Substance abuse policy and peace in the Middle East: a Palestinian and Israeli partnership

This paper describes the working exchange between Israelis, Palestinians an d international experts who engaged in a process to promote communications, cooperation and coordination of efforts directed toward peace as well as t he prevention and treatment of drug abuse in the region. From 1997 to 1999, a program of training workshops and courses, drug prevention and treatment skills development and collaborative research was conducted on the basis o f mutual respect and cooperation among Palestinians and Israelis. By tappin g into the issue of substance abuse and by focusing on its professional and academic dimensions, this initiative engaged representative delegations of the police force, academia, treatment centers and various government minis tries. While events of this period underscored the dependence of "bottom-up " peace initiatives on the prevailing political situation, the experience r evealed the vital role of NGO frameworks in providing a safety net for prom oting and sustaining relations as well as addressing an issue of common con cern. This case study shows that addiction professionals, both clinicians a nd researchers, can be instrumental in conflict resolution as well as the p revention and treatment of drug abuse.