Congress of the People is an Israeli-Palestinian traveling negotiation assembly that meets in different locations. It is a new initiative from the Charney Resolution Center in collaboration with Minds of Peace, having its first gathering on September 20th in Tel-Aviv.
About 100 people attended the first meeting. Among them, were about 40 students from The Jerusalem School & Ort Binyamina. The students split into 4 negotiation groups, each focused on one of four solution alternatives to the Israeli - Palestinian conflict.In between negotiations, they learned about each other, their ways of life, hobbies, school curriculum, and more.
After endless negotiation, each group presented their results. The Federation Group suggested focusing on education for both sides and all stakeholders. Jerusalem will be the mutual base and divided into 3 parts - Israeli, Palestinian, and mutual. The One State Solution Group spoke about borders, education, Jerusalem, return rights, and struggling between the idealist or realist approaches to the problem. The Two States Solution focused on the connection between the West Bank and Gaza and decided on the freedom of religion in Jerusalem. The refugees will be located in Sinai and part of the taxes from Jerusalem will be allocated in order to support them. The Confederation group decided that Jerusalem will stay neutral, there will a mutual army, and the check points will remain for a transition period.
