Dialogue for Peaceful Change 

In the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the long history of violence and the lack of dialogue and communication have raised generations of hatred and hostility towards one another. In addition, while living in the midst of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Palestinians have not fully addressed the consequences of conflicts within the Palestinian society, causing internal violence, prejudices, isolation, misconceptions, miscommunication, and misunderstandings between Palestinians of different geographic, political, economic and social backgrounds. Therefore, it is essential to promote dialogue between conflicting groups in our region in order to create better opportunities for understanding each other, and enhance the efforts and chances for peaceful and just solutions.

In an effort for promoting awareness, providing a model of communication, fostering understanding, preventing some conflicts from turning violent and identifying conflict resolution strategies, MEATRC (Middle East Association of Training and Retreat Centers: OIKOSNET-Middle East) is one of the seven regional associations of OIKONSET participating in the Dialogue for Peaceful Change project. The International Center of Bethlehem is one of the two participating centers that are members of MEATRC, of which the ICB is a founding member.

Dialogue for Peaceful Change (DPC) is a global coalition dedicated to creating safe spaces for overcoming divisions through a structured and skilled process of mutual empowerment. The core idea is to provide spaces for dialogue in order to understand the “other”, overcome prejudices, and eventually encounter a change that is peaceful and positive. 

Participants from 15 centers around the world, including the ICB, developed a dialogue methodology during the first conference held in June 2004 in the Netherlands. This methodology is to act as an interculturally viable model for promoting and initiating dialogue between divided groups in different contexts of divisions, be it violence, racism, isolation, or any other.

The participating centers, forming the core group, will implement this methodology in their respective locations over the next two years, after which a second conference will be held in order to evaluate the applicability of the model in the different contexts and possibly plan for enlarging the circle and adding more centers to this coalition.

During the coming two years, the international Center of Bethlehem will implement the DPC methodology in two  phases; an awareness and training phase as a form of preparation of the groups before they meet to dialogue, and a dialogue/encounter phase. The final step will be developing and proposing solutions and measures for implementation at larger scales.

Dialogue for Peaceful Change was found and is being managed and coordinated by the OIKOSNET with partners from Stichting Oikos, Vesper Society and EAALCE.