A Day in the Life of a
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Promoting Peace
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WSU professor honored for starting
grassroots Israeli-Palestinian talks.
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1.1p Federation
of //lett opol itan Detroit
WE'RE PART OF THE TEAM
sraeli Sapir Handelman, a visit-
ing professor at Wayne State
University's Center for Peace and
Conflict Studies (CFPCS) and the Lentz
Fellow in Peace and Conflict Research,
is the co-laureate of the 2010 Peter
Becker Award for Peace and Conflict
Studies.
The Peter Becker
Award of Philipps-
University Marburg
(Germany) is given in
recognition of work
and projects that pro-
mote scientific knowl-
Sapir
edge on the formation,
Handelman
progression and man-
agement of conflicts
and that enable or carry out the practical
implementation of conflict management.
Handelman will accept the award in May.
"This award is an affirmation of
the hard work and dedication that
Sapir has shown toward furthering
people-to-people grassroots diplomacy
between Israelis and Palestinians," said
Fred Pearson, CFPCS director.
After earning his doctorate at Tel Aviv
University, Handelman spent a year in
Germany and then went to Harvard
University for post-doctoral work.
A Peacemaking Model
At Harvard, he began developing dif-
ferent peacemaking models. While a
visiting professor at the University of
Missouri-St. Louis, he presented his
Minds of Peace Experiment (MOPE)
and began holding dialogues there.
"MOPE is a small-scale, Israeli-
Palestinian public negotiating congress
designed to demonstrate the peace-
making power of a major public nego-
tiating congress, evaluate its potential
outcomes and get support for a poten-
tial accord;' Handelman explained.
"In May 2009, Professor Fred
Pearson helped us to organize one
round of MOPE in the Center for Peace
and Conflict Studies at Wayne State
University, where he is the director. The
center is one of the few institutions in
the world that focuses, specifically, on
the study of peace and conflict!'
He came to WSU in Detroit in 2009
and was asked to stay another year,
through the 2011 academic year. He
teaches one course per semester and
spends the rest of his time doing
research and developing MOPE as well
as writing books about the topic.
"We also are working to develop
international master's programs in
Peace Education and Peace, Security
and Diplomacy,' he said. "The programs
involve WSU and partner academic
institutions in Israel. If we will succeed
to establish the programs, I will share my
time between Israel and Detroit/WSU."
The MOPE initiative has been
conducted 11 times — seven times
at major universities in the U.S. and
Canada and four times in Israel/
Palestinian Authority in Beit Jala near
Jerusalem, one of the few places where
Israelis and Palestinians can meet
without special permission.
5 Israelis, 5 Palestinians
At the dialogues, five Israelis meet five
Palestinians to discuss, debate and
negotiate solutions to their conflict.
They have five sessions to reach a peace
agreement.
"The negotiations are conducted in
front of an audience, which is invited to
participate in the peacemaking process
at the end of each session:' Handelman
explained. Each mini-congress suc-
ceeded to reach at least one agreement.
"The critical issue is hidden in a side
effect that each round succeeded to cre-
ate — peace coalitions',' Handelman
said. "The various rounds of the MOPE
showed clearly the potential of small
public negotiating congresses to create
grassroots peace coalitions. The coali-
tions are built from the negotiators and
the audience. The glue that connects the
peace coalitions is not necessarily love or
altruistic motivations, but a deep under-
standing of the importance of negotia-
tion, debate and critical discussion.
"The question now is how to trans-
form these peace coalitions into a
mass movement that can culminate in
the establishment of a major Israeli-
Palestinian public negotiating congress."
To that end, a MOPE session this
summer will be expanded to 20 Israelis
and 20 Palestinians.
Handelman lives on the WSU cam-
pus with his wife, Yael, who is a profes-
sional classical singer, and their daugh-
ter, Avia. I I
To see a video of a MOPE session or
to make donations to expand the initiative,
go to www.mindsofpeace.org .