The Department of Social Sciences at the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the Arab American University, as a part of the Ph.D. program in Conflict Resolution, hosted the South African Ambassador to the State of Palestine, Mr. Sean Beinfeldt.
The ambassador presented the experience of South Africa in its quest for self-determination, and the most important stations it went through to reach reconciliation and realization of rights, stressing the role of youth and women in the pursuit of freedom and the restoration of lifted political, social and economic rights.
Mr. Beinfeldt also touched upon the similarities between his country's liberation experience and the Palestinian case. He presented to Ph.D. students in Conflict Resolution the stages of negotiation that South Africa went through during Nelson Mandela’s presence and the transitional justice procedures that contributed greatly to political and social stability and political change through a series of laws and institutions. The ambassador has indicated the most important strategies and skills that negotiators must have to succeed in the negotiation process.
At the end of the symposium, the students asked questions about ways to benefit from the South African experience, and mechanisms to address the roots of the conflict. Hosting the South African ambassador comes as part of the Arab American University's efforts to combine theoretical and practical experiences of the students of the Social Sciences Department by reviewing international experiences in conflict resolution and national reconciliation.
