"For us – the youth
–
it is clear that the situation today requires change. If we don’t act on this issue, no one person is going to initiate this change instead of us. As young people we have the power and the energy to influence and contribute to a peaceful Israeli society.
"
~ Netta,
Through Others' Eyes participant
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Through Others' Eyes USA Tour Recap!
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As the summer approached, our office geared up to host Givat Haviva's
Through Others' Eyes program in upstate NY for a Peace Camp and NYC/NJ for events and activities. We had a wonderful closing exhibition event at the Puffin Cultural Forum where the group shared their photographs in their chosen theme - We Were Born Here.
In their own words, the group describes the exhibition: "This year we studied
“here” – various topics including honor, family connections, the beauty there is in difference, tradition and cultural practices, and more. Through the process the group underwent we arrived together at the insight that the land and the feeling of belonging to this place are identified with both sides. We have an opportunity to convey a message – we were born here, both the Jews and the Arabs. This is a picture of our reality and from here we must accept one another, we must respect and get to know each other’s worlds."
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Our Texas Friends of Givat Haviva, led by board member Emily Deakins, began a wonderful new tradition this year -
Through Others' Eyes goes to Texas!
Following tremendous fundraising efforts and calls to action, we were able to bring the Director of the Education Department - Samer Atamni, and two amazing youth participants from
Through Others' Eyes - Or Levi & Zenh Abu Zarka. The group was featured at two wonderful events at Temple Sinai and Congregation Emanu El. In addition, we were able to have a youth exchange activity with a similar program of the Houston Center for Photography, called Collaborations. Thank you to all our friends and supporters in Texas for starting this new tradition!
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Megiddo – Ma'ale Iron
The partnership's
Art Forum advanced a new program this month, an exhibition was opened entitled "Talking" (
Ledaber), where Jewish and Arab artists who met during the past six months created joint art in pairs and groups, while bringing up the conflict, talking about agreements, and insisting on their artistic and personal truth and respect for others.
Regional NGO Forum
A meeting of the Regional NGO Forum took place this month to establish a consensus for strategies moving forward.
Progression was established on two levels: education and promotion of environmental projects that will work for the benefit of the local authorities in the region, including a mapping of needs in the field, coordination with heads of municipalities and officials, and stewarding contacts with government bodies and associations for building cooperation.
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Updates from our Shared Communities Pairs
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Emek Hefer
–
Zemer
The beginning of this month saw the first convening of a
Welfare Forum in this pair. The seminar featured the heads of welfare agencies, departments and forum leaders who met at Givat Haviva to initiate joint projects of the welfare teams for seniors, teens and youth, and after-school programs.
Featured in Academic Scholarship
Dr. Ran Kuttner, our Academic Advisor for the Shared Communities program, published an article featuring the program as its central case study.
"Section three will present a case study, the work of Givat Haviva, emphasizing the relational premises that can be found in its methodology to cultivate a shared society among Jews and Arabs in Israel."
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Givat Haviva's Hi-Tech program, which trains 8th & 9th graders for a BS in Computer Science, continued its studies for a summer semester. On July 11, the students of the program went on their third tour this year, to the Technion in Haifa. There they met Professor Hossam Haick who spoke to them, emphasizing his personal life story and the importance of will and commitment.
This year more than one third of the students were awarded scholarships, based on their socioeconomic standing and academic achievement. We at Givat Haviva will continue to look after our students and find ways to help them and encourage them in their studies and ambition for higher education. Registration for our upcoming Fall 2018 semester has already begun with 25 students enrolled thus far.
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Our very own, Riad Kabha's Autobiography
is now available in English!
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The stages in the life journey of Riad Kamel Kabha lead the reader through the path of a young Arab Palestinian, who was born in the State of Israel, in the divided village of Barta’a, in the heart of Wadi Ara. Riad became a prominent community activist, an educational leader and a prominent public figure. Kabha was a Civics teacher, Village Mukhtar, and later, Village Council Head. Over the course of more than four decades, Kabha continues to work at the “Jewish-Arab Center for Peace” in Givat Haviva and dedicates his life to advancing understanding and reconciliation between the peoples. Through the story of his life, we are introduced to the events and happenings in the extended Kabha family — that includes 40,000 people. At the same time, readers encounter the unique story of the Barta’a village, which serves as a real-imaginary border between Israel and Jordan placed in its center in 1949 and erased, as if possible, in 1967. Today, the village remains split between Israel and the Palestinian authority.
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(212) 989-9272 | info@givathaviva.org | www.givathaviva.org
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