INTRODUCTION TO DEMOCRACY-EMPOWERED DIPLOMACY FOR ISRAEL AND PALESTINE (MAY 2003)

 

The proposal of a democratic peace process for Israel and Palestine was first made and presented to various governments and the press in April-May 2002. Today it is even more necessary and possible as the success of the Quartet Peace Roadmap of the US-EU-UN-Russia ultimately depends on whether the Israeli and Palestinian peoples (as distinct from the politicians only) agree.

Positive developments compared to last year include the creation of an independent Prime Minister for Palestine; and new ground and taboos are broken every day (as when Prime Minister Sharon for the first time refered to the 'occupation' of the Palestinian territories, a word banned from official talk until then). But progress and developments are fragile and subject to hijacking from extremists everywhere. It is necessary to create a process that is inherently robust and not inherently dependent on external events.

We suggest a common-sense process to achieve the maximal consensus between the 2 peoples, a process which includes the governments and elected representatives, but others as well. This process combines the advantages of the official political process and of numerous people-to-people "goodwill" or coexistence projects between the 2 peoples, whose results are tragically wasted because they do not translate into real political progress.

We invite you to read about the proposal, to promote it far and wide, and to support it in any way possible. We are ready to work with any government or international organisation to help design and organise this process using fundamental principles of democracy engineering.