The Forum for Discussion of Israel and Palestine (FODIP) is a registered UK charity.

Its remit is to host and facilitate sensitively inter faith dialogue on the Israeli Palestinian conflict, within and between Jews, Christians, Muslims and others in the UK, and to promote co-operation through dialogue.


FODIP works through:

• Hosting events for speakers and organisations from the region.
• Academic working groups.
• Using established networks and providing a consultancy on related issues.
• Issuing regular bulletins and up-dates.
• Advice and Information.
• Learn how to facilitate conversations locally through our ‘Hear to Hear’ method.
• FODIP acts as a link and a resource for local and national organisations and for religious institutions.

Contact FODIP

'Questions Without Borders' Study Tours.

Nowhere on earth evokes such a sense of purpose and passion as the Land we call Holy. Jews, Christians and Muslims have prayed for and fought over this piece of land for centuries. It is often hard to know how best to respond to the terrible situation there; different approaches and perspectives make for divisions and conflicts within British society. However, the Holy Place plays a large part in our prayers, liturgies, traditions and backgrounds.

FODIP Study Tours are based on the idea that we may know less than we think, and that a true engagement with the land and the people throws up more questions than answers.

The tour welcomes Jews, Christians and Muslims, and anyone who wants to see the realities, hear the voices and stories of those living there and learn more of their endeavours, hopes and fears for the future.

'Tough Options' Project
The Tough Options project facilitates dialogue on this difficult topic for local inter faith groups.
This is the core of our work, and is based on the premise that dialogue is emphatically not a soft option.

The Israeli/Palestinian situation is arguably the most sensitive area for those involved in inter faith or cross communal dialogue. It can be a daunting prospect, even where people feel the need to open up such a conversation.

FODIP is experienced in helping groups and individuals do just that. Our researched and developed 'Hear to Hear' methodology helps individuals explore how we each feel about the Holy Land, our differing fears and our shared hopes. We offer training to groups and individuals on ways to facilitate dialogue or to engage at any level with this difficult issue.

"Reassuring and positive!"
"Constructive and reflective activities made emotions easier to contain."
"Nice focus on the future and concrete actions to be taken."
"A distinctive contribution to dialogue on Israel-Palestine."
Download our Ten Principles of Dialogue

Neighbours For Peace
The 'Neighbours for Peace' project helps to resource local groups to support initiatives in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

This project encourages members of different religious communities to come together for practical support of positive initiatives run by Israelis and Palestinians. At the same time, they learn about each other and negotiate areas of difficulty together.
Local groups and individuals already working across communal boundaries are encouraged to form consortia to support Israeli/Palestinian initiatives. Chosen initiatives must together benefit Jews, Muslims and Christians in the region. Religious congregations often support such programmes, but along strict faith interest lines.

The support is locally based and run, and involves an inter religious/cross-communal element, drawing on links and relationships already built up.

Neighbours for Peace (Youth)
Local young leaders together provide education and information locally by means of presentations, film, exhibitions or speakers from the region. This might include a photographic display in a public building or assembly talks to schools, as well as to their own communities and congregations. Communication with the organisations in Israel and Palestine is encouraged.

The project also presents opportunities for meeting up with young people in other localities, working along the same lines.

Why is this needed?
There is already a substantial amount of debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Britain.
However, most conversations in the UK on this topic have become polarised.

Jews, Christians and Muslims are often passionately concerned about the region, but emotive exchanges can be negative and difficult. Within the Church, polarisation has resulted in disunity and confrontation.

FODIP is experienced in helping people from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives to seek out common aims, hear difficult stories and understand more deeply the fears and concerns of others.

Goals:

• To enable Jews, Christians, Muslims - and those of other faiths and none - to talk positively and sensitively together about Israel/Palestine
• To create and maintain safe spaces for difficult conversations
• To promote mutual trust as the foundation for building good relations
• To provide opportunities to share and to listen to different perspectives
• To welcome challenging discourse

Values:
To promote understanding, empathy and respect between individuals and communities, valuing our common humanity.

Parameters:

• Independent of any one faith or religious body
• Embedded in the UK conversation
• No one shared political position on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict
• Transparency in meeting our goals and values, especially in relation to funding

PATRONS
Lord Harries of Pentregarth, former Bishop of Oxford, has written extensively on the ‘Abrahamic faiths’ as well as on Christian theology dealing with matters including ethics, secularism and war and peace. Former Dean of Kings College, London, Professor Harries was Chair of the Council of Christians and Jews and founded the Oxford Jewish Christian Muslim dialogue group.

Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield is Head of the Movement for Reform Judaism and a President of the Council of Christians and Jews. A pioneer of serious inter faith dialogue in Britain, he has spoken and written extensively on the process and his collaborative publications include Dialogue with a Difference (1992) and He Kissed Him and They Wept: Towards a Theology of Partnership (2001). He is currently working on a publication jointly edited with Alan Race and Ataullah Siddiqui.

Shaykh Dr Abdal Hakim Murad (Tim Winter) is Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, and is acknowledged as a leading Islamic scholar in Britain. His inter faith work includes joint editorship of Abraham’s Children (2006) with Lord Harries and Rabbi Norman Solomon.

Dr Usama Hasan is an imam and scientist, holding senior lecturing posts at both the University of Middlesex and the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Former Director of the City Circle, a forum for young Muslim professionals in London, Dr Hasan is also a prime mover in United London Stands, bringing faith communities together in the face of divisive issues and events both at home and abroad.

TRUSTEES
Chair: Steven Longden
Revd Bob Day, Pasha Shah, Leah Burman, Rabbi Warren Elf and Revd Jonathan Dean.

DIRECTOR
Jane Clements is an Anglican Christian and the Founder of (FODIP). Prior to that, she was Director of Programmes at the Council of Christians and Jews. She has a first degree in theology (with a specialism in Islam), an MA in Hebrew and Jewish Studies and a PhD in Holocaust Education, all from the University of London. With a background and training in Religious Education, Jane has many years of experience in inter faith relations and reconciliation work. Between 2004 and 2008, she also worked intensively with Israeli and Palestinian students from the Olive Tree programme at City University. She has been taking study groups to Israel and the West Bank for many years. Jane serves on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Anglican Commission to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and is a Trustee of the UK’s Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.