CIAO DATE: 09/2009
September 2009
United States Institute of Peace
President Barack Obama declared in his June 4th address at Cairo University that "all of us must recognize that education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century." Education plays a critical role in preparing communities for change. This is especially relevant regarding Israeli-Palestian peace efforts. Indeed, education can be an important component to foster positive change in social values, attitudes and skills that are necessary to overcome years of painful conflict. Alternatively, education can reinforce conflict-producing myths and stereotypes, serving as a battleground where social groups are all too often demonized. Education has been able to make an important contribution to reconciliation, conflict prevention, post-conflict reconstruction, and the re-building of war-torn societies, including in Northern Ireland, South Africa, as well as France and Germany after World War II, or in Poland and the Baltic States after the end of the Cold War. Yet, educational issues have largely been excluded from past efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Resource link: An Education Track for the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process [PDF] - 196K