WHAT WE DO
Testimonials
ZIAD ABDEEN, PhD, MPH
Professor and Director, Al-Quds Nutrition and Health Research Institute, Jerusalem
Al-Quds University has an international reputation for health sciences education. Our base in East Jerusalem, gives us a unique vantage point to see the importance of Palestinians and Israelis learning together, and sharing knowledge and skills. STEP-GTP is a unique program in that it offers joint training to Palestinians and Israelis, fosters relationships, and builds needed health and science programs and businesses for the future. Al-Quds University is proud to be a founding partner of STEP-GTP. I urge that you support STEP-GTP.
RIVKA CARMI, MD
President, Ben Gurion University, the Negev
Ben Gurion University has many years experience bringing Israelis and Palestinians together to study. We are a founding partner in STEP-GTP because we believe that science and medical education can offer pairs of students/fellows opportunities for self-improvement while providing tools to address some of the scientific and health challenges of the area. Because STEP-GTP is designed to train Israeli and Palestinian students/fellows jointly, the pairs will remain scientific and business resources to one another while also allowing their communities to benefit from their training. In addition to health benefits, the communities can also see the benefits of peaceful cooperation. Such evidence is critical as we seek to build the confidence that is required for peaceful coexistence.
LARRY BACOW, JD
President, Tufts University, Massachusetts
Graduate professional education in the health sciences is a vital
investment in social wellbeing and economic growth. It also offers
unique opportunities for the mutually-beneficial flow of information
between peoples. Pairing Israeli and Palestinian students in rigorous
graduate programs, the unique STEP initiative helps train the next
generation of scientific and medical leaders while advancing the
critical goals of dialogue and peace.
AARON CIECHANOVER, PhD, MD, Nobel Laureate
Professor, Technion, Haifa
I have lectured about science all over the world, and I have seen how education crosses boundaries and enables people to see beyond the confines of their societies. STEP-GTP will provide world-class science and medical training to pairs of Israeli and Palestinian medical and science fellows, and will pave the way for these young professionals to work together to provide new crucial services and opportunities to their communities. I encourage people to support STEP-GTP as it strives to provide personal improvement while laying the framework for peaceful relations between Israelis and Palestinians.
RM RUSSEL, MD
Vice President, American Society for Nutrition; former Director, Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University
The STEP-GRADUATE TRAING PROGRAM (STEP-GTP) envisioned by Dr Taylor could be an important, trust building component of an early Middle East peace effort. The program would be flexible as to training sites and length of training, which would be essential for success. A major program goal is capacity building for future scientific and economic development, which a lasting Regional peace will depend on. Nutrition as a topic is an excellent fit for scientific inquiry, due to the many, serious nutritional problems that exist among the Region’s populations. I believe the STEP-GTP is a creative idea that is highly worthy of support.
ROALD HOFFMAN, PhD, Nobel Laureate
Professor, Cornell University, New York
I write to voice my strong support for the important Science Training Encouraging Peace – Graduate Training Program that you have originated.
I have some experience in trying to bridge the multiple gulfs of history and mistrust that separate populations in the Middle East, having organized a number of conferences and workshops that have brought together Arab Country, Israeli and Iranian chemists and students. Your program, providing health and science education to paired Israeli and Palestinian students in the US is just what we need – a practical, effective program with no political agenda, moved by a sincere desire to bring young scientists and health professionals together in the service of their communities. I know it works, and I wish you and your colleagues well in expanding and extending the STEP-GTP program.
NEIL GRABOIS, PhD,
former Vice President Carnegie Corporation of New York
I have devoted my professional career to higher education; I served in many educational leadership positions in American universities, including professor of mathematics, provost, and dean of faculty at Williams College, and president of Colgate University. I recently retired as a vice president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, one of America's leading philanthropic organizations whose goals are peace and the advancement of knowledge. Science Training Encouraging Peace -Graduate Training Program (STEP-GTP) is an "on the ground organization" that promotes capacity building and peaceful interaction between Israelis and Palestinians. These are the very ideals I have advocated throughout my life. I wholeheartedly support STEP-GTP in its mission and I urge you to do the same.
ITAMAR BURAK, PhD
Professor of Chemistry (retired), Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv
By removing these young professionals from the pressures of the Middle East they will be able to learn and bond." These bonds will be long lasting because they are both professional and personal. With training and opening of clinics staffed by the STEP-GTP fellows, the investment we make in each of the STEP-GTP fellows will be spread to their communities. Thus there will be a high community-service and peace dividend for each of the pairs.
BASIL Z. KHALAF
Medical Student
Growing up in Palestine, I witnessed many areas of the human condition damaged by conflict. STEP-GTP is not simply a dialogue-based program discussing an area of conflict. Rather, it engages scholarship potential and productivity to build sustainable relationships between neighboring peoples. Enabling talented young medical minds to take ownership in rebuilding their communities is a constructive step toward maintaining a just peace.