Foundation for Middle East Peace

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The Foundation for Middle East Peace or FMEP is an American nonprofit organization that promotes peace between Israel and Palestine, via two states, that meets the fundamental needs of both peoples. Foundation for Middle East Peace was created in 1979 by Merle Thorpe, Jr., a Washington-based lawyer and philanthropist.[1] Thorpe, as one of the earliest Americans to recognize that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict, became deeply involved in searching for a solution. He created FMEP to promote a solution that would bring peace for Israelis and justice for Palestinians.

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[edit] Activities and publications

The Foundation advances this goal through education and advocacy, publication of books and pamphlets about the conflict, a speakers’ program to introduce Israeli, Palestinian, and other experts to U.S. audiences, public speaking by officers of the Foundation, and a small grant program to support groups that contribute to peace between Israel and Palestine.

In 1992, in view of the growing threat of Israeli settlements to peace, the Foundation introduced the bimonthly "Report on Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories", edited by Geoffrey Aronson. The Report contains detailed, authoritative analysis, data and maps on settlements and related issues.[2]

Publication of the Foundation include:

  • The West Bank: Hostage of History (1980), by William Claiborne and Edward Cody, reprinted from the "Washington Post" with an introduction by former Senator Adlai Stevenson III.
  • Prescription for Conflict (1984), Merle Thorpe’s analysis of Israel’s settlement policies.
  • Error and Betrayal in Lebanon (1984), by former Undersecretary of State George Ball.
  • Facing the PLO Question (1985), by Philip Klutznick, former president of B’nai B’rith International and the World Jewish Congress, and Meir Merhav, the economics editor of the "Jerusalem Post".
  • A Policy for the Moment of Truth (1988), by Major General (Ret.) Yehoshafat Harkabi, the former director of Israeli military intelligence, advocating negotiations between Israel and the PLO for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
  • No Trumpets, No Drums: A Two-State Settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1991 with Farrar, Straus & Giroux), by Israeli scholar Mark Heller and Palestinian scholar Sari Nusseibeh, also published in French, Italian, Hebrew, and Japanese.
  • The Israeli-Syrian Peace Talks, 1991-1996 and Beyond (2000), by Helena Cobban.
  • The Path to Peace: Arab-Israeli Peace and the United States (1981), a report on a study mission to the Middle East with Harold H. Saunders, former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and Philip Klutznick, former secretary of commerce, to Egypt, Israel, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

The Foundation has also conducted major research studies: Palestinian Refugees, Arab Host Countries, and the Right of Return, under a contract with the European Union, and Evaluating the Prospects and Implications of Settlement Evacuation in the West Bank and Gaza, under a contract with the International Development Research Centre, a Canadian organization.

In January of 1994, the Foundation honored ten individuals for their remarkable contributions to peace:

[edit] Trustees, Officers, and Staff

FMEP Officers are[3]:

  • Ambassador Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is a retired Foreign Service Officer and former U.S. Consul General to Jerusalem.
  • Geoffrey Aronson is the Director of Research and Publications and is the Editor of the Foundation's bimonthly "Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories". A journalist and historian who has published widely on international affairs and a former visiting fellow at Georgetown University, he is the author of Israel, Palestinians and the Intifada: Creating Facts on the West Bank and From Sideshow to Centerstage: U.S. Policy Towards Egypt.

FMEP Trustees are:

  • Calvin H. Cobb, Jr., Esq. (Chairman of the Board of Trustees).
  • Hon. Philip C. Wilcox, Jr.
  • Hon. Lucius D. Battle, former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East and South Asian Affairs, and former President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace and the Middle East Institute.
  • James Cromwell, Esq.
  • Stephen Hartwell
  • Richard S. T. Marsh, Esq.
  • Hon. Richard Murphy
  • Dr. William B. Quandt
  • Jean Newsom, former Executive Director of the Foundation for Middle East Peace and former Editor of the "Middle East Journal".
  • Landrum R. Bolling, former president of Earlham College, the Council on Foundations, the Lilly Endowment, and president of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem.
  • Nicholas A. Veliotes, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Jordan.
  • Peter Gubser, President, American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA).
  • Gail Pressberg, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Civil Society.

FMEP Staff are:

  • Evan Colton is the Research Assistant at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He holds a degree in History from Rice University.

[edit] Funding

The Foundation for Middle East Peace supports its publication, education, outreach, and grant programs with funds from an endowment from its founder, the late Merle Thorpe, Jr., and from donations. The Foundation is a non-profit charitable and educational organization qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, March 1994.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ History, FMEP.
  2. ^ Overview of the FMEP Settlement Report, FMEP.
  3. ^ Trustees, Officers, and Staff, FMEP.
  4. ^ Donate, FMEP.

[edit] External links