Oliver McTernan and William Sieghart hold meetings in Israel/Palestine, 16th-18th July 2012

Oliver and William visited Israel/Palestine to evaluate the current situation and the new challenges facing the region. They had meetings with several members of the Knesset, including with ministers Moshe Kahalon and Yuli Edelstein. They also visited Gaza where they met with Mohammed Awad, the Deputy Prime Minister, to discuss the current situation. In Gaza, they also held meetings at the House of Wisdom, a Gaza-based institute for the study of conflict reolution and governance issues. The House of Wisdom has been involved within Palestinian society and politics ever since it was founded by Forward Thinking in 2008. Forward Thinking now acts as an advisor and strategic partner to the institute.In addition, they visited the West Bank where they met with Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, and Dr Mustafa Barghouti, the leader of the Palestinian National Initiative. Visits to the region, such as this, are essential for us to maintain and evaluate our work.