Israelis and Palestinians will negotiate solutions to the conflict at two locations in the center of Tel-Aviv: Youth - In the Salon Conference Hall, ZOA House; Adults - In an open public place in front of ZOA House

Time and place: ZOA House, 1 Daniel Frisch St., Tel Aviv, Israel - Sunday, April 17, 2016, 10AM – 5PM

Each congress invites an Israeli delegation and a Palestinian delegation to negotiate solutions to the conflict. The negotiations are conducted in front of an audience which is invited to participate in the peacemaking process. Obviously, neither delegation is in any way empowered or authorized to actually negotiate and reach a binding agreement; rather, the purpose of this event – as of previous ones – is to show that unofficial Israelis and unofficial Palestinians, representing a wide cross-section of the grassroots of their respective societies, can sit down in amity, tackle even the most difficult issues and reach agreement – even under the present highly inauspicious conditions of violence, bloodshed and deep mutual distrust. It is the organizers’ hope that the success of such unofficial negotiations would help inspire – and push – the official leaderships on both sides eventually reach a binding agreement – and implement it!

Such events have taken place several times before. This, however, is the first time that two sessions of a public grassroots negotiating congresses are conducted simultaneously: of Youth and of Adults. The present. Comparison of the way Israeli and Palestinian youths deal with the hot issues of the conflict with how adults of the two societies deal with the same might yield useful hints for how best to conduct future peacemaking efforts.

This event is an important step towards the establishment of a major Israeli-Palestinian Public 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 initiative is led by Dr. Sapir Handelman - an Israeli who received the Peter Becker Award in Peace & Conflict Studies. Dr. Handelman and his colleagues have successfully led 29 small and mid-scale Israeli-Palestinian public negotiating congresses around the US and Canada, in the West Bank, and in open public places in Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. To view the agreements and videos visit: www.mindsofpeace.org and facebook: ‘minds of peace’

Israeli – Palestinian Public Grassroots Negotiating Congress, Hamashbir Plaza, Jerusalem, August 22-23, 2013

For more information: Dr.Sapir Handelman: 972-50-307-6927; “Minds of Peace”; peace.public @ gmail.com Noga, LotanCommunications: 972-3-5667474; Fax: 972-3-5667030; noga@lotanpr.com OferLidror : 972-54-431-0811; oferlidror@gmail.com

The event is sponsored by the Leon Charney Resolution Center www.charneyresolutioncenter.com