Description: Participants will explore their own conceptions of peace and compare them to the differing views of Just Vision's Visionaries.  These quotes also work well with the Hopes and Fears Quotes.

Goal: Explore what differences in conceptions of peace mean about an individual's life, the nature of the conflicts in their lives, and what these differences might mean for an equitable resolution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Supplies: Just Vision’s quotes on Conceptions of Peace, tape, paper, markers, for larger groups, copies of discussion topics for each pair of participants

Estimated Time: 60-90 minutes

Suggested Group Size: 10-15

PDF: Download Just Vision's set of printable Conceptions of Peace quotes:

Procedure:

1. Print out the attached PDF and post on walls around the room.
2. Ask participants to take 5 minutes to write their own 1-2 sentence definition of peace (before looking at the Visionaries' quotes on the walls) on a piece of paper using the markers provided.
3. Have participants tape their definitions to the wall.
4. Ask participants to spend 20 minutes reading all the quotes on the wall.
5. For a larger group with limited time, ask participants to sit in pairs and go over the printed discussion questions. Time permitting, you may regroup at the end for the final question. 
6. Smaller groups should return to their seats and sit in a circle.  Pose the following questions:

Discussion Questions:

• What stood out for you in the quotes you read?  Why?
• What are some of the main differences in definitions of peace that you read (both between Israelis and Palestinians, and between the participants' and the Visionaries')?
• What do you think these different definitions might say about the people who said/wrote them?
• To what extent are the Palestinians' and Israelis' quotes at odds with each other? To what extent are they similar?
• Can you envision a peace in which everyone's definition is honored?