Shimon Peres’ memory at the Reichman University

On 28^th November 2024, at a special event honoring Shimon Peres at the Reichman University, Dr. David Fernandez Puyana from UPEACE, signed an MoU with Mr. Chemi Peres, Chairman of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation and son of the late Shimon Peres, in Herzliya, Israel. This partnership with the Peres Center, founded by the former Israeli President, aims to create programs that promote lasting peace.

The event was successfully complemented by a roundtable about the Shimon Peres’ legacy, organized by Prof. Daphne Richemond-Barak, in conjunction with Ms. Efrat Duvdevani, Director General of the Peres Center and Mr. Nadav Tamir, Senior Advisor for Governmental and International Affairs.

The event was opened by the keynote speeches of Prof. Boaz Ganor, President of the Reichman University and Mr. Chemi Peres, Chairman of the Peres Center. Dr. Sarah Feuer and Dr. Michael Barak, professors on diplomacy and counterterrorism at the Reichman University also participated in the roundtable alongside Mr. Nadav Tamir.

Co-edited by Prof. Daphne Richemond-Barak and Dr. David Fernandez Puyana, they also presented the book “The Shimon Peres Legacy of peace through Fourteen historical speeches”, which was launched on 1^st June 2023 in UN Geneva.

Full statement delivered by Dr. David Fernandez Puyana at the roundtable:

I would like to begin by expressing our gratitude for the invitation extended to UPEACE for its participation in this special event honoring the legacy of Shimon Peres, organized by the Reichman University, UPEACE and the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation.

Although I did not have the privilege to know personally Shimon Peres, his teachings and work have inspired me since long time ago.

I remember when I was in my twenties I read and dream with the book of Peres “My fight for Peace”; I remember when I was in my thirties telling my daddy that I wanted to learn and search more about the legacy about Peres; I remember when I was in my forties how my Jewish friends invited me to read his biography and I remember today when I’m in my fifty that all my dreams of childhood and adolescence flourished with energy.

I want to confess that when I visited the Shimon Peres’ Office in Tel Aviv-Yafo in April 2022, accompanied by Ambassador Aviva Schechter and Mr. Nadav Tamir, I deeply felt that the memory of Peres and his energy was still very palpable. And YES, I cried of emotion, I cried for the privilege, I cried for that opportunity.  My old dream to meet this icon of peace came true many years later.

Peres teach the new generations that for complex problems, we need solutions based on empathy, partnerships, creativity and courage. He also underlined that peace needs determination, dedication and conviction. His leitmotiv always resounds in my brain: Let’s dream in BIG! Let’s dream on PEACE!

And this is what I’m doing today, dreaming in the dream of Peres, because Peres was not only a dreamer but also a man of action, a man who strongly believed in a new Middle East.

Peres was not only a man of his time, but he was also a visionary, which rich legacy remains in the history of the Jewish people. Alongside the father of the nation David Ben-Gurion, Shimon Peres contributed with determination to the creation of the State of Israel on 29 November 1947.

After the recognition of the State of Israel by the United Nations, a devastating legacy of endless wars in the Middle East costed thousands of lives and countless resources, such as Israel’s War of Independence (1948–49), Suez Crisis (1956), Six-Day War (1967), Yom Kippur War (1973), Lebanon War (1982), First Intifada (1987-1993), Second Intifada (2000-2005), Lebanon War (2006), Gaza War (2008-09) and the current conflict in Gaza or Lebanon.

Despite this global tragedy in terms of human cost, Shimon Peres was not only a witness of this nightmare, but also a protagonist of the most relevant moments in the history of Israel, such as the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty (1979) signed by the Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat or the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty (1994) signed by Isaac Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat. Under the patronage of different US Presidencies, all these statesmen displayed tireless efforts in achieving a peaceful solution of the conflict and thanks for their achievements, they were awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize.

It is our common responsibility as a generation to keep alive the commitment, desire, hope and the dream of peace of Shimon Peres, who was also victim of conflicts and hate.  As a person who knew perfectly the consequences of conflicts, Peres always defend that all together we need to be united against the tyranny of war.

We cannot repeat the history!  We cannot commit the same mistakes! we cannot allow the despair dominates our actions!

Peace is the only way! Hope is our future! Dialogue is the blueprint! And force is not the only solution!

This is essential message of Peres for the next generations.

How many times, we, as a humankind, faced the same choice as Shimon Peres?

Either reaffirming our commitment to preventive diplomacy, the peaceful settlement of disputes and the importance of dialogue between States or continuing in a spiral of violence and destruction which will have only one possible destiny, the annihilation of our common earth.

He always believed that the wisdom, trust and good faith will also prevail over the violence and destruction.

Shimon Peres told us that there can be no peace without justice, no peace without memory, no peace without bringing welfare and security to our children, no peace without humanizing all victims regardless of the origin or nationality, no peace without YOU, not peace without US.

The search for peace is the priority task to build a stable and harmonious global system, and to face the security of Israel. The respect of the principles of humanity, which is the promised commitment agreed by all in 1947, is the fundamental basis for achieving a lasting peace in the Middle East.

Preserving the values of multilateralism and international cooperation, which underpin the Pact of the Future, is fundamental to promote and support the three pillars of the UN – peace and security, development and human rights.  In this sense, the future cooperation between Israel and the Arab countries will stress the importance of the use of multilateral decision-making and diplomacy in achieving peaceful resolutions.

Peres told us that all actions should be focused in supporting international efforts to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East in which Palestinians and Israelis can live side by side in peace, security and mutual recognition. Until that long-awaited day arrives, we need to learn how to promote among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence among the different peoples of the Middle East.

In this noble endeavour, please count on the experience, expertise and knowledge of the University for Peace, which is a global institution dedicated to education on peace.  The UNGA recently adopted new resolution on the “University for Peace” promoted by Costa Rica with the co-sponsorship of more than 130 States, by which the General Assembly requested UPEACE to develop innovative concepts and approaches to security through education, training and research in order to respond effectively to emerging threats to peace.

The regional context should the opportunity to implement again the Shimon Peres’ vision about the Middle East that is based on cooperation rather the animosity.

Let’s dream on peace! Let’s dream in one common humanity! Let’s dream in a better world without wars and conflicts! Let’s dream in the dream of Shimon Peres!