issue focusing on political aspects and on various possible modes of sovereignty.
•    "A special religious regime for Jerusalem in peace" (Milan, June 22/25 2000): The meeting centred around religious aspects of the Jerusalem issue.
•    "The future of Jerusalem" (Pisa, July 27/29 2001): The seminar, held after the beginning of the Second Intifada, concluded the entire project and was meaningful for both Palestinians and Israelis who reconfirmed their commitment to maintaining dialogue.
The papers, ideas and analyses that were the result of these various discussions offered an important base for the negotiations in Camp David II (July 2000)  and in Taba (January 2001), as well as for the Geneva Initiative.
The entire work carried out in the project was collected in nine researches, and consequently published in a book titled “Israelis, Palestinians coexisting in Jerusalem”. The project was financed by the European Union, with co-financing provided by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Region of Tuscany, the Municipality of Milan, and the Municipality of Pisa.

Israelis, Palestinians coexisting in Jerusalem
Content Analysis
This book consists of a number of sections detailing the different aspects of the Jerusalem issue. These include: introduction, socio-economic facets, religious facets, municipal facets, and sovereignty facets. All the speeches given in the Milan Seminars are collected into the final Appendix; among them are contributions by Mons. Giovanni D’Aniello’s, Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Baski Doron’s, and speeches given by Bernard Sabella and Ministry representative Daniele Verga. The book also has a section which includes all the official documents (issued from 1996 to 2000) regarding religious aspects of Jerusalem and UN resolutions generally concerning Palestine. Thanks to this section (collected by Dr. Paolo Pieraccini, representative of CIPMO-Florence) readers are offered a wide frame of reference useful for a good understanding of the scholars’ researches. Following is a short summary of the various sections:
The introduction presents three contributions. The first presentation is by Dr. Janiki Cingoli, Director of CIPMO. Part of this article was published in Limes (1/2001), and the magazine widely reported about the joint Seminar and the proposals raise by the Center concerning the issue of Jerusalem in a section titled “Jerusalem, the end of a taboo”. The two other presentations in the introduction were written by representatives of the two participating Israeli and Palestinian think tanks: Prof. Manuel Hassassian (Arab Study Society) and Dr. Ron Pundak (ECF - Economic Cooperation Foundation).
In the section “Socio-Economic Aspects”, Michael Roman (Israel) talks about the relationships between Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem. He investigates the passage from conflict to coexistence and economic cooperation that results from city sharing. Salim Tamari (Palestine) analyses Jerusalem's sacred geography.
Four researches compose the “Religious Aspects” section. Nazmi Al Jubeh (Palestine) shows the Palestinian perspective of the religious role of Jerusalem in the conflict. Silvio Ferrari (Professor, Canon Law, University of Milan) faces the question of giving Jerusalem a particular religious status, once peace has been realized. Eylon Javez and Yael Banaji (Israel), offer a contribution about the Temple Mount, Harem-ash-Sharif, from a symbolic point of view (“Constructing a mountain of peace”). Aharon Kleiman's (Israel) analysis focuses on the administration of holy and historical places of the city.
The section “Municipal Aspects” begins with Denis Goldman’s explanation of the hypothesis concerning a shared administration of Jerusalem, by Israelis and Palestinians. Riad Malki (Palestine) goes further, talking about city management after a Peace Agreement, giving examples of some divided cities (such as Berlin, Beirut and Monstar) and offering possible solutions for Jerusalem.
“Sovereignty Aspects” is the title of the next section. It is one of the most important parts of the book, because it consists of a very in-depth applied poli-theological analysis. In this section, Prof. Manuel Hassassian (Palestine) investigates future patterns and practicable possibilities of sovereignty. The author also analyzes, in a very interesting and rich way, each Israeli and Palestinian critical point concerning religious freedom, control over holy places, freedom of movement and ownership. Prof. Ruth Lepidoth’s (Israel) analysis goes deep into the concepts of citizenship and residence, considering how they are presented by Israel and what is the concept of citizenship according to the Palestinian point of view.

