Projects > Abraham Path > 2006: Progress and Path Ahead

Progress to Date

In the Spring of 2006, a delegation visited Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestine Territories, and Israel. The Initiative was presented to civil authorities, senior religious leaders, academics, journalists, activists, and NGOs. The delegation met directly with government ministers in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinian Territories. These meetings produced the framework for future meetings in each country. Consequently, the first “delegate journey”, sponsored by Harvard's Global Negotiation Program, is scheduled for this November. Twenty-five people from around the World, including Europe, the United States, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East will travel the route by bus. Consultative meetings have been arranged in Palestine (Bethlehem), Israel (Jerusalem), Syria (Aleppo and Damascus), Jordan (Amman) and Turkey (Sanliurfa). At the consultative meetings the delegates will meet with leaders of religious organizations, members of prominent NGOs, governmental representatives, professors, priests, rabbis and imams. In addition, site visits are planned to mosques and monasteries, shrines, caves, and mounts. These meetings will be focused on building relationships, formalizing the host committees, and gathering advice for how best to facilitate the development of the Path in each country.   

Infrastructure development has continued this year. An executive leadership team was formalized with a Managing Director (Josh Weiss) and a Director for Strategic Partnerships and Advancement” (Martha Gilliland). The team will be complete when an international coordinator is identified. A “whitepaper” about the Abraham Path Initiative is nearly complete; the website has been translated into four languages and upgraded; a DVD about the Initiative is complete; an individual is “on the ground” mapping and writing a guidebook; and the head of a tour agency is coordinating logistics for the November journey.   

The Path Ahead

We believe that the recent violent conflict in the Middle East has simply reinforced the understanding and support for an initiative which is intended to unfold outside the political context. Our conversations suggest that most individuals want to be able to support and participate in an initiative that has the possibility of producing a different result than the past continuing cycles of violence. The symbolism and reality of the Abraham Path resonates as that Initiative. The leadership team will hold a retreat for three days at the end of August in order to solidify our messaging for a communication strategy, plan for the November journey, develop priorities for 2007 and 2008, and formalize a steering committee. By the end of the year, we will have completed our “due diligence”, have a leadership team in place, have hundreds of supportive relationships in the Middle East, and have a framework for a detailed map of the route. In short, we will be into the implementation phase.