A Player and not just a Payer? The Work of German Political Foundations abroad with a special focus on Israel and the Palestinian Territories

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A Player and not just a Payer? The Work of German Political Foundations abroad with a special focus on Israel and the Palestinian Territories

Veranstalter
Anna Abelmann, Ruhr University Bochum Katharina Konarek, Haifa University
Veranstaltungsort
Ruhr University Bochum, Technologiezentrum
Ort
Bochum
Land
Deutschland
Vom - Bis
01.06.2016 - 03.06.2016
Deadline
30.05.2016
Website
http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/political-foundations
Von
Anna Abelmann

What role do the German political foundations play in the international arena? What impact do they have on the German foreign policy? Are they think tanks, independent political actors or an instrument of the foreign office? How do they influence the political landscape in the countries, they are working in? How did and do they influence the development of German-Israeli rela-tions?

These questions should be discussed during the conference. A special focus should be on the case study of German political foundations in Israel and Palestine as a sample for the worldwide work of the foundations and with regard to the unique character of the German-Israeli relations and its development during the last 60 years. Today, all six German foundations have been ac-tive in the region for many years. The development of the bilateral relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Israel and the German approach towards the Palestinian questions as well as the large amount of projects in a geographically small area offers a great opportunity to analyze the work of the foundations and their influence. Furthermore, the case of Israel and the Palestinian Territories are a blue print of the problems of strengthening democracy in the specif-ic political and social framework of the Middle East. Politics in Israel and Palestine have nation-wide relevance and are also one of the main topics in German foreign policy. That is why these cases are (1) ideal to show the foundations capacity to act as a pioneer in complicated or non-existing bilateral relations between two states and (2) ideal for monitoring the influence of Ger-man political foundations on German foreign policy and on the political landscape itself.

Registration: The conference will be conducted in English and is open to the public. To register for the conference, please send a short email to a_abelmann[a]yahoo.com.

Programm

Wednesday, June 1, 2016:

13:00-13:30 Welcome & Opening
- Anna ABELMANN, Ruhr University Bochum
- Katharina KONAREK, Haifa University

13:30-15:30 Panel I: The Work of German Political Foundations and other NGOs from a Historical Perspective
Chair: Prof. Stephan STETTER, Bundeswehr University Munich
- Dr. Jenny HESTERMANN, Fritz-Bauer-Institute Frankfurt
- Ido PORAT, Hebrew University Jerusalem
- Anna ABELMANN, Ruhr University Bochum

15:30-16:00 Coffee Break

16:00-18:00 Panel II: German Political Foundations and Think Tanks in Foreign Policy Analysis
Chair: Prof. Dani KRANZ, University of Wuppertal
- Walter KLITZ, Director Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation Jerusalem
- Katharina KONAREK, Haifa University
- Dr. Ernst KERBUSCH, Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation Bonn

Thursday, June 2, 2016:

09:00-11:00 Panel III: Work in Peace and Conflict Situations: German Political Foundations between Ramallah and Tel Aviv
Chair: Prof. Michael WALA, Ruhr University Bochum
- Marc FRINGS, Director Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation, Ramallah
- Idit SELTENREICH, Israel Embassy Berlin (ret.)
- Prof. Dani KRANZ, University of Wuppertal

11:00-11:30 Coffee Break

11:30-13:00 Discussion Round: Squarring the Circle? The Work of German Political Foundations abroad between Independence and Dependency
Moderation: Christopher DINKELACKER & Tobias PIETSCH

13:00-14:00 Lunch

14:00-16:00 Panel IV: At Home and Abroad: German Political Foundations and the legal Aspects
Chair: Anna ABELMANN, Ruhr University Bochum
- Kerstin MÜLLER, Director Heinrich-Böll-Foundation Tel Aviv (tbc)
- Prof. Eli SALZBERGER, Haifa University
- Dr. Heike MERTENS, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf

16:00-16:30 Coffee Break

16:30-17:30 Keynote Speech: Prof. Fania OZ-SALZBERGER, Haifa University

19:00 Conference Dinner (Participants only)

Friday, June 3, 2016

09:00-11:00 Panel V: Looking back, looking ahead: German Political Founda-tions in a Globalized World
Chair: Katharina KONAREK, Haifa University
- Prof. Shlomo SHPIRO, Bar Ilan University
- Amaal ABU GOSH, International Peace & Cooperation Center Jerusalem
- Jörg SCHULTZ, Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation Berlin

11:00-11:30 Coffee Break

11:30-12:00 Closing Remarks and Feedback
- Anna ABELMANN, Ruhr University Bochum
- Katharina KONAREK, Haifa University

End of Conference

Kontakt

Anna Abelmann

Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Historisches Institut,
Geschichte Nordamerikas, Universitätsstr. 150 / GA4

a_abelmann@yahoo.com

http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/political-foundations