Seminar: "Jerusalem: Models for future coexistence"
The seminar, held in December 1999, was implemented as part of the "EU Partnership for Peace program" by the Italian Center for Peace in the Middle East, together with the Economic Cooperation Foundation, Tel Aviv and the Arab Studies Society, Jerusalem. It was supported by the European Commission, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tuscany Region.
The seminar was attended by both Israeli and Palestinian delegations. The presence of members of the Knesset, belonging to different parties, and of Palestinian Legislative Council members from al-Fatah, made it possible an important political dialogue
The meeting was also participated by Councillor Daniele Verga, Director of the Middle East Department at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by Mr. Simone Siliani, Councillor for Cooperation & Development at Tuscany Region.
During the seminar the participants listened to Israeli and Palestinian experts’ presentations concerning the questions related to the fundamental issues of Jerusalem. Both sides confirmed the need for the respective leadership to achieve a peaceful solution.
An impressive number of national and international newspapers reported about the event. One important report was published in the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv, with the headline: “Meeting in Italy: Israelis and Palestinians discuss Joint living in Jerusalem” (by Menahem Gantz, Ada Cohen and Menahem Rahat).
Excerpt from the article “Meeting in Italy: Israelis and Palestinians discuss Joint living in Jerusalem” (Ma’ariv, by Menahem Gantz, Ada Cohen and Menahem Rahat).
“A delegation of Israeli Knesset members including Likud representatives and PA senior officials concluded on Sunday a joint seminar in Monte Catini, in the Toscana region. The meeting lasted four days, with the delegations discussing the subject, 'Jerusalem -- Methods for Joint Living in the Future'.
The seminar was held under the sponsorship of the Italian Center for Middle East Peace, with the support of the European Union. Political science professors and specialists appeared before the conference participants, as well as the delegations. The discussions were held behind closed doors, with the intention of not publicizing the seminar’s participants. A total of 21 representatives from the two delegations -- 10 Palestinians and 11 Israelis -- participated in the meetings”.

Seminar: "A special religious regime for Jerusalem in peace"     
The seminar, held from June 22nd to 25th 2000, under the EU Partnership for Peace Program and led by Mr. Janiki Cingoli, was organised with the contribution of the European Union, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Municipality of Milan and in partnership with the Economic Cooperation Foundation, Tel Aviv and the Arab Studies Society, Jerusalem.
The Israeli and Palestinian delegations were composed of political and religious personalities and experts.
The Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs was represented by Counsellor Daniele Verga, Head of the Mediterranean and the Middle East Department. Monsignor Giovanni D'Aniello of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See participated as an observer. Silvio Ferrari (Professor of Canonical Law at Università Statale of Milan) participated as an expert.
During the meeting significant papers were elaborated and presented by the experts and the participants. The debate focused on one of the toughest issues concerning Jerusalem, the religious aspect, which led to a lively and fruitful discussion. While expressing different positions and opinions, both sides committed themselves to a peaceful coexistence in Jerusalem and agreed on the necessity to find a suitable, durable solution regarding not only all political problems between Israelis and Palestinians, but also to guarantee the freedom of religion, of worship and free access to the Holy places for all mankind, by considering the international dimension of the problem and the respect of the existing international rights.

Seminar: "The future of Jerusalem"
The seminar was organised in July 2001 in Tirrenia (Pisa) under the EU Partnership for Peace Program in collaboration with the Arab Studies Society, Jerusalem and the ECF, Tel Aviv, thanks to the contribution of Pisa Province and Tuscany Region.
The Israeli delegation was led by Dr. Yair Hirschfield, Director of ECF, while the Palestinian delegation was led by Prof. Manuel Hassassian, President of the Bethlehem University. Both delegations presented their researches concerning the political, religious, municipal and demographic aspects of Jerusalem. They analysed the urgent necessity to rebuild an Israeli-Palestinian partnership in order to overcome the conflict situation. The event might be considered as the conclusion of the two year People to People project.