“Picture Peace” – Artists for a Just Peace between Israel and Palestine (postponed until further notice) (17.06 – 18.06)

u214-1394966034-SandnerHenrikOn Tuesday-Wednesday, June 17-18, we will show the 2-day exhibition: “Picture Peace” which calls on Israeli and Palestinian artists to raise their voice in support of a just and sustainable peace. Picture Peace is an independent initiative organized by The Artists Larry Abramson and David Tartakover as a complementary artistic intervention to the Peacehub project. The exhibition will be accompanied by live streaming of the peace talks which will take place in Jerusalem on the exact dates of the exhibition.

“Since the early 1980’s, Israeli and Palestinian artists have worked together to promote a joint future based on equal, secure and free co-existence. Today, as we face what could be the last chance for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, artists from all over the world are called upon to raise their voice in support of a just peace between Israel and Palestine. Artists who identify with this cause were invited to submit an image for the Peace international touring exhibition.

The exhibition Took place at Beit Hagefen Art Gallery, the Arab Jewish Culture Center in Haifa in April 12, 2014 and in BL-NK Gallery in London in May 29.

The Peacehub Project

The peacehub initiative is designed to present Israelis and Palestinians the ins of the official negotiation process and enrich the public discourse with expert information on the core issues of contention, agreed upon solutions and the compromises yet to be made in order to reach a comprehensive framework agreement.

At the heart of the Peacehub Initiative is a live webcast of professional negotiations between a Palestinian delegation lead by Jibril Rajoub, former head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Force in the West Bank, an Israeli delegation led by Attorney Gilead Sher, chief Israeli negotiator at the 2000 Camp David Summit, and and International delegation led by Prof. Robert H. Mnookin, Chair of the Harvard Program on Negotiations.

The negotiations will center on the core issues – Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, security, territory, regional agreements and end of conflict – with the Clinton understandings, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Geneva Initiative at their basis. Renowned Israeli and Palestinian research institutes will prepare the negotiating position papers. The talks will take place in our region June 16-19, 2014. Live streaming of the talks online will allow the public the opportunity to watch high level, professional conflict resolution negotiations and partake in a process that to date has left us without a voice.

A dedicated content-rich website accompanies the initiative, along with extensive social network activity and varied cultural and community interventions. Wide grassroot, NGO’s and media partnerships are leveraged to create public echo of the project’s main theme – the feasibility of a fair, sustainable agreement. peacehub is an independent initiative.

Peacehub launched: Track II High-Level Israeli Palestinian Negotiations

To be broadcast LIVE online for the first time – June 16th-19th, 9am-5pm (GMT +2) daily

June 3rd, Jerusalem –  On the heels of the collapsed U.S led Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and with the establishment of a PLO-Hammas unity Palestinian government shunned by the Israeli government, for the first time high-level, track II negotiations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be made open and transparent to the public. The talks will take place in Jerusalem over a four day period between June 16th-19th 2014 and will be broadcast LIVE online.

Until now, all Palestinian-Israeli negotiations have been held behind closed doors with official communiqués issued to the press and public thereafter. Peacehub, an independent civil society initiative, is set to change all that by presenting a live broadcast that will make expert knowledge on the core issues of the conflict – Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, security and territory – readily available to the public.

Jibril Rajoub, former head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Force in the West Bank, will lead the Palestinian delegation; Attorney Gilead Sher, chief Israeli negotiator at the 2000 Camp David Summit, will lead the Israeli delegation, and Prof. Robert H. Mnookin, Chair of the Harvard Program on Negotiation, will lead the international mediation delegation. Rajoub, a former prisoner in Israel, says of his participation in the project: “We certainly don’t agree on everything, but the only way to get anywhere is to continue talking with Israelis.”

“I have been in closed-door negotiations before and in some cases, there is added value to that secrecy, but not here,” said Gilead Sher. “The public in both societies should be given as much information as possible about the core contentious issues. We will endeavor to create a common vision of a mutually acceptable layout for a fair agreement that respects and addresses the needs of both people.”

Mnookin and the parties have already had preliminary meetings. “Given the history of this conflict, the competing narratives of the two peoples, and the internal conflicts within each society, none of us underestimate the challenge we face. But we have already begun to work together to design a mediation process that will give us an opportunity to demonstrate to the public that progress is possible.” said Mnookin.

The initiative is the brainchild of, a writer, producer and director Eyal Sher, in partnership with Bokra.net the Israeli-Arab leading internet site that also serves the West Bank and Gaza, KCETLink satellite network serving over 34 million U.S households, and The Regional Network advanced by AJEEC-NISPED – the  Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development and the Center for Democracy and Community Development.

“I believe that it is essential to engage the public in an informative conversation over the core issues of the conflict and the possible solutions available, in a participatory process that highlights the feasibility of a fair and sustainable agreement” said Eyal Sher. “We are under no illusions that we can wave a magic wand and bring about peace, yet exposure to the mediation process alone can build grassroots support for the notion that Palestinians and Israelis can problem solve together and agree on a vision of a mutually acceptable future.”

The Peacehub website (www.Peaceub.net) already contains policy papers, maps, white papers and frameworks that resulted from other peace initiatives including the Clinton parameters, the Road Map and more. The information is available in English, Hebrew and Arabic giving a wide public the chance to delve deep into the core issues and gain a greater understanding prior and during the negotiations June 16-19,2014.

To learn more about Peacehub, visit www.Peacehub.net and follow us on Facebook.