Joint Ventures for Peace brings together Palestinian and Israeli women entrepreneurs and artists to work as equal partners and create a unique discourse on peace. This project, which seeks to break down some of the barriers between Israelis and Palestinians, and to create peace on the ground, was established in the spring of this year by the Shorouq Society for Women (www.shorouqsociety.org) and The Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development – NISPED (www.nisped.org.il). Our project has been made possible by the generous support of the Canadian government.

This innovative project takes a holistic approach to peace and social-economic development by coupling the development of inter-group dialogue, knowledge and group cohesiveness with the development and support of creative small and medium business development and initiatives.

Nearly 40 women, who come from diverse backgrounds, participate in this project. The Palestinian women, Muslims and Christians, have expertise in embroidery, ceramics, straw weaving, art, beauty and hairdressing, Christmas gifts, social work, and soap making. The Jewish-Israeli women have expertise in ceramics, clothes design, art, writing, silver and goldsmith jewelry, graphic art, straw weaving, writing, and creation of products from recycled paper.

Two things could precipitate the crisis that creates depression. The first would be any serious attempt to cut government spending at this moment. If this were to happen the fall in demand would leave unemployment spiraling, government debt escalating and deflation a significant probability. When that combination occurs the chance of getting out of depression is limited.

The second crisis that could cause depression would be international failure to cooperate on tackling this issue. Attempts to restrict trade at this moment, to impose tariffs or to simply rely on the action of others to stimulate the economy could all create the inertia that tips the balance downwards.