PASSIA, the Palestinian Academic Society for the study of international Affair in Jerusalem held a seminar on Palestinian – German relation, on the 4th and 5th of October, 1987, at the national palace Hotel in Jerusalem. Panelists included academics from local universities and from the Middle Eastern Studies Center of Berlin University, the federal republic of Germany. Eighty other Germans and Palestinians participated in the seminar.

Both the Palestinian and German participants met in the land of Palestine without previous acquaintance to experience. Their sole motive for arranging this specialized seminar to discuss mutual relations, was the love of learning and quest for knowledge.

Behind both groups lies a huge and rich tradition, and ahead of them a political atmosphere in which local, regional and international event rush pell-mell. The two national groups, Palestine and German, exist in a political atmosphere charged with ideological and religious diversity. Neither group is merely an observer; each participates in the concerns of present and future.

The seminar intended to shed light on Germany and its relations with Palestine. On the other hand, it sought to broaden other countries knowledge of the Palestinian Community with regard to the Palestinian Question: land, people, rights and leadership. And on the other to enable Palestinians to develop a well-informed and meaningful dialogue among themselves and with others, building bridges of mutual respect, trust and cooperation. The seminar’s lectures and discussions have been documented in a booklet entitled “File on German – Palestine Relations” with statically information on German history, population, political parties, press culture, educational institutions, and bibliography of publications dealing with Arab-German relations. The booklet is intended as a primary reference for Palestinian researchers and academics who wish to continue to study aspects of these relations. It will also be an informative and objective document opening wider scientific and ideological horizons for cooperation and understanding between Germans and Palestinians.