Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation
The IHJR seeks to dispel public myths about historic legacies
in societies divided by ethnic conflict
- Home
- IHJR in Brief
- Vision & Mission
- Methodology
- News
- Subscribe to Email List
- Executive Committee
- Advisory Board
- Staff
Loading...2010 Annual Report
In 2010 the IHJR made considerable progress with its projects, finalizing several shared narratives, including a report on political myths in the Balkans and a pilot project on IDPs in Kenya. 2010 also marked the launching of a new project in Turkey and Armenia and bringing its four projects in the Middle East to near completion. For more information, please download the annual report of 2010.
2009 Annual Report
The IHJR has taken important strides forward in developing the field of historical justice and reconciliation. The IHJR can proudly count as a key accomplishment its own transformation from being a “project” of the Salzburg Global Seminar to an independent institute in The Hague in October 2008. It is now recognized not only in The Netherlands but internationally as a center undertaking issues of historical justice and reconciliation. Our annual report of 2009, which can be downloaded here, reflects the developments of the IHJR during its first full year of independence.
The CHDR is an outcome of the IHJR Project in the Former Yugoslavia.
The IHJR works in partnership with the Salzburg Global Seminar.
Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation
The Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) works with educational and public policy institutions to organize and sponsor historical discourse in pursuit of acknowledgement, and the resolution of historical disputes. Founded in 2004, the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) is an independent, nonprofit institution based in The Hague that works in partnership with the Salzburg Global Seminar.
Roundtable Discussions on Zoom In and Two Sides of the Coin In Brussels
‘Your project is original and inventive and it gives me hope’, stated Leila Shahid, general delegate of Palestine to the European Union, during a debate at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
European Parliament
This event was part of a series of debates initiated by the IHJR in Brussels from October 17-20, 2011.
The IHJR and the authors of Zoom in, Palestinian Refugees of 1948, Remembrances, Menachem Klein, Ihab Saloul and Mahmoud Yazbak as well as the authors of Two Sides of the Coin, Independence and Nakba 1948, Adel Manna and Motti Golani proudly presented their work to the ULB, diplomats, Belgian government officials, European parliamentarians and civil society organizations representatives. Throughout the debates, the authors emphasized the key role that the development of shared narratives can play in bringing together communities that have historically been in conflict and in facilitating the identification of common grounds among these communities. As Motti Golani expressed ‘the conflict between Israel and Palestine is not only over territory but also over narrative.’
Both books focus on the events that occurred in 1948. Zoom In explores the contrasting perspectives and interpretations of the events of 1948 through a collection of period photographs commented by Palestinian and Israeli university students. In Two Sides of the Coin Adel Manna and Motti Golani argue that the narratives surrounding 1948 are not only a result of the 1948 War but that ‘they also play a pivotal role in (...) the ‘Israeli-Palestinian conflict’. Thus, ‘in order to come to effectively address the conflict between Israel and Palestine, it is first necessary to deal with the various perceptions of 1948’, Menachem Klein argued.
MEP Proinsias De Rossa, Chair of the Delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council of the European Parliament shared his belief that reconciliation cannot be achieved without common understanding of history. As Mr. De Rossa stated, ‘tolerance of each other is not enough; we need accommodation, acknowledgment and agreement. To achieve sustainable peace, narrative is crucial.’ Ihab Saloul also indicated that, ‘there is a need to recognize the narrative of the other, since there is no forgetting without recognizing’.
The IHJR is thankful to the Heinrich Böll Stiftung and Fondation Bernheim, for supporting this event in Brussels.
IHJR Newsletter, October 2011
The IHJR is pleased to announce its October 2011 Newsletter, available for download as a PDF (2.3mb). Subscribe to the IHJR email annoucement list to receive future issues.
