President Shimon Peres, has been awarded the Walther-Rathenau-Prize. He received the prize in an award-ceremony by the Walther Rathenau Institute, held in Berlin on January, 28th..

The day before, Peres had given the key-note speech at a special session of the German Bundestag, commemorating the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

German Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Free Democrats, the German Liberal party, Guido Westerwelle, acknowledged Peres as being one of the defining figures in 20th Century foreign politics. Regarding the conflict in the Middle East, Westerwelle stressed, that he agrees with Peres in many respects. He also stated, that in the personality of President Mahmud Abbas, “Israel has a reliable partner on the Palestinian side. Now it is vital to seize the chances this constellation has to offer. Time is running and a stagnation of the peace-process is not an option.”

In his acceptance speech, Peres declared that, while being in the German capital, he does not only feel reminded of the Shoa, but he has a feeling of great friendship as well.

He commemorated Walther Rathenau as an important statesman and a German Foreign Minister during Weimar Republic. He remarked that Rathenau did not want any personal physical protection, despite threats against him as a Jewish German. Rathenau, who had become a symbol of German democracy and active foreign policy, was assassinated by German right-wing radicals on June, 24th, 1922. Peres cited Rathenau`s contemporary Albert Einstein: He declared after Rathenau’s death, that “it would have been acceptable and understandable if Rathenau had decided to stay out of politics. But he was a fighter and wanted to fulfil his duty for Germany.”

(The report is available in Arabic)

Date: 25-27 July, 2010

Participants from Palestine: Ms. Shereen Othman and Mrs. Badra Shaer – Freedom Forum Palestine (FFP)

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To view the report please click on the link (in German)

(The report is available in English)

Date: 18-30 July, 2010

Participant from Palestine: Ms. Enass Tinah

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(The report is available in English)

Date: 6th -18th of June, 2010

Participant: Nir Pereg

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Interested candidates should send their CVs in English by 12. August to Rana Alami rana.alami@fnst.org via E-mail .

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(The report is available in English)

Date: May 2nd – May 13th 2010

Participant: Ilai Harsgor Hendin

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Lord Ralf Dahrendorf, chairman of the board of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation from 1982 to 1987, died one year ago, on the 17th of June, 2009. Given the circumstances of Germany, his was an extraordinary career that demonstrated that, on the one hand, science and politics can exist symbiotically, as well as that Germany can still produce world-class philosophical thinkers.

Born as the son of a social-democrat, Ralf Dahrendorf first made the world notice him as an innovative sociologist, before he started his foray into politics by way of championing education policies during the 1960s. Because of his deep insight into the oeuvre of Karl marx, works, Dahrendorf transformed from a social democrat to a liberal, entered the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and quickly advanced up the ranks to represent his constituency on the regional, as well as on the level of the German Bundestag.

He provided essential theoretical work that paved the way for the famous „change of power“ of 1969, but grew weary of the constraining nature of politics, particularly in his capacity as state secretary in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as EU Commissioner in Brussels. and EU Commissioner. This led him to abandon politics in favour of higher education, becoming head of the London School of Economics in 1974 and later on, of a renowned college of Oxford University.

In the mid-1980s, Dahrendorf became head of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Even though he worked tirelessly to promote the interaction of Anglo-Saxon and continental thinking throughout his tenure, during the later years he was drawn more and more to Great Britain, receiving the honour of being ennobled and receiving a seat in the House of Lords.

To honour his memory, the Foundation has created the Lord Ralf Dahrendorf Lecture. This lecture, with the cooperation of the Badische Zeitung as well as the “Zeit-Foundation Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius” and the newspaper DIE ZEIT, took place for the first time on the June 17th, 2010. The themes that were discussed are also an homage to Dahrendorf: He himself had dedicated the later years of his work to inter-religious and intercultural dialogue.

For several years, the Foundation has sponsored a regional project titled “Laws Reform” which aimed at promoting the freedom of association in selected Arab states. Members of the recently established Arab Council for the Freedom of Association have participated in a visiting program to Germany. From Palestine Dr. Azmi Shuaibi, Commissioner on combating corruption at AMAN organization, participated in this visiting program from 29 May until 2 June. Within this program, an international conference took place in Potsdam, Berlin on 3 and 4 June which aimed at creating a forum of exchange between the Arab civil society groups and their European counterparts. From Palestine, Mr. Mueen Barghouthi, lawyer and Instructor at Bir Zeit University on Law and Human Rights, participated in this international conference along with Dr. Shuaibi.

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