Does Encounter meet with Palestinian political officials on programs in the West Bank and East Jerusalem?
Generally speaking Encounter seeks to engage with civil society leaders and not official political representatives. Our programs are focused on giving our participants firsthand access to civil society leaders to get a sense of Palestinian society and a better understanding of how different sectors are making sense of the conflict. Occasionally we will meet with members of the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department, a group of academics and researchers who advise the PLO on negotiations. It is our sense that many Jewish leaders have met Palestinian officials at conferences or on special missions to Israel. We believe the voices of civil society leaders are harder to reach through official channels and are important in gaining a more texture understanding of the situation on the ground.
PLEASE NOTE: The views expressed in this section of the website are not necessarily those of Encounter as an organization. We support the chorus of voices of the Jewish community in engagement with the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, so long as they are consistent with our core values.