“But peace does not rest in the charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people. And if it is cast out there, then no act, no pact, no treaty, no organization can hope to preserve it…So let us not rest all our hopes on parchment and on paper, let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace in the hearts and minds of all of our people.” John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

ICfC is happy to announce its newest project. In partnership with the Physics and Geophysics and Planetary Science Departments of Tel Aviv University and leaders from different religious and ethnic backgrounds from around the world, ICfC is helping to contribute to the effectiveness of a trans-state project in the natural disaster and conflict prone Middle East. For over a decade, the ICfC has trained leaders to foster cooperation and community development in areas around the world torn asunder, where identity and interest based conflicts, pained memories and the lost opportunities from these intractable conflicts lead to more violence, displacement and instability. Beginning August, 2012, the ICfC will conceptualize and organize the ongoing workshops and trainings for the scientists and environmentalists, the educators and youth leaders, the policy planners and officials involved in the work of this new network.

Our partnership is bringing together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli scientists and environmentalists. These scientists are sharing their ideas and research orientations and joining in the use of the most advanced technologies to foster cooperation and understanding to assure sustainable development for the unique Dead Sea Ecosystem, its inhabitants and beyond. Our new platform is called DeadSeaNet.

DeadSeaNet will quickly be recognized as a good example of “21st Century Statecraft,” notes Professor Gilles Hillel Wust-Bloch, founder of DeadSeaNet and Professor of Seismology of Tel Aviv University. “This will be launched in a region of the world that is better known for its tribalism and intractable conflict, our supporters note with no small measure of optimism. We are proud to be joined in this challenging endeavor by the International Center for Conciliation, with its experience, its humanistic and culturally sensitive approaches.”

We and our partner organizations hope to build on the platform of scientific research, education, and policy analysis “Cultures of Peace and Productivity.” We  will train leaders of different ages and from different backgrounds. In our cross-border work and in extending our partnerships to universities, corporations and governments, we will develop, procure and distribute the technologies, trainings and experiences that foster professional and civic cooperation. Ultimately, we will strengthen practices and policies that save lives.

Click here for more information and stay tuned for more details…

Recognition of ICfC’s work by US State Department Middle East Partnership Initative 

ICfC has been selected by the Department of State’s Middle East Partnerships Initiative (MEPI) as a pre-identified partner for potential future, discrete funding opportunities, under the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA). ICfC is now part of a small group of NGO’s who are eligible to receive special invitations from the NEA for funding in the next four years!

ICfC Dr. President Hillel Levine reflects on the 10th anniversary of 9/11:

“Which 9/11 will you mourn?”

There are, indeed, many. For each we experienced fear and anger, shame and self-reproach, blame and vindictiveness. We seek hope and reform. We crave protection when we put up with the indignities of airport inspections, but what we really acknowledge as gone are the days when we could sit on a plane without imagining neighbors preparing to blow us out of the sky. We long for the renewal of public trust. Read more…

ICfC-Cambodia’s Feature Film: We Want (U) to Know

WE WANT (U) TO KNOW reveals how Cambodians are struggling to cope with painful memories at the time of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. This is a participatory film: Villagers from all around the country take the camera in their hands to document what they have gone through during and after the Khmer Rouge era. Through sharing their stories with the young generation, survivors are breaking 30 years of silence and initiating a powerful discourse about the challenges of the present. The big screen under the trees becomes a public space for confrontation, a picture of hope beyond this film. ICfC-Cambodia, in collaboration with the Khmer Institute of Democracy and the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization, formed a cooperative partnership to help make this film a reality. To learn more about this documentary, click here..