Henrique Cymerman, Prof. Yair Hirschfeld and Marta Murzanska
1 December 2021
In the fourth part of our discussions on the common culture in the Eastern Mediterranean, Henrique Cymerman, Prof. Yair Hirschfeld and Marta Murzanska continue the discussion on the fate of Christian and other religious minorities, the roots of radicalization and intolerance, and the prospects for religious dialogue in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider Middle East.
#EasternMediterranean #ReligiousMinorities #ReligiousDialogue
Henrique Cymerman is an Israeli journalist of Portuguese and Spanish origin who works as a correspondent in the Middle East for SIC, La Vanguardia and Mediaset España, among others. He has been covering current affairs in the Middle East for 30 years and has established relationships of trust with chief regional political leaders in Israel, Palestine, the Middle East and the Arab world. He was nominated by Pope Francis as his “Angel of Peace” for the “Prayer for Peace” that he organized in the Vatican. Henrique is the author of the book “Voices from the center of the World” which includes interviews with key characters in the region with key personages: such as Yasser Arafat; Shimon Peres; Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin; Omar bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden; Mahmoud Abbas; and Yitzhak Rabin’s last interview. He also directed the TV documentary series “Jihad Now”, in which he explores the roots of radical Islam, al-Qaeda and Islamic State. He works in five languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Hebrew.
Yair Hirschfeld is an Israeli historian and a former lecturer at the University of Haifa. Since 1979, he has been involved in promoting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. During the 1980ies he organized the confidential dialogue between Shimon Peres with the Palestinian leadership on the West Bank and Gaza. In 1990 he founded together with Yossi Beilin the Economic Cooperation Foundation. He prepared a study that became the conceptual model for the Oslo negotiations. He led the non-official Israeli team in Norway and became then a member of the official Israeli negotiating team leading to the conclusion of the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles of September 1993. During the 1990ies Hirschfeld developed concepts and structures for People-to-People activities, as well as working concepts for an Israel-Palestine code of conduct aimed to move from the logic of war, to the logic of peace; a blueprint for Security Permanent Status, and Economic Permanent Status understandings. After the Second Intifada Hirschfeld was instrumental in preparing the way for Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation. He was involved in an Israel-Palestine backchannel preparing parameters for negotiations between PM Olmert and President Abbas, an effort that failed. Prof. Hirschfeld is presently involved in pursuing a track two dialogue with Palestinian counterparts on one hand, and with Israeli governmental authorities on the other hand, how best to pursue shared interests in the preparation of a hoped-for renewal of an envisaged political peace-building process. He is heading an Israeli team in a joint Israeli-Palestinian project aimed at promoting Palestinian economic growth. And he is working with a team of experts in order to propose policies aimed at upgrading Israel’s soft power capacities in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea area. His recent publications include: Track Two Diplomacy toward an Israeli-Palestinian Solution, 1978-2014; (Woodrow Wilson Center Press, and John Hopkins University Press 2014), Developing an Israeli Grand Strategy toward a Peaceful Two-State Solution (A compilation of seven essays) Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue, Netanya Academic College, October 2016).
Marta Murzanska is a researcher, a project coordinator and the co-editor of the East Mediterranean Chronicles published by the European Rim Policy and Investment Council (ERPIC).
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