The Dialogue Project
Dr. Najat Arafat Khelil (left) and Reena Bernards (below), co-founders of The Dialogue Project Between American Jewish and Palestinian Women, spoke at UMass Amherst on December 3, 1997.
The Dialogue Project has forged bonds of communication and trust both in the U.S. and in the Middle East since its founding in 1989. Following the outbreak of the [first] intifada, a dialogue conference was held in New York, which was one of the first times that national leaders of each community addressed one another. Both sides came out of this conference with a clear commitment to build support in their communities for the peace process. Subsequent conferences took place which included Israeli and Palestinian leaders such as Hanan Mikhail Ashrawi and Naomi Chazan.
The women in The Dialogue Project have struggled through many of the complex issues that divide the two communities and have reached agreement on a statement of principles which was issued in October, 1991, on the eve of the Madrid Peace Conference. In 1993, the group travelled to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, visiting women's centers, political leaders and community groups, particularly listening to the concerns of women engaged in the struggles for peace and equality. Jewish and Palestinian speaking teams from The Dialogue Project have addressed a wide variety of audiences in synagogues, churches and universities, as well as gatherings of political organizations in both the Arab and Jewish communities.
Reena Bernards (right) is a trainer in conflict resolution, leadership and organizational development and multicultural diversity. Her clients include the U.S. Agency for International Development, National Peace Foundation, League of Women Voters and the New Israel Fund. Ms. Bernards organized a historic dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian women at the United Nations End of Decade Women's Forum at Nairobi, Kenya in 1985. She has done extensive public speaking nationally and internationally on inter-ethnic conflict resolution, as well as the Middle East peace process. She has led international training workshops with leaders in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Canada. She was a facilitator for the "Transcaucasus Women's Dialgoue" with women from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Bernards is the author of "Pioneers in Dialogue" in A Narrow Bridge: Jews and Multiculturalism, edited by M. Brattschneider (Rutgers University Press, 1996); and "Forging Across the Borders of Conflict: Women's Diplomacy" in Women at the Center: Developement Issues and Practices for the 1990's, edited by G. Young, V. Samarasinghe, K. Kuesterer (Kumarian Press: West Hartford, Conn., 1993). Ms. Bernards holds a masters in public administration from Harvard University and bachelors of sociology from Brandeis University. She is certified as a mediator by the Center for Dispute Resolution. Ms. Bernards lives in Washington D.C.
Najat Arafat Khelil is a trainer in leadership, conflict resolution, and organizational development. She has trained leaders in the United States, Canada, Russia, and throughout the Middle East. Under the auspices of the United States Information Agency, Dr. Khelil has led workshops and lectured in Syria, Yemen, Jordan and Palestine. She is president of the Arab Women's Council, vice-president for Washington D.C. of the Palestinian American Congress, and former president of Roots Palestinian Youth Organization. She is also the former president of the Union of Palestinian American Women and of the Muslim Women's Association. Dr. Khelil received her B.S. in physics and chemistry from Cairo University, and her masters, as a Fulbright Scholar, at Ohio State University. She received a Ph.D. in nuclear physics at the State University of North Texas. Dr. Khelil has taught at the University of Algeria, George Washington University and Shaw University. She was born in Nablus and lives in Potomac, Maryland.
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