Richard Melson
August 2004
PERES CENTER FOR PEACE: TRYING TO "SQUARE THE CIRCLE"
Shimon Peres established the Peres Center for Peace in 1996. The Board has absolute Zionist hardliners such as Henry Kissinger, Morton Zuckerman, Tom Lantos, Senator Arlen Specter, and that means that Peres is trying to "square the circle:" marry the annexationist-Zionists and the globalists. It is futile to hope to fuse Sharon's Likud with Scandinavian "peaceniks."
Should Labor return to power in Israel, one could imagine Barak II. Trying to "defang" the Likud is futile.
See below:
"Nobel Laureate Shimon Peres founded The Peres Center for Peace in 1996 with the express aim of realizing his vision of a "New Middle East", in which people of the region work together to build peace through socio-economic cooperation and people-to-people relations.
Our strategy remains constant and focused, although our tools and methodologies adapt to reflect the dynamic realities of the Middle East. As a non-partisan, non-governmental organization, The Peres Center for Peace works in parallel to, but independently from, the political process towards peace. It is this unique mandate that allows us to continue with our cooperative activities between Israel and her Arab neighbors despite the breakdown of political negotiations and upsurge of violence.
We believe that the only solution to this conflict is through a negotiated agreement, which respects the national identities of both peoples. It is our duty to work with the people of the Middle East to raise the awareness of peace, thus preparing both societies for a political solution to the conflict. The Peres Center projects aim to break through the boundaries of misconception and suspicion to arrive at authentic cooperation.
Our projects are based on a genuine identification of common Arab and Israeli economic and social interests, which are formed into peacebuilding projects through our partnerships with regional and international players. A key facet of our peacebuilding projects is the people-to-people aspect, in order that the wider publics may come to know "the other" and understand the reality of their intertwined history and future.
The president of The Peres Center, Amb. Uri Savir, is former Director General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was Israel's chief negotiator for the Oslo Agreement.. The Peres Center staff, headed by Director General Dr. Ron Pundak, an architect of the Oslo Agreement, is comprised of experts from all sectors of society and industry. The Center's financial support is derived from private contributions, corporate sponsorships, foundations, NGOs, international organizations and governments."
| Mr. S. Daniel Abraham Chairman, SDA Enterprises Inc. | United States |
| Sir David Alliance Chairman, N.Braun PLC | United Kingdom |
| Mr. Daniel Amar President of Economic Companies | Switzerland |
| Dr. Alfredo Ambrosetti Chairman, Ambrosetti Group | Italy |
| Mr. Prosper Amouyal President, Caron Perfume | France |
| Hon. Mr. Sten Andersson Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden and Chairman, Olof Palme International Center | Sweden |
| Mr. Dwayne O. Andreas Chairman, Archer Daniels Midland Corp. | United States |
| Dr. Jacques Attali Chairman, A&A | France |
| Ms. Mira Avrech Author & Journalist | Israel |
| H.E. Mr. Andre D. Azoulay Advisor to His Majesty The King of Morocco | Morocco |
| Hon. Mr. James A. Baker III Former Secretary of State of the USA | United States |
| Mr. Guido Barilla Chairman, Barilla Alimentare S.P.A. | Italy |
| Dr. Franco Bernabe Chairman, Franco Bernabe & Co. | Italy |
| Mr. Pierre Besnainou Director, LibertySurf and President, Tunisian Jews Association | France |
| Mr. Mitchell J.M.D. Blutt Executive Partner, JP Morgan Partners | United States |
| Prof. Norman E. Borlaug Nobel Prize Laureate and Distinguished Professor, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences | United States |
| H.E. Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali Former Secretary-General of the UN and President, Panel Int'l sur la Democratie et le Developpement | France |
| Prof. Avishai Braverman President, Ben Gurion University of the Negev | Israel |
| Mr. Charles R. Bronfman Chairman of the Executive Committee, CRB Foundation | Israel |
| Mr. Richard H. Brown CEO & Chairman, EDS | United States |
| Mr. John H. Bryan Retired Chairman & CEO, Sara Lee Corp. | United States |
| Dr. Carlos Bulgheroni President, Bridas Corporation | Argentina |
| Mr. Avraham Burg Member of Knesset and Former Speaker of the Knesset | Israel |
