MedBridge is a European organization whose goal is to promote dialogue and mutual understanding between

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Its aim is to enable Europeans willing to be informed on the Middle East or to support Israeli-Arab peace efforts, to access the most direct, comprehensive and objective information possible on the political situation in the region.

History

Medbridge was created in 2003. It has been registered as a French non-profit organization since 2004. The organization was created by European leaders from different political backgrounds, such as

Willy De Clercq Willy Clarisse Elvire Hector, Viscount De Clercq (8 July 1927 – 28 October 2011) was a Belgian liberal politician. De Clercq was born in Ghent, son of Frans de Clercq.Etat présent de la noblesse belge 2015, p. 62 After his law and notariat ...

Marco Pannella Marco Pannella (born Giacinto Pannella; 2 May 1930 – 19 May 2016) was an Italian politician, journalist and activist. He was well known in his country for his nonviolence and civil rights' campaigns, like the 1974 Italian divorce referendum, ...

Ana Palacio Ana Isabel de Palacio y del Valle Lersundi (born 22 July 1948) in Madrid, daughter of Luis María de Palacio y de Palacio, 4th Marqués de Matonte, and wife Luisa Mariana del Valle Lersundi y del Valle, was Spain's minister for foreign affairs ...

François Léotard François Gérard Marie Léotard (; 26 March 1942 – 25 April 2023) was a French politician. Singer and actor Philippe Léotard was his brother. A member of the Republican Party, the liberal-conservative component of the Union for French ...

and François Zimeray. According to Israeli diplomat

Yigal Palmor Yigal Palmor () is the Head of the International Relations Unit and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chairman at the Jewish Agency for Israel, where he had previously served for four years as Director of Public Affairs and Communications. He was the l ...

, the organization gathered in October 2003, and was the largest European parliamentary delegation that has ever visited the Middle East. 160 parliamentarians from 28 countries took part in the visit. In January 2008, the delegation accompanied another large delegation of 60 parliamentarians from 21 European countries.

King Abdullah II Abdullah II (Abdullah bin Hussein; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of the Hashemites, who have been the reigning royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is traditionally reg ...

was consulted by a delegation of Medbridge during this visit, and actively lobbied for the creation of a state of Palestine. In February 2007, after French president

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

told the press that if

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

held a few nuclear weapons, it wouldn't be a big deal, a delegation of French politicians was sent by Mebridge to Israel and Palestine to get a hands-on approach of the problem instead of viewing the conflict through the lens of the French press. In June 2007, MedBridge organized a visit of French writers to the Middle East in cooperation with ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' Magazine.

Activities

Since its creation in 2003, the organization has initiated a dozen international events. These include conferences, exhibitions, international meetings and visits of European parliamentarians and civil society representatives to the Middle East.

Visits to the Middle East

Medbridge has organized visits to the Middle East for public leaders and decision-makers. About 500 parliamentarians, from 30 European countries, took part in these visits. In addition to political visits, MedBridge has also initiated several visits for civil society representatives and opinion leaders.

Events

Medbridge has organized several conferences. In the past important leaders such as

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

Édith Cresson Édith Jeanne Thérèse Cresson (; Campion; born 27 January 1934) is a French politician of the Socialist Party. She served as Prime Minister of France from 1991 to 1992, the first woman to do so and only woman until Élisabeth Borne's appoint ...

Claude Goasguen Claude Goasguen (12 March 1945 – 28 May 2020) was a French politician who served as a member of the National Assembly for Paris from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1997 until his death in 2020. A member of The Republicans, he also briefly was Min ...

Antoine Sfeir Antoine Sfeir, (November 25, 1948, Beirut,Lebanon - October 1, 2018, Paris, France), was a journalist and political scientist and author of numerous works on subjects related to the Middle East and the Muslim world. Founder of '' Les Cahiers de ...

, or

Alexandre Adler Alexandre Adler (23 September 1950 – 18 July 2023) was a French historian, journalist and expert of contemporary geopolitics, the former USSR, and the Middle East. He was a Knight of the Legion of Honour (2002). A Maoist in his youth and then ...

took part in these. MedBridge has also organized exhibitions, among others at the

French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

. In 2005, MedBridge, in cooperation with the organization Hommes de Paroles, organized the first World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, gathering 100 imams and rabbis from all over the world under the patronage of

Albert II of Belgium Albert II (born 6 June 1934) is a member of the Belgian royal family who reigned as King of the Belgians from 9 August 1993 until his abdication on 21 July 2013. Albert II is the son of King Leopold III and the last living child of Queen As ...

and

Mohammed VI of Morocco Mohammed VI (; born 21 August 1963) is King of Morocco. A member of the Alawi dynasty, he acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II. Upon ascending to the throne, Mohammed initially introduced severa ...

People involved

Among the people who have received the delegations of MedBridge are: Among the people who have taken part in the delegations are:

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.medbridge.org/ Foreign policy Organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process Peace organizations based in France Israeli–Palestinian peace process Politics of Europe Organizations established in 2003 2003 establishments in Belgium 2004 establishments in France