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Committed to promoting historiCal reConCiliation

Many regions around the world, emerging from periods of conflict, political repression and abuses of human rights, continue to experience deep ethnic or religious divisions.

Unresolved historical legacies, myths and controversies are often at the root of conflicts. The Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) addresses these historical roots to provide a basis for a greater mutual understanding, tolerance and a stable and lasting peace- turning history into a tool for reconciliation.

That the work of the institute is of substantial value to societies in transition can not be doubted. Shared histories and their acceptance provide an essential tool to meaningful peace and reconciliation.Goldstone, 2011

oUR MAndAte is to promote reconciliation, tolerance and understanding in historically divided societies.

“The war of narratives is more violent than the war itself”

oUR AIM is to provide, together with all parties affected by a conflict, a new perspective on their history.

“History belongs to everyone”

oUR APPRoACH is to move from a dividing history to a shared history and empathy for the “Other’s” narrative as a primary tool for reconciliation.

• MEDIATING unresolved historical disputes by bringing together historians, scholars and artists from the particular country or region. They share knowledge, establish facts and create shared narratives on contentious historical events in a non-political, non-partisan and academic way.

• ENGAGING with the public, including educators, public opinion leaders, and media representatives, in promoting public awareness and discussion of the shared narratives.

• CONNECTING to regional scholars, educators, and public opinion leaders in order to provide capacity for countering the manipulation of historical myths and unresolved legacies.

Both authors are people whose families have had experience of being refugees. This heritage obligates us to do all we can to ensure the Jewish experience never repeats itself and that the Palestinian experience born in 1948 reaches resolution.

tHe HIstoRIAns MottI GolAnI And Adel MAnnA on tHeIR woRk foR tHe IHJR PUblICAtIon ‘two sIdes of tHe CoIn, IndePendenCe And nAkbA 1948’

The Kever Shmuel/Nabi Samu’il tomb: a shared sacred site for Jews and Muslims.

history as a new tool for reConCiliation

4 © 2013 Anne de Henning

IHJR has a track record of successful projects which have tackled historical grievances.

The IHJR works in conflict and post-conflict regions around the world. To date we have worked in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, the Western Balkans, Kenya, Armenia and Turkey.

The conflict in Israel and the Palestinian Territories has been going on for decades. The status of Jerusalem, the right of return of Palestinian refugees and the narratives of the War of Independence/Nakba remain highly contentious to this day.

the IHJR has successfully united historians, experts and relevant third parties to research and discuss the narratives regarding these contentious issues. during these collaborations, lasting friendships were developed between the researchers.

aChievements israel and the palestinian territories

On both occasions, I felt that I was contributing to something important. For the first time after 64 years of conflict, Israeli and Palestinian scholars came together and made an effort to cooperate on a shared project. We all made a serious effort to look into our past whilst remaining critical and open-minded. During the projects there were ups and downs, but the result is a significant achievement. We succeeded to share a narrative and I think this is an important step towards reconciliation.

PRofessoR MAHMoUd YAzbAk on HIs InvolveMent wItH tHe zooM In: PAlestInIAn RefUGees of 1948 And HAIfA befoRe & AfteR 1948 nARRAtIves of A MIxed CItY PRoJeCts.

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westeRn bAlkAns“facing the Past - searching for the future”

The wars that raged on the territory of the Western Balkans in the 1990s wrought deep rifts in and between countries and peoples. Two decades later its problematic legacy still haunts the region, as inter-ethnic divisions continue to run deep and polarizing historical narratives distort the public discourse, media, the memorial landscape and the educational system.

The authors involved discuss their work at several universities in the region and outside. They also had the opportunity to raise awareness of diplomats, government officials, parliamentarians and representatives of civil society organisations.

our book on Palestinian refugees of 1948 is in particular used in educational workshops in Israel, the Palestinian territories and the United states.

our publications on the Middle east received critical acclaim from The Independent, which quoted them among the best history books of 2012, as “one of the most important current efforts in history publishing”.

our impaCt

It is a major achievement to have brought together these conflicting and conflicted voices within the pages of a single book. Photographs of Palestinian refugees in 1948 elicit responses on the part of a new generation of Israelis and Palestinians that testify to the difficulties of coming to terms imaginatively and morally with an historical injustice that is still ongoing. For all who need to know that memory both informs and blinds and that without recognition of the sufferings of others there is no forgetting, this book is a must.