| H.E. Dr. Miguel Angel Burreli Rivas Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela | Venezuela |
| Hon. Mr. Ingvar Carlsson Former Prime Minister of Sweden | Sweden |
| Hon. Mr. Jimmy Carter Former President of the USA, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and President, The Carter Center | United States |
| Mr. Hikmet Cetin Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey | Turkey |
| Mr. Manuel Chaves Junta de Andalucia | Spain |
| Hon. Mr. Warren Christopher Former Secretary of State of the USA | United States |
| Mr. Alain Coblence President, European Mozart Foundation | United States |
| Mr. Paulo Coelho Author | Brazil |
| Mr. Lester Crown President, Arie & Ida Crown Memorial | United States |
| Hon. Mr. F. W. de Klerk Former President of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1993 | South Africa |
| Hon. Lic. Miguel de la Madrid Former President of Mexico and President, Fondo de Cultura Economica | Mexico |
| H.E. Mr. Guido de Marco President of Malta | Malta |
| Mr. Edgar D. de Picciotto Chairman of the Board, Union Bancaire Privee | Switzerland |
| Baron Eric de Rothschild Owner, Chateau Lafite Rothschild | France |
| Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Chairman, Rothschild Bank AG | United Kingdom |
| Hon. Mr. Jacques Delors Former President, EU and President, Groupement d'Etudes et de Recherches Notre Europe | France |
| Mr. Paul G. Desmarais, Jr. Chairman & CEO, Power Corporation of Canada | Canada |
| Prof. Yoram Dinstein Former President, Tel Aviv University | Israel |
| Hon. Mr. Roland M. Dumas Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France and President, Conseil Constitutionnel | France |
| Prof. Umberto Eco Professor of Semiotics, University of Bologne | Italy |
| Mr. Larry J. Ellison Chairman, Oracle Corporation | United States |
| Mr. Michael Federman Chairman, Dan Hotels Corp. | Israel |
| Prof. Jacob A. Frenkel President, Merrill Lynch International | Israel |
| Ms. Babette Fribourg President of Economic Companies | Sweden |
| Ms. Julia Gad Errera President, Galia Investments | France |
| Ms. Orit Gadiesh Chairman, Bain and Company Inc. | United States |
| Mr. Uzia Galil Chairman, Elron Electronics Industries | Israel |
| Mr. Benjamin D. Gaon Chairman, Gaon Holdings | Israel |
| Mr. Leslie H. Gelb President Emeritus and Board Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations | United States |
| Hon. Mr. Hans-Dietrich Genscher Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany | Germany |
| Mr. Dan Gillerman Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations | Israel |
| Hon. Mr. Valery Giscard d'Estaing Former President of France and Chairman, European Convention | France |
| Mr. Stanley Gold President, Shamrock Holdings Inc. | United States |
| H.E. Mr. Felipe Gonzalez Marquez Former Prime Minister of Spain and President, Global Progress Foundation | Spain |
| Hon. Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev Former President of the USSR and President, Green Cross International | Russian Fed. |
| Ms. Nadine Gordimer Writer and Nobel Prize Laureate | South Africa |
| Mr. Vladimir Goussinsky General Director, Media Most | Russian Fed |
| Mr. Aleksander Gudzowaty President, Bartimpex S.A. | Poland |
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| Hon. Mr. I. K. Gujral Former Prime Minister of India | India |
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| Hon. Prof. Sung Joo Han Former Foreign Minister of S. Korea and Director, International Relations Inst., Korea University | South Korea |
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| Hon. Mr. Vaclav Havel Former President of the Czech Republic | Czech Republic |
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| Dr. Marianne Heiberg Senior Research Associate, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs | Norway |
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| Ms. Aura Herzog International President, Council for a Beautiful Israel | Israel |
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| Mr. Jens P. Heyerdahl Consultant, ORKLA Industries | Norway |
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| Mr. Eli Hurvitz Chairman of the Borad, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries | Israel |
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| Mr. Lee Iacocca Lee Iacocca and Associates | United States |
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| H.E. Mr. Thorbjoern Jagland Former Prime Minister of Norway and Member of the Norwegian Parliament | Norway |
