(a Harvard Negotiation Project initiative)
Directors: William Ury Joshua Weiss
Academic Advisor and Sponsor: Jim Sebenius
Senior Affiliate: Jamil Mahuad
The Abraham Path Initiative (API), which was founded under the auspices of the Global Negotiation Initiative (GNI), seeks to inspire and support the opening of a permanent cultural route of pilgrimage and tourism retracing the footsteps of Abraham in the Middle East. The mission of the API is to help seed walking trails across the region in order to reintroduce this storied landscape as one of irrepressibly hospitable people. By shining light on traditions of hospitality, API evokes the beloved regional origin story that shows up in everyday life: residents welcome strangers in honor of Abraham (Ibrahim, in Arabic), a spiritual ancestor of over half of humanity.
GNI oversees academic research on the Path’s development, which has grown to span over 2000 km across the Middle East. A case study and an update about the development and evolution of the API has been written by members of GNI and other academicians. These case studies have been published through the Harvard Business School Case Study project. With the onset of Covid-19, the API has turned its sights on the virtual realm, holding virtual tours and numerous educational webinars about all aspects of the path. Some examples, that have been delivered by API fellows and other academics, include presentations on the development of the path in Northern Iraq, discussions about oral history capturing, and a photo exhibit of the people, landscapes, and archeology in different places along the route.
When travel resumes, a number of thematic trips will be offered. In particular, Weiss is planning on leading a five day leadership and negotiation training along the path in the region.
The Abraham Path is a cultural route tracing Abraham’s footsteps across the present-day Middle East. The path offers hikers the opportunity to engage with the peoples and landscapes of the region firsthand, and to see the region from a new perspective. The path offers an intriguing case of very challenging, long-term negotiations to establish a contiguous … Read More 
The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School
is pleased to present
25 Years After Oslo: Why is Palestinian Support for the Two-State Solution the Lowest Since 1993?
A talk with
Dr. Khalil Shikaki
Goldman Senior Fellow at the Crown Center, Brandeis University and
Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) in Ramallah
Moderated by
James Sebenius
Gordon Donaldson Professor … Read More
The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School
and the Abraham’s Path Initiative
are pleased to present
The New Path to “Yes” – First Steps to Solving Intractable Conflict
with
James Sebenius
Gordon Donaldson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School
and
William Ury
Co-author of Getting to Yes
Co-founder, Program on Negotiation
Friday, October 19, 2018
12:00 -1:30 PM
Austin Hall North
Harvard Law School Campus
Cambridge, MA
Free … Read More
On June 5, 2013, Shades Israeli and Palestinian fellows walked the Abraham Path in Israel’s Negev on a guided tour organized by PON Senior Fellow Shula Gilad, visiting Jewish and Arab villages on the route, learning about the Abrahamic tradition of the societies, their current challenges and success. As is the case for others who … Read More
Dr. William Ury, Co-Founder of the Global Negotiation Initiative at the Program on Negotiation, has been a key leader in developing Abraham’s Path, a long distance walking trail that traces the footsteps of the ancient patriarch from Sanliurfa in south-east Turkey, through Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Israel.
Watch the video on Facebook: “Walking the Masar Ibrahim/Abraham’s … Read More
