Overview

Picture yourself Sitting in a room with Israeli, Arab, U.S., European and UN diplomats committed to finding solutions to the major issues in the 62–year–old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Design a strategy that will end Hamas rocket fire and arms smuggling and open up Gaza’s borders with Israel. Imagine being President Obama and calling on Israel to stop the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem. How would you feel playing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, telling Israel to free Palestinian prisoners and dismantle military checkpoints while you negotiate a national unity government with Hamas?

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars is offering a two-week intensive seminar and simulation to a select number of university students and post–graduates on the critical and timely subject of Arab-Israeli peace. Camp David III, offered for the sixth year, follows in the footsteps of Camp David I, which produced the 1979 Israeli–Egyptian peace accord, and the failed Camp David II summit of 2000. Students will visit Middle East embassies and participate in a mock international conference to tackle the difficult issues in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Whether you have already taken courses on the Arab-Israeli conflict or this subject is new for you, Camp David III is an exciting opportunity to get an inside look at the key parties involved in an issue that is a top priority for the U.S. and the world in the 21st century.

Program participants will learn how resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is linked to broader issues in the Arab and Muslim world including stabilizing Iraq, the Iranian threat, and the struggle against al–Qaeda and its allies. They will be exposed to various techniques and concepts in international negotiations such as pre-negotiation planning, third party mediators, back channel communications, and the role of personalities and the media in diplomacy. The lessons of conflict resolution are useful in almost any arena; one of the best ways to learn these lessons is through hands–on experience negotiating one of the most explosive and complicated conflicts in the world today.

Seminar Components

Model Negotiations

Camp David III participants will be negotiating their own path to Israeli–Palestinian peace, which includes elements drawn from UN Security Council Resolution 242 and the 2002 Arab League Peace Initiative. Students will be divided into delegations representing Israel, the Palestinians, the United States, the Arab states (Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia), the European Union, and the UN. You will work in different committees to negotiate issues such as stopping Israeli settlement expansion, prisoner exchanges, preventing Hamas from smuggling weapons, ending incitement to violence, and opening the Israel–Gaza border, as well as the final status issues: refugees, Jerusalem, security and the borders of a Palestinian state.

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Embassy Visits, Speakers and more

You will visit the embassies of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, as well as the Palestinian Mission to the United States. You will interact directly with top diplomats and with officials from the State Department’s Office of Israel–Palestinian Affairs, the conservative pro–Israel lobby AIPAC, the American Task Force on Palestine, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Americans for Peace Now. (Embassy visits subject to confirmation.)

Seminar Extras

A five-course dinner at Marrakesh, Washington, D.C.’s most famous Middle Eastern restaurant, for all first week and two week participants and a reception at the National
Press Club for all second week and two week participants.

Past Speakers

Cost and Dates

Participants can enroll for either week separately or both weeks.

Pricing Incentives*

* Awards are not cumulative; only the highest award is applied; for those not accompanying a group from one institution, a $300 deposit within 10 business days of acceptance is required in order to be eligible for these incentives.

Deposit

Participants who are not coming as part of an organized group with a faculty member are responsible for paying a $300 deposit within 10 business days  of acceptance into the program. This deposit will be applied toward the final invoice.  Students that are part of an organized group with a faculty member will be billed $300 if they drop after December 1, 2009 or the full seminar tuition for which they are registered if they drop after December 22, 2009.

Refund policy

Based on confirmed written communication, students may withdraw by December 1, 2009  with no penalty and full refund of deposit.  There are no refunds after December 1, 2009.  Full Payment is due by December 22, 2009.

Housing and Student Life

The price of the seminar includes housing in a shared apartment. There is no reduction in fees for students not living in Washington Center housing. Services generally include: high speed Internet connection; TV and basic cable; local telephone service; basic linens. Housing assignments are sent out approximately two weeks prior to check-in. Check-in will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the dates indicated. All seminar fees must be paid before a participant will be allowed to check-in. The Washington Center interns for Spring 2010 who attend this seminar receive no-cost housing between the end of the seminar and the check-in date for the internship, although the room assignment may change during the interim.