PRofessoR Ann RIGneY, UtReCHt UnIveRsItY, AboUt IHJR PUblICAtIon “zooM In: PAlestInIAn RefUGees of 1948, ReMeMbRAnCes”

 

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our impaCt

The IHJR was able to bring together seven renowned historians in the region to discuss political myths in the Former Yugoslavia and Successor states. Despite their various backgrounds, they were able to work together in a spirit of mutual trust and understanding. During their cooperation, these historians were able to come to a shared narrative, which resulted in the publication ‘A Myth Factory: Political Myths in the Former Yugoslavia and Successor States’.

kenYA “Internally displaced Persons’ narratives”

Ethnic violence and animosity erupted in Kenya after the elections in December 2007, causing 650,000 people to flee their homes. The vast majority of these people have still not been able to return. However, for several years, their fate had not been addressed.

Our publication was discussed in a conference of the European Commission on the Western Balkans. The IHJR not only involved established scholars in the project but also engaged students through an essay competition which challenged them to write on political myths that hinder the process of reconciliation.

In collaboration with Dr. Hassan Mwakimako, the IHJR initiated a shared survey entitled ‘Narratives as a political discourse of identity: interviews with internally displaced persons in Kenya resulting from the post-electoral violence of 2007-2008’.

The interviews revealed that the IDPs were not accepting the use of ethnic divides by politicians. The report ensured that IDPs had a voice of their own. Their individual stories came together in a shared narrative on displacement. This narrative exemplified the hardships they continued to face and successfully brought their plight to the attention of policy makers.

A twig was placed on homes belonging to the Kalenjin to identify houses that were to be spared the destruction, there were also leaders who identified for the warriors which houses to be burned. Those who participated in burning our houses are people well known to us.

exCeRPt fRoM An InteRvIew wItH An IdP lIvInG In A CAMP. IdP’s nARRAtIves As PolItICAl dIsCoURse of IdentItY, HAssAn MwAkIMAko, GeoRGe GonA.

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faCes behind the institute

Based in The Hague, the world capital of international justice, our work is at the crossroads of academia, think tanks, and advocacy. This is also reflected in the leadership of our institute. Our Executive Committee, led by Judge Richard Goldstone, provides the management and oversight of our activities. Our Advisory Board, led by Judge Hisashi Owada from the International Court of Justice, provides strategic advice and unites eminent historians, diplomats and judges. Our staff is a dynamic multi-disciplinary team.

Judge Richard GoldstoneChairman

Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

dr. timothy Ryback

Co-founder of the IHJR, and Deputy Director of the Académie Diplomatique Internationale in Paris. Former Vice President and resident Director of the Salzburg Global Seminar, Salzburg, Austria.

exeCUtIve CoMMIttee Prof. laurens-Jan brinkhorstVice-Chairman

Professor of International and European Law and Public Administration, University of Leiden. Former Vice-Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Minister of Economic Affairs and Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries, and EU Ambassador to Japan.

dr. Mark ellis

Executive Director of the International Bar Association and former Executive Director of the ABA Central and East European Law Initiative (CEELI). Served as Legal Advisor to the Independent International Commission on Kosovo.

bill shipsey sC

A barrister, former Chairperson of the Irish Section of Amnesty International, and a former member of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International. He is the founder of Art for Amnesty – Amnesty International´s global artist engagement programme.

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Judge Hisashi owada President

Judge and former President of the International Court of Justice. Former President of the Japan Institute of International Affairs. Former Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations.

