"Labelling Israeli settlement products would be a small step but a big political signal." Mary Robinson
Gro Harlem Brundtland and Mary Robinson talk to RTÉ Radio One's Richard Crowley about The Elders' call for Europe to play a stronger role in the Middle East peace process.
"The peace process established in Oslo has not just stalled; it is going backwards fast."
A vote for the Palestinian statehood resolution at the UN General Assembly will help safeguard the two-state solution, write Gro Harlem Brundtland and Jimmy Carter in the International Herald Tribune.
“We are joining those voices sounding a warning call: the two-state solution is at risk of collapse.”
Returning from a recent Elders visit to the Middle East, Gro Harlem Brundtland argues that the upcoming Palestinian bid for non-member observer state status at the UN General Assembly is an opportunity to break the current stalemate – and an important step towards securing peace for the region.
In October 2012 Gro Harlem Brundtland, Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson travelled to Israel and the West Bank to draw attention to the developments threatening the two-state solution. After meeting civil society, Israeli and Palestinian political leaders, and humanitarian and human rights experts, the Elders concluded their visit by warning that the situation is heading towards a one-state outcome – which would be catastrophic for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Press conference in Jerusalem on Monday 22 October Press conference in Cairo on Tuesday 23 October
Gro Harlem Brundtland, Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson will visit Israel, the West Bank and Egypt. While in the Middle East they aim to draw attention to the imperilled two-state solution and lend their support to the Egyptian democratic transition.
Twenty Palestinian students leave Gaza for the first time to meet Desmond Tutu, Graça Machel and Mary Robinson in South Africa, and Gro Brundtland in Norway.
"Non-violence is the only way of cleansing society of the tiredness, brutalisation and despondency it has been forced into." Ela Bhatt
During their first visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory in August 2009, the Elders visit peaceful protestors in the West Bank village of Bil'in, a Palestinian family living on the pavement after being evicted from their Jerusalem home, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
On the second day of their visit to the Middle East in August 2009, The Elders meet Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad. They also cross into the West Bank, where they meet women from the Qalandia refugee camp and listen to the concerns of young Palestinians.
Following the Elders' visit to Yad Vashem, Gro Brundtland blogs about using the memory of the past as a warning of the need to build societies based on human rights and respect.