Some Positive Alternatives for Investing in MidEast Peace and Development

In seeking ways to work together for peace, Presbyterian and Jewish leaders agree that it is important to support economic development in Israel and in the Palestinian territories that will benefit both peoples and thereby strengthen the prospects for peace, and to also support organizations that bring Israelis and Palestinians together and otherwise build the climate for mutual respect and engagement.  This list was developed as a cooperative effort of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Union for Reform Judaism, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation.  No endorsement of any of these organizations is intended.  However, we do encourage congregations and individuals to look into the work of these groups and to consider supporting and/or visiting them.

The Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development (CJAED)
This organization works to strengthen the economy in the Arab sector in Israel and to build business partnerships between Jews and Palestinians both within Israel and across the Green Line.         

The Peres Center for Peace
Promotes Peres’ vision of a Middle East where people of the region work together to build peace through socio-economic cooperation and people-to-people relations.

Hope Flowers School
A Palestinian school in El Khader, in the south Bethlehem area of the West Bank (Palestine), dedicated to education for coexistence, peace, non-violence and democracy.  Hope Flowers represents a flowering of hope for peaceful relations between Palestinians and Israelis.

Schools Affiliated with the Anglican and Lutheran Churches of Jerusalem provide education to many Palestinian children, and promote coexistence, non-violence and peace.

All For Peace Radio
Israeli and Palestinian peace activists have launched a new version of the "Voice of Peace" radio station with an aim to promoting peace and co-existence. Broadcasts in Hebrew, Arabic and English are accompanied by music from the original "Voice of Peace" shows.

Promises Film Project

Bitter Lemons: "Israel-Palestinian Crossfire"
A Web site that presents Israeli and Palestinian viewpoints on prominent issues of concern. It focuses on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and peace process, but other related regional issues are also discussed. See also more regional issues.

Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation

Geneva Initiative Video Campaign
The Israeli-Palestinian partnership that brought about the Geneva Initiative calling for two states for two peoples presents a video campaign of personal messages from notable Israelis and Palestinians.

Givat Haviva
Israeli organization promoting dialogue and education

Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam
A village in Israel established jointly by Jews and Palestinian Arabs of Israeli citizenship, engaged in educational work for peace, equality and understanding between the two peoples

Seeds of Peace

Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information
They are the only joint Israeli-Palestinian think-tank in the world.

Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research
The purpose of the Center is to promote research and thinking on issues connected with peacemaking processes and conflict resolution.

Sikkuy ("a chance or opportunity" — this site is published in Hebrew )
Sikkuy is a non-partisan, non-profit Jewish-Arab NGO in Israel that develops and implements projects to advance civic equality between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel.

Just Vision
Information and interviews with Israelis and Palestinians who work for peace.

The Parents’ Circle
Parents who have lost sons and daughters in the violence in the Middle East have formed an organization working relentlessly, with lots of personal risks, to end the bloodshed.

Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education
Founded in 1997 to build peace between Jews and Arabs in Israel through development of bilingual and multi-cultural schools.

Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel
The Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI) is an umbrella organization of over 70 Jewish, Muslim and Christian institutions actively working towards interreligious and intercultural understanding in Israel and the region.

Rabbis for Human Rights
Advocating on behalf of human rights from a religious perspective, this organization received an award from the Knesset for its work in nurturing the interfaith understanding and the peace process.

B’Tselem
The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories maps “facts on the ground” and offers regularly updated assessments of the situation in which Palestinians live on a day to day basis.

Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People
This community center in Beit Sahour sponsors dialogues aimed at developing mutual understanding, educating for peace, and animating public participation in building a just and lasting peace in the region.

Mar Elias University, in Ibelin, in the Galilee, is another educational institution that promotes non-violence and peace-building in the region.

A Hospital Fund

Another idea worth exploring is the creation of a fund for the support of hospitals that provide much needed health care to Israelis and Palestinians.  Such a fund might specifically provide support for maternity care or trauma care in hospitals in both the Palestinian territories and in Israel.