With dozens of national institutions, Pal-Think delivers the civil-peace and national-unity programme

Proceeding from the importance of strengthening the culture of civil peace and national unity in Palestinian society, especially in light of the current circumstances Palestinian society is passing through in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Civil Coalition for Strengthening Civil Peace and National Unity begins carrying out 23 communal initiatives at the level of the homeland's governorates.

This comes within the activities and events of the project of the Palestinian Civil Coalition for Strengthening Civil Peace and National Unity, implemented by Pal-Think for Strategic Studies in cooperation with the REFORM institution, and funded by the Swiss government.

All the initiatives to be carried out in the governorates of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip focus on the issues related to strengthening civil peace and national unity at all levels and planes, in order to reach a unified, cohesive society in which all opinions and orientations are respected without fanaticism or bias — in partnership with 49 civil institutions from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In this frame, the Pioneers Association for Palestinian Youth and the Dar al-Shabab Body for Culture and Arts in the area of Abasan al-Kabira carried out a dialogue encounter titled “The Palestinian reconciliation between the present and the future”, during which the necessity of strengthening the concepts of dialogue and civil peace was affirmed, and the necessity of networking, communication, and tolerance between the local community's civil, security, and grassroots institutions; the necessity of strengthening respect for opinion and the other opinion was likewise affirmed, and strengthening the concepts of unity and solidarity among society's members — within an initiative titled “Together we build civil peace”. The initiative aims to provide the environment in which all individuals can live in peace despite the difference of their opinions and orientations, through the rule of law and the resolution of disputes by amicable means without resort to violence.

In Jerusalem, the Nour al-Ein Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, in cooperation with the Basmat Amal Association for the Care of Cancer Patients, carried out an awareness session for the blind and visually impaired to raise their awareness of the danger of the novel coronavirus, and to discuss its consequences on the social and economic side and the reflection of that on the condition of civil peace and communal harmony. This encounter came within the initiative “You are not alone”, which aims to strengthen the role of persons with disability in achieving civil peace and communal harmony, and to grant the opportunity for the exchange of experience between the institutions and persons in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In the Khan Younis governorate, the Youth Without Borders Forum and the Yabous Charitable Association carried out a training encounter titled “Strengthening the skills of social-media influencers in spreading the concepts of civil peace”, which took up the mechanisms of strengthening youth's role in entrenching the concept of civil peace, deepening communal understanding, and respect for the values, knowledge, positions, and skills, and knowledge of equality, solidarity, pluralism, respect, safety, democracy, non-violence, peace, and the acceptance of the other — within the initiative “Together toward reconciliation”, which aims to strengthen the degree of awareness of society's categories around the principles of civil peace, through investing the youth's capacities for the sake of strengthening these concepts and values.

In the Rafah governorate, the National Association for Democracy and Law and the Southern Women Journalists Forum concluded a training course titled “Strengthening youth's capacities in spreading the concepts of civil peace”, which targeted 17 lawyers and media workers — within the activities and events of the initiative “A future without violence”, which aims to strengthen the concepts of peace and national reconciliation among the youth category of lawyers and media workers, through growing their capacities and encouraging them to spread these ideas in Palestinian society.

In Khuzaa, the Al-Walid Charitable Association and the Women's Studies Association carried out a training day targeting 15 women of the abused women and survivors of violence; the training day focused on strengthening the women's connection and communication skills. This training day is counted part of a training programme aiming to strengthen women's role in spreading the concepts of civil peace and national unity. This came within the initiative “Strengthening women's role in civil and communal peace”.

In Jabalia, the Dar al-Shabab Body, in cooperation with the Pioneers Association, carried out a communal encounter titled “Together we build civil peace”, with the attendance of a number of media workers and communal activists, during which the necessity of working at all levels in order to spread and strengthen the culture of civil peace and communal reconciliation was affirmed. This activity came within the initiative “Together we build civil peace”, which aims to provide the environment in which all individuals can live in peace despite the difference of their opinions and orientations, through the rule of law and the resolution of disputes by amicable means without resort to violence.

It is recalled that the Palestinian Civil Coalition for Strengthening Civil Peace and National Unity was founded in 2019 at the initiative of Pal-Think for Strategic Studies and a number of civil institutions working in the various fields and geographic distribution in the Palestinian territories. The coalition, which comprises 49 institutions from the various governorates of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, aims to strengthen cooperation, consultation, coordination, and networking between them in pursuit of achieving national reconciliation and strengthening civil peace in Palestinian society; and it will work during the coming stage on carrying out many events and activities that serve the coalition's goals.

The coalition likewise focuses in its endeavour on all the members of Palestinian society and the civil institutions — because the efforts of national unity will not succeed and will not bear fruit except through their wide engagement in them; especially as achieving unity will inevitably lead to contributing to achieving welfare and sustainable development for them, of which the division forms one of the most important impediments.

The coalition follows a comprehensive, sustainable approach resting on partnership and cooperation with all the related parties and interest groups, with the goal of working to strengthen communal pressure in order to achieve the comprehensive national reconciliation.