Our efforts to bridge differences between Israeli and Palestinian history are saluted for the year 2012. Our publications are quoted by The Independent and Clionauta, Blog de Historia in their list of the best history books of 2012.

On Wednesday October 31 IHJR Director Ms. Catherine Cissé-van den Muijsenbergh gave a keynote lecture at the conference “Exposure: Photography and the Politics of Looking” at the Rose Art Museum of Brandeis University, in Boston. The conference was organized in parallel with the exhibition “100 Steps to the Mediterranean” by the Palestinian artist Dor Guez.

Ms. Cissé-van den Muijsenbergh discussed the importance of photography in the remembrance and reconciliation process and presented a specific case exposed by the IHJR in its publication “Zoom In: Palestinian Refugees of 1948, Remembrances”. For this study, Palestinian and Israeli students were asked to provide their personal impressions of photographs of 1948. The book contains a selection of various reactions and their analysis by scholars. It provides a multi-perspective commentary that underscores the urgent need for building greater understanding for the common history of this region. The lecture was followed by lively discussions on the photographic image and its resonance with politics.

The event also featured Cynthia Cohen, Director of the Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts at the Ethics Center; Dabney Hailey, Director of Academic Programs at the Rose Art Museum;  and Prof. Ilan Troen, Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis.

On September 23^rd 2012, Anna Kiebert, Joël Groeneveld and Catherine Cissé- van den Muijsenbergh from the IHJR participated for the fourth time in The Hague International Day at the World Convention Forum. The annual event, organized for the fifth time by The Hague Municipality, was an excellent opportunity for the broad public to become better acquainted with IHJR’s work.

On May 2012 Catherine Cissé van den Muijsenbergh gave a lecture at the Institut d’Etudes Européennes of the Université Libre de Bruxelles as part of a course organized by Professor Jihane Sfeir on “Memories in Conflict: the Arab-Israeli Conflict”.  The two renowned historians Avi Shlaim, from Israel, and Henry Laurens, historian of the Arabian world in the College de France, previously contributed to this course.

Catherine Cissé van den Muijsenbergh explained the approach of the IHJR towards disputed history and the process of creating shared narratives. She presented the work of the IHJR on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Zoom in, Two Sides of the Coin and Haifa Before& After 1948.

After the lecture, students actively participated in a discussion on the role of memory in the Arab-Israeli conflict, but also on other divided histories, in the former Yugoslavia, Armenia and Turkey as well as between the Baltic countries and Russia.

On May 22, 2012 IHJR’s Executive Director Catherine Cissé-van den Muijsenbergh was invited to speak at the public conference titled “Dealing with the Past and Reconciliation:  What Kind of Truth Seeking  Mechanism does Kosovo Need?’’, jointly organized by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kosovo and the International Civilian Office.

Ms Cissé-van den Muijsenbergh explained that the vision of the IHJR is predicated on the notion of history being an underestimated although powerful instrument for social change. By counteracting the abuse of historical legacies, IHJR aims at promoting reconciliation, tolerance and understanding.

On the methodology, she added that IHJR successfully brought together opposing sides to produce shared narratives on the past. She reminded the relevance of IHJR project on political myths in the former Yugoslavia and the importance of joint historical commissions in the healing process of nations, in particular in France, Germany, Czech Republic and Poland.

During her visit in Pristina, the Executive Director also had a face to face meeting with Ambassador Pieter Feith, the International Civilian Representative in Kosovo. In addition, she gave interviews to the local media and had meetings with the director of the Centre for Research, Documentation and Publication (CRDP).