Sapir Handelman, a visiting professor at Wayne State University's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (CFPCS) and the Lentz Fellow in Peace and Conflict Research, is the co-laureate of the 2010 Peter Becker Award for Peace and Conflict Studies.
Handelman is the driving force behind the acclaimed "Mind of Peace Experiment (MOPE)," a small-scale Israeli-Palestinian assembly that invites delegations from all walks of life to discuss, debate, and negotiate solutions for their tragic conflict. The MOPE is designed to demonstrate the peacemaking power of a major public negotiating congress, to evaluate its potential outcome and to develop support for a potential accord. The dialogues have been held in several locations across the country, including Wayne State University, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the University of California at Irvine, UCLA and in Beit Jala (near Bethlehem) in Israel/Palestine.
The Peter Becker Award is given in recognition of work and projects that promote scientific knowledge on the formation, progression and management of conflicts and that enable or carry out the practical implementation of conflict management. The award especially aims to strengthen and improve civilian conflict management in the societal and transnational realm. Additionally, it can be awarded for work and projects that address conflicts in non-European countries, whether the work or project has been implemented or could have been implemented.
"This award is an affirmation of the hard work and dedication that Sapir has shown toward furthering people-to-people grassroots diplomacy in between Israelis and Palestinians," said Fred Pearson, Director of the CFPCS.
About the Center For Peace and Conflict Studies
The mission of the CFPCS is to develop and implement projects, programs, curricula, research and publications in areas of scholarship related to international and domestic peace, war, social justice, arms control, globalization, multicultural awareness and constructive conflict resolution.
The CFPCS addresses this mission in three ways:
- CPCS supports undergraduate and graduate student excellence through its academic programs;
- CPCS staff and students engage in scholarly research initiatives on aspects of domestic and international conflict management; and,
- CPCS provides community outreach programs that emphasize: conflict resolution, development of intercultural understanding, and enhance local knowledge of global affairs.
"The goal of peacemaking is to build the social conditions that can help the opposing people to discover, mostly by themselves, the road to peace, prosperity and happiness," said Handelman.
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