With the FXB foundation, Pal-Think concludes «Promoting a culture of nonviolence and civil peace»

Pal-Think for Strategic Studies carried out the project “Strengthening the culture of non-violence and civil peace”, which continued for a year in cooperation with the French FXB foundation, with the goal of spreading the culture of non-violence and civil peace and resolving conflicts by peaceful, civilised ways.

This project came at the initiative of Pal-Think for Strategic Studies as an independent institution working for a better future for Palestinian society; the project aimed at spreading the culture of tolerance, dialogue, and peace to resolve conflicts and build a cohesive society, and spreading the culture of non-violence as an instrument and a value for resolving all forms of disputes in Palestinian society at all levels. The project came in partnership with 50 of the civil-society organisations at the level of Palestine.

During the project a group of young men and women were trained in several subjects, the most important of them the concept of violence and conflict and its analysis, the peaceful means of resolving conflicts, and local and world models that brought about a positive change in their societies by civilised non-violent means. The training worked on qualifying these youth to be able to spread the culture of non-violence in society, and they carried out 26 communal initiatives in cooperation with community organisations. These initiatives carried messages directed to society in all its strata calling for the strengthening of the culture of dialogue and communal peace and the acceptance of others, and these initiatives met approval and a positive reaction from the members of society and those in charge of these initiatives.

Civil-society organisations themselves were also targeted, to strengthen their role in spreading the culture of non-violence: Pal-Think cooperated with 32 institutions at the level of the homeland (Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem) to carry out activities and initiatives that support the idea of peace and dialogue for resolving disputes and differences in all the governorates, targeting all the categories of society in their differing ages and cultures. The initiatives varied between workshops and dialogue meetings, theatrical performances, sports activities, educational trips, murals, debates, art exhibitions, and other activities that were able to reach a large number of society's members — leaving a positive impact and a clear call to intensify all the efforts to spread the culture and instruments of tolerance and civil peace.

Pal-Think likewise contributed to spreading the culture of tolerance and civil peace in the media through producing 10 radio episodes and 5 cultural videos, all of which took up several issues in Palestinian society in an attempt to find peaceful solutions for these issues without recourse to violence. These episodes and videos likewise served as a platform for the youth and the partner institutions to speak more of their initiatives and to call on individuals and the rest of the institutions to contribute to spreading the culture of tolerance and civil peace, and to affirm that every party has its role in society in strengthening civil peace and the culture of non-violence.