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March 15, 2004

Exploring New Forms of Conflict Resolution: The Influence of Peace Education Programs - PhD Candidate Ahsiya Posner

Imagine parlaying a summer camp job during college into the subject of a PhD thesis. Note that this is no ordinary camp, but Seeds of Peace (SOP), a summer program bringing together youth from various conflict regions of the world; and that this PhD candidate is no ordinary academic, but a young educator with considerable field experience.

When Ahsiya Posner F’03 entered the Fletcher MALD program in September 2001, she sought out a different path for herself, creating a new field of study, concentrating on development and security through education reform, as well as international conflict resolution and negotiation. For her MALD thesis, Posner discussed Track 1 (between heads of state) Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, focusing on the United States’ failed mediation from the Oslo peace process through the 2000 Camp David summit. While acknowledging a host of other problems, she honed in on one in particular: the disconnect between Israeli and Palestinian civil society and the leaders who ostensibly represented their public’s interests.

Posner hearkened back to her work with SOP, an American-based organization with a grassroots perspective. By bringing together young Israeli and Palestinian teenagers to participate in recreational and conflict resolution activities in a neutral summer camp environment, SOP believed they could facilitate a process of “humanizing the enemy,” initiating behavioral, cultural and institutional change in the Middle East.

For Posner, who had grown up near Philadelphia with a foot in both Arab and Jewish worlds, the structure of SOP was both logical and captivating. And the power of the organization hit her when tragedy struck: “When one of the Seeds kids I loved, with whom I had worked closely for four years, was killed in the very first week of the [most recent] Intifada, I felt helpless... I was motivated to do something, anything, to try and help in my own small way. Though SOP does so well with inspiring change on the individual level, I began to believe that there was room and need for improving the connection between these types of grassroots organizations to leaders in the policy arena.”

Posner, now a PhD candidate at Fletcher, has selected both SOP and the Israeli Palestinian Centre for Research and Information (IPCRI) as subjects for her dissertation. IPCRI is a local, bipartisan organization with headquarters both in Ramallah and Jerusalem that works within the school systems, and the department of education, designing peace-oriented curricula. In contrast, SOP’s work engages with youth outside of the school systems.

Posner believes that the possibility exists for partnerships. Focusing on their leadership, funding sources and direction of their work, Posner believes that they eventually need to enter the larger policy realm. “Currently, both SOP and IPCRI are focused on working with ordinary Israeli and Palestinian youth at the personal level in order to affect change. But I believe that they will need to reach the key people- those in power – in order to generate a real societal impact through changes in policies and institutions.”

Posner intends to evaluate whether it is possible or even desirable for these groups to reach this stage of influence on their own or through partnerships. “The nexus between grassroots and government is the heart of this peace and reconciliation work … I hope that my research will serve as lessons for civil society organizations and governments to work not just from the bottom up, but from the top down, in their efforts towards peace.”

“Ideally, my findings could serve as lessons not just for [the Middle East], but for any region—the U.S., Sri Lanka, Northern Ireland,” adds Posner. In fact, SOP itself is not a location-specific organization, as the organizers apply their model to kids from Afghanistan, Cyprus, India, Pakistan, the Balkans, the U.S., and other conflict regions. On the whole, this work is not unique to the Middle East, but is can be adapted cross-regionally and cross-culturally. After all, “kids are kids,” she adds.

And Posner should know. Growing up in a family of eleven, she believes that she has learned a lot from her brothers and sisters, grandparents, and parents, who served in the Peace Corps in Niger. From them, Posner learned to appreciate international cultures and traditions, embracing travel (she spent a semester in college in Zimbabwe), language (she speaks French and Spanish and can read and write classical Arabic), and education (she received a full scholarship to Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania).

After completing her undergraduate degree, Posner taught high school history for a few years, but never strayed far from her experience with SOP. “We conducted a huge Middle East unit [in school], and I matched up each American student with one of my Arab or Israeli Seeds’ teenagers for email correspondence through a youth-identity portfolio project.” As to whether she may return to teaching – either at the high school or university levels – once she has completed her PhD, Posner has considered it. Ultimately, though, in striving to achieve the greatest impact, she hopes to do a combination of teaching and policy-work, recognizing the importance of that nexus. Her innovative perspective on education and conflict resolution suggests that she may well find such an intersection.

Posted by jessica at March 15, 2004 10:23 AM