CRDC Leads at ALLMEP Summit
On March 19, 2009, two weeks after the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution co-hosted a summit launching the idea of a $200 million annual fund for Israeli- Palestinian peacebuilding organizations, the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (IFFIPP) Authorization Act of 2009 (H.R. 1065) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The introduction of the Bill was the result of the Alliance for Middle East Peace Summit, which convened on March 4th, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., to consider the creation of the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. The concept of the fund was borrowed from the very successful International Fund for Ireland (IFI), which has funneled $1.6 billion into Irelands civil society since its inception in 1986.
The hope is that this public-private, multi-national fund, which is seen as an essential component of a holistic, longterm, and sustainable approach to conflict resolution in the Middle East, will deploy the resources and expertise necessary to grow peacebuilding efforts to a level where they have a chance of competing with the myriad violent and unjust alternatives available in the region ICAR second year Masters student, and newly appointed CRDC Managing Director, Scott Cooper, was part of the 10 member planning committee that designed the ALLMEP Summit. He facilitated a call in November 2008, which established the core structure for the Summit.
With guidance from CRDC Director, Marc Gopin, and invaluable support from CRDC GRA and first year Masters student, Mutsuko Sugita, CRDC Senior Research Associate, Aziz Abu Sarah, and a dedicated group of ALLMEP volunteers, the next five months were spent coordinating the event. The primary objective of the Summit was to develop and build support for legislation authorizing the creation of the International Fund by governments worldwide.During the Summit, 75 meetings were conducted on Capitol Hill, advocating the creation of the IFFIPP. In addition, Marc Gopin and Scott Cooper participated in a closeddoor, ambassador-level meeting between ALLMEP leaders and chief Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian, and Moroccan diplomats to discuss the proposed fund. At one point during the conference, the Director General of the IFI, Alexander Smith, spoke poignantly of his hope for Middle East peace based on the successful Irish experience.
The purpose of H.R. 1065 is to seek the establishment of and contributions to an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, and for other purposes.To that end, the bill allocates $50 million annually for Fiscal Years 2010 through 2014, as part of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. CRDC encourages the ICAR community to support the Bill by contacting their legislators. For more information or to get involved in the project, contact CRDC.