Alia Al-Kadi and Adam Pines, ICSR’s Spring Atkin Fellows presented their final papers last Tuesday.
Alia’s paper “The Arab Peace Initiative: An Instrument for Peace” calls for a closer look at the Arab Peace Initiative as the most comprehensive framework for peace.
By focusing on the Palestinian –Israeli conflict as the core issue of tensions in the region, Alia advocates for a quick and definite adoption of the Initiative to ensure long-lasting peace.
It offers Israel recognition and normal relations with 22 Arab nations in exchange for a withdrawal to the 1967 lines from all territory occupied to allow for a viable Palestinian state; a partition of Jerusalem, which would serve as a capital to both the Palestinians and the Israelis; and a negotiated, workable solution to the issue of the Palestinian right of return.
Alia’s paper proposes concrete recommendations to enhance its marketability and facilitate its adoption as a key instrument for peace.
Adam’s paper “Mending the Breach and Building a Voice – The quest for consensus in Israel” explores the role of mainstream media in Israel. His position is that mainstream media should assume its social responsibility and seek to serve as cohesive force in Israel.
His paper suggest the creation of a live, online, news aggregation system he calls ‘Cross View’. CrossView’s goal would be to reconnect the political sectors present in a conflict zone that are driven apart by the narrowing voice of mainstream media.
The system would gather information from fringe groups websites and display their contrasting views to newsrooms. Thus, larger publications can access information and ideological positions that are relevant to different communities and expand the coverage and scope of news stories.
