Palestinian–Israeli Dialogue and Coexistence: My Reflections in 2026

Prof. Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi is a Jerusalem-born Palestinian scholar, educator and peace advocate whose work has focused on moderation, reconciliation, interreligious understanding and Palestinian–Israeli dialogue. He is the founder of the Wasatia Movement, established to promote a culture of moderation, tolerance, dialogue, peace and reconciliation, and serves as Director of the Wasatia Graduate Academic Institute.

Dajani previously served as the founding director of the American Studies Graduate Program at Al-Quds University, where he worked from 2002 to 2014. He has taught at several universities and has written extensively on Arab and Islamic politics, Palestinian society, Arab–Israeli relations, democracy, reform, civil society, religious freedom, moderation and conflict resolution.

He holds two doctoral degrees, one from the University of South Carolina and another from the University of Texas at Austin. He has also served as a Weston Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. His long-standing academic and public work has emphasized the importance of education, empathy, mutual recognition and reconciliation in addressing Palestinian–Israeli conflict.

In 2007, he established the Wasatia Movement to advance moderation, peace and reconciliation. His work has also included collaboration connected with the European Wasatia Graduate School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Europa-Universität Flensburg.

Dajani has become internationally known for advocating engagement across political and religious divisions. In 2014 he led a group of Palestinian students on an educational visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, an initiative intended to promote understanding of the Holocaust and empathy with the historical experience of the other. His broader work argues that sustainable conflict resolution requires dialogue, reciprocal recognition and the rebuilding of trust between communities.