Tomorrow, April 30, 2015, an Israeli delegation, a Palestinian delegation and an audience will negotiate solutions to the conflict at the corner of Rothschild Boulevard and Shenkin Street, Tel Aviv. Each delegation will include 20 people from all walks of life: Israeli generals, Palestinian commanders, Israeli settlers, Palestinian ex-prisoners, academics, business people, and students. Passers by are most welcome to come, listen and also take part.

Of course, neither the Israeli nor the Palestinian participants are in any way authorized or accredited to negotiate and sign a binding agreement. Still, the fact of grassroots Israelis and Palestinians being able to sit down, negotiate all the serious and contentious issues and reach agreement – also, and especially, in the present situation – should serve as a model and stimulant to decision-makers on both sides to hold officially-authorized negotiations, reach an agreement – and implement it on the ground.

The congress is co-chaired by Dr. Sapir Handelman – an Israeli who received the Peter Becker Award in Peace & Conflict Studies; and Mr. Wisam Seder – a well-known Palestinian athlete and educator.

This event is an important step towards the establishment of a major Israeli-Palestinian Grassroots Negotiating Congress with political power. The congress is designed to involve the people in the peacemaking efforts and motivate the leaderships to conclude agreements.

The Minds of Peace Organization has successfully led 26 small-scale Israeli-Palestinian public negotiating congresses around the US and Canada, in the Middle-East, and in open public places in Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. In nearly all of the congresses, the delegations succeeded in reaching peace agreements. This is an highly significant result, considering that the various delegations included people with widely different political views and from all walks of life. To view the agreements and videos visit: www.mindsofpeace.org and facebook: ‘minds of peace’

Israeli - PalestinianPublic Negotiating Congress, Hamashbir Plaza, Jerusalem, August 22-23, 2013

For more information:

Dr. Alain Mordezki: 972-52-860-5272; “Minds of Peace”; peace.public @ gmail.com

Wisam Seder: 972-52-264-8388, "Minds of Peace"

LotanCommunications, Tel: 972-3-5667474; Fax: 972-3-5667030; tamar@lotan.org.il