Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation

The IHJR seeks to dispel public myths about historic legacies
in societies divided by ethnic conflict

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IHJR Projects in the Middle East

Introduction

The IHJR Middle East Project was initiated at a meeting at the Salzburg Global Seminar in November 2004, when a group of Palestinian and Israeli scholars together with the IHJR laid the foundation for the future projects.

Aim and Objectives

The Middle East projects all aim to engage historians and public figures from the Palestinian Authority and Israel in a sustained dialogue regarding unresolved historic legacies in the region as a means of promoting reconciliation and mutual understanding and to provide “building blocks” from which current or future peace initiatives can benefit.

The Middle East Project consists of five separate initiatives in varying stages of development, with each project having its own objectives. In general all projects work to:

• establish a “shared history” that will acknowledge a set of accepted historical facts
• engage public figures, political and religious leaders, educators, and public commentators, in bringing the results to broad public attention within and outside the region

Projects description

Currently the IHJR is engaged with the following projects in the Middle East:

1. Atlas of the 1948 War:Cartographers and historians from Israel and Palestine have been working together on the first joint Israeli-Palestinian Atlas of the 1948 War.
2. Sacred Sites: An Israeli-Palestinian team is working on a “Sacred Sites Project”, which includes research and writing of shared narratives of a number of sites deemed sacred by Jews, Muslims, and Christians.
3. Historiography of the Refugee Crisis: A joint survey analyzes the key issues in the Palestinian refugee situation within the evolving context of Arab and Israeli political dynamics over the last half century.
4. Case Study of Haifa: A team of Israeli and Palestinian scholars are collaborating on a shared narrative examining the city of Haifa as a multi-ethnic city.

Funding

The IHJR Middle East Project is funded in part by the Ford Foundation, the Arcadia Trust, the Sigrid Rausing Trust, and and the European Commission Partnership for Peace Programme.