The Washington Center currently provides housing in conveniently located apartments in Northern Virginia and Maryland with access to the Blue, Orange, and Red Lines on the Metro and close proximity to downtown Washington, D.C. These facilities have a number of amenities in addition to Resident Assistants who are on duty in the evening.

Apartment layouts may include two bedrooms (4 people), efficiencies (2 people; studio apartment) and triples (3 people; 1 bedroom and separate living area); all facilities are non-smoking. We recommend that participants do not bring a car during their stay. Prior to their arrival, interns must submit a Parking Request Form to seek approval to park a car at their housing facility. Parking is limited and therefore not guaranteed. We cannot guarantee a participant's request for a specific roommate.

Academic Standards

Academic Standards

Camp David III is designed to give you the opportunity to gain and apply your academic knowledge about the Middle East and conflict resolution in a participatory learning setting. The seminar is taught as a course, with two weeks equivalent to 3–4 credit hours (or 1–2 credits for a one week seminar). Before arriving in Washington, you will be provided with current articles on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to prepare you for the meetings and negotiations.

Faculty complete a written evaluation and recommend a grade that is sent to your home institution. Evaluation is based upon attendance, participation, completion of assigned readings, quality of written assignments, and demonstrated effort to achieve established academic and professional learning objectives commensurate with each student’s level. Actual credit and grades are awarded by your home institution through each campus sponsor or faculty liaison. The Washington Center does not grant academic credit.

Faculty Participation

Faculty Director

Andrea Barron
Program Manager for International Affairs and Middle East Initiatives at The Washington Center

Is the founder and director of the Camp David III Seminar. She has been an Adjunct Professor of History at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia since 1999, where she teaches classes on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Third World Women and U.S. Foreign Policy. Andrea has been a Visiting Lecturer on the Arab-Israeli conflict at American University and the University of Maryland-College Park. She has published articles on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian and Tunisian Women, and US Policy in the Arab and Muslim World in numerous academic journals, newspapers, and online magazines.

Faculty Fellows

College faculty are eligible to apply for the seminar as faculty fellows.  Participants pay for the program and fully participate in program activities. Faculty members who accompany 10 or more students from their home institution may receive free housing while accompanying their students. 

• Housing Information
• Pricing Incentives

Academic Standards

Camp David III is designed to give you the opportunity to gain and apply your academic knowledge about the Middle East and conflict resolution in a participatory learning setting. The seminar is taught as a course, with two weeks equivalent to 3–4 credit hours (or 1–2 credits for a one week seminar). Before arriving in Washington, you will be provided with current articles on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to prepare you for the meetings and negotiations.

Faculty complete a written evaluation and recommend a grade that is sent to your home institution. Evaluation is based upon attendance, participation, completion of assigned readings, quality of written assignments, and demonstrated effort to achieve established academic and professional learning objectives commensurate with each student’s level. Actual credit and grades are awarded by your home institution through each campus sponsor or faculty liaison. The Washington Center does not grant academic credit.

How to Apply

To apply, click on the application link. 

Once you have created an account and filled in the general information, you must select or fill in the name of a campus liaison or faculty sponsor who must approve your application if you are an undergraduate.  Once approved, your application will be reviewed by The Washington Center. 

If accepted, you will receive an email notification and instructions to log in again to complete the housing request and emergency contact information.  You may pay the deposit, if applicable, by credit card by calling The Washington Center finance office. Unless your institution is paying for the program, you will receive an invoice from The Washington Center. 

Full payment is required by Dec. 22, 2009.

Eligibility

College students in good standing at their home institution, recent graduates and faculty are eligible to apply for the program. For undergraduates, a Washington Center campus liaison or a faculty sponsor who agrees to receive a student's seminar evaluation must approve the application.

Students are not required to receive credit, but the program is structured in a way that requires all students to fully participate and to complete all assignments, regardless of their credit arrangements.  Participants must be at least 18 years of age to live in Washington Center housing.