Restoring Hope: Making Peace in Divided Societies

About this grant

The Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestine often appears hopeless. Neither side seems able to move toward a peaceful, mutually acceptable solution. Similar patterns of bitterness, division and violence characterized South Africa during the apartheid period. However, through a process of negotiation the country was able to find a way to peacefully resolve the political and racial conflict.Funding will support a meeting of leaders from Israel and Palestine with South Africans who were involved in the country’s negotiated settlement. The discussion will involve the inner workings of the negotiation process and what it really took for adversaries to come to a common position. The South Africans will share the basics of the process and what took place behind the scenes. The goal of the meeting is to approach difficult questions openly and develop trust between the different groups.The Human Sciences Research Council is a statutory body established by the South African government to promote research and knowledge in the field of human sciences.