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| Hon. Mr. Lionel Jospin Former Prime Minister of France | France |
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| Mr. Abdellatif Jouahri Former Chairman, Banque Marocain du Commerce | Morocco |
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| Mr. Morris Kahn Head of the Kahn Foundation | Israel |
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| Dr. Ibrahim Kamel Chairman, Kato Aromatic Group | Egypt |
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| Mr. Jak V. Kamhi President, Profilo Holdings | Turkey |
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| H.E. Prof. Ephraim Katchalski-Katzir Former President of Israel | Israel |
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| Prof. Moshe Kaveh President, Bar-Ilan University | Israel |
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| Prof. Paul M. Kennedy Director, International Security Studies, Yale University | United States |
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| H.E. Dr. Moustafa Khalil Former Prime Minister of Egypt and Chairman, Arab International Bank | Egypt |
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| The Rt. Hon. Neil Kinnock Former Labor Party Leader UK and Vice President, European Commission | United Kingdom |
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| Hon. Dr. Henry A. Kissinger Former Secretary of State of the USA and President, Kissinger & Associates Inc. | United States |
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| Mr. Leon Koffler Chariman & CEO, Super-Pharm Ltd. | Israel |
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| Chancellor Helmut Kohl Former Chancellor of Germany | Germany |
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| Ms. Alicia Koplowitz President, Omega Capital | Spain |
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| Mr. Steven C. Koppel Heller Ehrman Attorneys | United States |
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| Mr. Raphael Kravec Founder, French Fragrances Inc. | United States |
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| Mr. Harvey Krueger Vice President, Lehman Brothers | United States |
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| Hon. Mr. Milan Kucan Former President of the Republic of Slovenia | Slovenia |
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| Mr. Jan Kulczyk Chairman of Supervisory Board, Kulczyk Holdings | Poland |
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| Hon. Mr. Alexander Kwasniewski President of the Republic of Poland | Poland |
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| Dr. Yehuda Lancry Former Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations | Israel |
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| Hon. Mr. Tom Lantos United States Congressman | United States |
Mr. Dov Lautman Chairman, Delta Galil Industries Ltd. Israel
Dr. Richard A. Lerner President, The Scripps Research Institute United States
Mr. Bernard-Henri Levy Editions Bernard Grasset France
The Rt. Hon. Lord Michael Levy Founder, M&G Records United Kingdom
Prof. Emeritus Bernard Lewis Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University United States
Hon. Mr. Joseph Lieberman United States Senator United States
Hon. Dr. Ruud Lubbers Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Netherlands
Prof. Menachem Magidor President, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel
Mr. Josef Maiman President, Merhav Group of Companies Israel
The Rt. Hon. John Major M.P., Former Prime Minister of the UK United Kingdom
Mr. Alfio Marchini President, Marchini Grupo Italy
Mr. Hani Masri Chairman, Capital Investment Management Corporation United States
Hon. Mr. Pierre Mauroy Former Prime Minister of France and Mayor of Lille France
Ms. Isabel Maxwell President Emeritus, Apax Partners United States
Hon. Mr. Federico Mayor President, Fundacion para una Cultura de Paz Spain
Ms. Hanna Meron Actress Israel
Prof. Dan Michaeli Chairman, Board of Directors & Council, Kupat Holim Clalit Israel
Hon. Mr. Alecos P. Michaelides Former President and Former Foreign Minister of Cyprus Cyprus
Mr. Roni Milo Former Minister of Regional Cooperation of Israel Israel
Mr. David Mimran President, Eurofrique Israel
The Rt. Hon. Lord Victor Mishcon QC Founder, Victor Mishcon & Co., Consultant Mishcon De Reya United Kingdom
H.E. Mr. Yitzhak Navon Former President of Israel Israel
Mr. Philippe Nordmann President du Conseil d'Administration, Maus Freres SA Switzerland
Mr. Amos Oz Writer Israel
Hon. Lic. Jaime Paz-Zamora Former President of Bolivia Bolivia