Ms. Maha kaddoura

Founder and President of Kaddoura Foundation. Trustee of Tufts University since 1993, Member of the Board at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Member of the Dean’s Committee of the Kennedy School of Government.

HRH Prince zeid Ra’ad zeid Al Hussein

Permanent Representative of Jordan to the UN. Former Ambassador of Jordan to the United States and Mexico. Former President of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court.

AdvIsoRY boARd

Professor wim blockmans

Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at Leiden University. Former Rector of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS).

Associate Justice Anthony M. kennedy

Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court. Served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Professor Margaret MacMillan

Author of ‘The Uses and Abuses of History’. Warden of St. Antony’s College, Oxford University. Professor of History, formerly at University of Toronto and Former Provost of Trinity College.

edward Mortimer

Former Chief Programme Officer and Senior Vice President, Salzburg Global Seminar. Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Former Director of Communications, United Nations.

Ms. sonia Picado

Chair of the Board of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, Costa Rica. Served as Judge and Vice-Chair of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, as well as Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor.

Professor Jacques Rupnik

Director of Research at CERI (Centre for International Studies and Research) at Sciences-Po, Paris. Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

theo sommer

Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT. Moderator and Dean of the Bucerius Summer School on Global Governance in Hamburg, Germany. Co-founder of The Atlantic Times.

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stAff

Catherine Cissé-van den MuijsenberghExecutive Director

Served as a lawyer at the ICTY, ICTR and the ICC and as an expert for various intergovernmental organisations and think tanks.

Professor Mahmoud Yazbak during an IHJR meeting on Palestinian refugees, July 2010

faCes behind the institute

The Executive Director at a workshop of the Armenia-Turkey Cinema Platform, 2012.

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priorities

The IHJR has identified two key priorities for the coming years:

deePenInG And exPAndInG IHJR PRoJeCtsThe Institute will build on achievements to date and deepen existing projects in regions where it has worked.

develoPInG new PRoJeCtsThe IHJR will work on developing new projects in Africa, Asia and Europe.

A picture by Armenian photographer Zaven Khachikyan, part of the ‘Crossing Borders Between Turkey and Armenia’ photo exhibition.

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IHJR is facing an increasing demand for its services. Our current projects need to be deepened and expanded and our expertise in resolving historical disputes is increasingly requested. In order to adequately respond to this, we need your support.

In light of the limited scope of many international bodies, organisations such as the IHJR are playing an ever growing and complementary role to existing institutions such as the ICC and local courts in the process of transitional justice. Countries and organisations are increasingly requesting our assistance to help them address disputed historical legacies and the challenges arising in post conflict societies.

what we need

now MoRe tHAn eveR, tHe need to AddRess HIstoRICAl JUstICe tHRoUGH sHARed nARRAtIves Is CRUCIAl.

with your contribution, the institute will continue to make history part of the solution.

opportunities to Contribute

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why invest in ihJr? how Can you help?

• IHJR is unique in its approach, rehabilitating history and encouraging historians to help societies to reflect on the past to understand the present.

• The Institute helps to foster a positive social economic climate necessary for reconciliation.

• Our work is apolitical. We do not take sides, bringing empathy and understanding to the core of our work.

To fulfil our potential, we need financial and logistical support to be able to continue to mediate, engage and connect. We need funding, as well as new staff members to join our motivated team. We also welcome any contributions which broaden our network, so we can increase our opportunities to connect to other organisations and individuals.

How to ContRIbUte

donAte Project funding: for specific developing initiatives in the Middle East, Western Balkans, and other regions. Institutional funding: to increase organisation capacity.

sHARe YoUR netwoRk to increase our opportunities to connect.

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2012. Picture © Kees Nederlof

Institute for Historical Justice and ReconciliationLaan van Meerdervoort 70The Hague 2517ANNetherlands

Tel: +31 (0) 70 361 5530Fax: +31 (0) 70 361 7792Email: ccisse@ihjr.org

www.historyandreconciliation.org

If you would like more information about the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, or about opportunities to support us, please contact Catherine Cissé-van den Muijsenbergh at: