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Visit of the Prime Minister of Northrhine-Westfalia, Dr. Jürgen Rüttgers, to Ramallah

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The Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Ramallah took part in the implementation of the visit of the prime minister of Northrhine-Westfalia, Dr. Jürgen Rüttgers, to Ramallah. His arrival was expected with great interest and came along with high expectations.

The president of the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed Dr. Rüttgers in his premises to a one-hour conversation and expressed his hope for further international support. Dr. Rüttgers and Mahmoud Abbas correspondingly underlined the right of Israel to exist and emphasized their common objection of terrorism as a means of politics. Mahmoud Abbas dissociated from the positions of the radical Hamas, but stressed the importance of Germany as mediator and partner in the region. Prime Minister Dr. Rüttgers emphasized the right of the Palestinians to an own state and pointed out the importance of a perspective for the Palestinians to reach peace in the Middle East.

At a common lunch on the invitation of the Konrad Adendauer Foundation in Ramallah the possibility of discussion with representatives of the civil society was used by Dr. Rüttgers and his delegation. Motivated discussions took place with academics, representatives of Palestinian non-governmental organizations, economists and persons engaged in the cultural sector. Thomas Birringer, Resident Representative of the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, underlined the importance of a multifaceted Palestinian civil society for a viable, democratic state. The existing contacts to Northrhine-Westfalia, especially in the economic sector, are of major importance in that matter and are to be further expanded, Bassem Khoury, the President of the Palestinian Federation of Industries (PFI), added.

In a discussion arranged by KAF, with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council from the new party ”Third Way” and representative of important non-governmental organizations, the Prime Minister spoke about the situation of the Palestinians and about the position of Christians in the Palestinian Autonomous Territories as well as about possible future scenarios regarding the Middle East Conflict.

In Arabic East-Jerusalem, the Prime Minister visited the Schmidt-School, whose governing body is the German Association of the Holy Land. This secondary school, which was founded in 1886, provides about 500 Christian and Muslim girls of East-Jerusalem and the surrounding towns with a qualified education leading up to final secondary-school examinations. In conversation with the Director of the Schmidt-school, Nikolaus Kircher and some teachers of the school, the questions focused on the issues on how girls of different religious affiliations successfully learn together.

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Ramallah

Contact

Thomas Birringer

Thomas Birringer

Deputy Head of Division Analysis and Consulting

thomas.birringer@kas.de +49 30 26996-3541 +49 30 26996-3563
Besuch des Ministerpräsidenten von Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dr

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