Hon. Mr. Shimon Peres Chairman of the International Board of Governors of The Peres Center for Peace Israel
Mr. Amir Peretz MK, Chairman, Histadrut - General Federation of Labor Israel
Hon. Sr. Carlos Andreas Perez Former President of Venezuela Venezuela
Dr. Ferdinand Piech Chairman, The Board of Management, Volkswagen AG Germany
Mr. Lester Pollack Senior Partner, Lazard Freres United States
Mr. Richard Pratt Chairman, Pratt Industries Australia
Mr. Dan Propper President, Osem Group Israel
Mr. Ahmed Qurie Speaker and Chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council Palestinian Authority
Prof. Itamar Rabinovich President, Tel Aviv University Israel
Prof. Emeritus Howard Raiffa Professor of Managerial Economics, Harvard University United States
Hon. Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam Former Prime Minister of Mauritius Mauritius
Mr. Bruce Rappaport International Maritime Services Co. Ltd. Switzerland
Hon. Dr. Johannes H. Rau Federal President of Germany Germany
Prof. Raj Reddy Dean, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University United States
Hon. Ms. Ann W. Richards Former Texas Governor United States
The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice, Sir Bernard Rix Lord Justice of Appeal, Member of the Privy Council United Kingdom
Hon. Mr. Michel Rocard Former Prime Minister of France and Member of the European Parliament France
Mr. Terje Roed Larsen Special Envoy to the Middle East, United Nations Norway
Mr. Samuel Rothberg Sam & Jean Rothberg Family Charitable Trust United States
Mr. Harvey Rothenberg United States
Mr. Haim Saban CEO, Saban Entertainment Inc. United States
Mr. Zeyad Salah President, Zeyad Salah & Partners Contracting Jordan
Hon. Dr. Oscar Sanchez Arias Former President of Costa Rica, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Founder, Arias Foundation Costa Rica
Hon. Amb. Noemi Sanin Posada Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia and Colombian Ambassador to Spain Colombia
Mr. Richard F. Schubert Chairman Emeritus, International Youth Foundation United States
Prof. Klaus Schwab Founder and President, World Economic Forum Switzerland
Mr. Louis Schweitzer Chairman & CEO, Renault SA France
Adv. Moshe Shachal Former Minister of Police and Chairman of the Executive Board of The Peres Center for Peace Israel
Hon. Mr. Meir Shamgar Former President of the Supreme Court of Israel Israel
Prof. Shimon Shamir Former Israeli Ambassador to Egypt and Jordan Israel
Mr. Meir Shitrit Former Minister of Justice and Minister, Finance Ministry Israel
Mr. Isaac Siboni President, Asamblea Universal Sefardita Spain
Mr. Charles Sirois Chairman of the Board and CEO, TeleSystems Ltd. Canada
Hon. Dr. Mario Soares Former President of Portugal and President, Fundacao Mario Soares Portugal
Hon. Dr. Javier Solana Secretary-General, Council of the European Union Spain
Hon. Mr. Arlen Specter United States Senator United States
Mr. Jay Stein Chairman of the Board & CEO, Stein Mart United States
H.E. Amb. Thorvald Stoltenberg Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Defence and President, Norwegian Red Cross Norway
Hon. Prof. Dr. Rita Sussmuth Bundestags Presidentin a.D & Member of Parliament Germany
Prof. Zeev Tadmor Former President, The Technion and Chairman of the Board of Shmuel Ne'eman Israel
Hon. Ms. Christine Todd Whitman Former New Jersey Governor and Administrator, US Environmental Protection Agency United States
Mr. Jacques Toledano President, Filroc and Avis Morocco The Most Reverend Desmond M. Tutu Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate South Africa
Dr. Joseph Vardi Founding Investor and Former Chairman, Mirabilis Israel
Prof. Mario Vargas Llosa Writer United Kingdom
Dr. Daniel Vasella Chairman & CEO, Novartis International AG Switzerland
Hon. Mr. George Vassiliou Former President of Cyprus Cyprus
Hon. Mme. Simone Veil Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France and Former President of the European Parliament France
Dr. Mario Villaroel Lander Former President, Red Cross Venezuela
Dr. Jur. Ing. E.H. Heinrich von Pierer President & CEO, Siemens AG Germany
H.E. Dr. Abdurrahman Wahid Former President of Indonesia Indonesia
Mr. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan President, The Islamic Center India
Dr. Stephen L. Weber President, San Diego State University United States
Mr. John Whitehead Chairman, AEA Investors Inc. United States
Mr. Hans-Jurgen Wischnewski Former State and Federal Minister Germany
Mr. Mortimer B. Zuckerman Chairman, Boston Properties Inc. United States