UWCM International Peace Conference - IPC 3.81

When Mohannad Mofid Alshalalda left his home in Palestine to attend an international school called United World College Maastricht, he had no plans to talk to Israelis, much less make friends with them. But when he met the school’s Israelis in person, a strange thing happened: he found that he could no longer hate them. It was one thing to hate the idea of an Israeli, and quite another to hate an Israeli when they were standing right in front of him. Over time, he and Ido David (Israel) began to talk about their differences in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While they could not reach a consensus on everything, they could reach a consensus on a surprising number of issues. Thus, with this inspiration in mind, they decided to plan a peace conference together.
With the addition of Sherab Dorji (Bhutan) and Jennifer Perry (USA) to the organizing team, the preliminary plans for the conference were drafted. It was decided that the conference would take place over three days and would be open to youth from across the world, although those nearest to their location in Maastricht, the Netherlands would be most likely to attend. The first day would include speakers on both the topics of peace and of conflict resolution, complemented by cultural performances. The second day would consist of workshops about different conflicts from around the world, led by people from opposing sides within those conflicts. The aims of these workshops would be to both raise awareness and to discuss possible resolutions. The final day would focus on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, with a speaker from each side beginning the day and a conference-wide discussion of possible resolutions to conclude it. More on the specific goals of the conference can be found in the “Our Vision” section.
The conference was founded on dreams, but hard work will build it into a reality. As youth, we know that it is our duty to shape the future. We would like to shape the future with one simple concept:

"Peace can be a reality. "

World peace is possible. Yes, it will take enormous hard work and perseverance. It will take cooperation, flexibility, and understanding. But at the end of the road, it truly can become a reality.