The Peres Center for Peace

Former Israeli Prime Minister and current President Shimon Peres established the Peres Center for Peace in 1996 as a private, non-partisan initiative to promote peace between Palestinians and Israelis through education, dialogue, infrastructure projects that promote economic development and opportunity for both sides, and humanitarian help when necessary. The center is currently led by Uri Savir.

Among the Peres Center's achievements:

• Peace Computer Centers in Palestinian classrooms underserved by computer technology.
• The "Middle East Virtual Campus," which links Palestinian and Israeli students through the internet.
• The organization of the "Peace Team," a soccer team made up of Palestinian and Israeli athletes who twice (in 2005 and 2006) met top La Ligua Spanish teams in Spain for matches aimed at promoting peace and cooperation.
• Developing water-treatment and crop-management initiatives.
• Coordinating the Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum, which brings together some 100 Israeli and Palestinian peace organizations to network and develop cooperative strategies.

"Through extensive communication and interaction with Arab partners," the center writes of itself, "the Peres Center has come to understand that sustainable peace and stability can only be developed in the Middle East region through the elevation of social and economic capacities. Accordingly, the peacebuilding activities of the Peres Center focus on common Arab and Israeli social, economic, developmental, cultural and educational interests, with an emphasis on nurturing Palestinian-Israeli relations. The Peres Center designs and facilitates tangible peacebuilding projects that address these interests, utilizing cross-border, regional and international partnerships to bring these initiatives to fruition."