During a visit to the Palestinian Authority (PA) headquarter in Ramallah the journalists met with the head of the Presidents office, Rafiq Husseini. He gave a general forecast on the upcoming peace talks in Annapolis and expressed his carefully optimistic view. Furthermore, Husseini elaborated on his opinion that the major issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, e.g. the status of Jerusalem, the refugee, the border and the water issues have to be resolved in a peaceful way

Also Dr. Bernhard Sabella, sociologist and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), stressed the fact that a final resolution of the conflict cannot be achieved without dialogue and mutual understanding on both sides. On this account, an increasing number of talks between the Israelis and the Palestinian have to take place in order to support the recent efforts of the USA in the region. According to Sabella, a peaceful resolution of the conflict can only be achieved, if the major issues were being discussed and resolved.

The deputy head of the German Representative office in Ramallah, Gudrun Isphording, informed the participants about the current political situation in the Palestinian Territories as well as the German-Palestinian relations. The focus of the briefing was set on the preparation of the upcoming Annapolis peace conference and on the current developments of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Additionally, KAS-Ramallah organized a meeting between German and Palestinian journalists in the KAS office in Ramallah. A vivid description of journalists’ working conditions in the Palestinian Territories stirred the interest of the German journalist delegation. The difficult political conditions in the region substantially influence reporting and affect journalists’ activities and the freedom of press. Due to these grievances, the exchange of information between Israelis, Palestinian and the international community is being remarkably impeded.