G7 Heads of Government commit to supporting Palestinian and Israeli civil society peacebuilding at the G7 Summit

At the G7 Summit, the official G7 Leaders’ Communiqué included unprecedented language centering civil society peacebuilding in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

BARI, PUGLIA, ITALY, June 14, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- G7 Heads of Government commit to supporting Palestinian and Israeli civil society peacebuilding in the G7 Summit Communiqué in Puglia

Earlier today at the G7 Summit in Puglia, Italy, Heads of Government released the official G7 Leaders’ Communiqué. This year, the communiqué included unprecedented new language prioritizing civil society peacebuilding as a critical component of any diplomatic resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stating:

“We affirm our commitment to working together —and with other international partners—to closely coordinate and institutionalize our support for civil society peacebuilding efforts, ensuring that such efforts are part of a larger strategy to build the foundation necessary for a negotiated and lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace.”

This effort was spearheaded by the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), who have spent the last month leading a global coalition united in calling for this new approach from the G7.

37 UK Parliamentarians, 22 Members of the European Parliament, and His Holiness Pope Francis all added their support to the campaign, standing in solidarity with the ALLMEP community and recognizing the critical role that grassroots organizations have to play in any long term, sustainable peace process.

A letter to G7 Heads of Government was signed by more than 160 Israeli and Palestinian peacebuilding NGOs, and over 200 civil society organizations from around the world, including from places like Northern Ireland, South Africa, Colombia, and Kashmir, where communities know only too well the pain of entrenched conflict and the importance of civil society in breaking cycles of violence and injustice.

"With the situation so dire right now, we appreciate global leaders centering the work of those Israelis and Palestinians working every day to shape a more peaceful, just and secure reality," said ALLMEP Executive Director, John Lyndon, who was in Bari for the G7 summit. “Their efforts– when combined with the sort of focused diplomacy that has been absent for too long– can create a path toward genuine conflict resolution, giving people on the ground both a stake and a role to play. While also helping to generate the new ideas, leaders, and bottom-up energies that a lasting peace will require.”

ALLMEP welcomes and is grateful for the inclusion of this bold new language, and the global show of solidarity with Palestinian and Israeli peacebuilders that helped to catalyze it. The peacebuilding community now looks forward to working with G7 governments to help develop strategies that can fulfill the promise of this new policy shift which will allow peacebuilders to lead in shaping a new Israeli/Palestinian reality, where the horrors and injustices of recent months are never allowed to recur.

For more information, please contact ALLMEP’s Director of Communications, Nick Acosta, at nick@allmep.org

Nick Acosta
Alliance for Middle East Peace
nick@allmep.org
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