All of your friends at Givat Haviva would like to thank you, our dedicated community of supporters, for a successful 2016 and amazing fundraising push at the end of the year. It is truly contributions like yours that make shared society a reality on the ground in Israel. We are looking forward to another year with you all, full of hard work, successes and challenges.

" Givat Haviva confidently enters 2017 with a deep sense of mission and belief in our ability to fulfill our purpose as a leading organization for building a shared society in Israel."

-Yaniv Sagee
Executive Director, The Center for Shared Society at Givat Haviva 
Save the Date!
This year's Fifth Annual Shared Society Conference will be held on Monday March 20, 2017 at the Givat Haviva campus in Israel. Mark your calendars and join us for the unveiling of the Roadmap for a Shared Society's conclusions on concrete measures to create shared society in Israel.
Updates from the Field
Givat Haviva's Women's Department wrapped up the year with a special highlight: The Women's Shared Society Conference - Women Leading Social Change. The conference was attended by more than 300 Israeli Jewish and Arab female activists.  

Speakers at the conference included: 
  • MK Aida Toma, head of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women
  • Dr. Dalia Fadili, Director of Al-Qasemi College
  • Ronit Heyd, Executive Director of Shatil
  • Leaders of the Women Wage Peace movement

The atmosphere was one of excitement and enthusiasm, with participants spiritedly joining musicians singing in three languages. Special shout out to Anhar Masarwa, our Director of Women's Programming, for conceiving of and organizing the inspiring and significant event.

In our Shared Communities Pairs...
Givat Haviva is excited to announce our newest fifth pair addition to our flagship Shared Communities program. The agreement for a new partnership between Kibbutz Evron and the Mizra'a Local Authority was signed in a gala ceremony this past month.

The Zemer and Emek Hefer partnership is focusing 2017 strategic planning on establishing a joint industrial park, assisted by a government representative from the Ministry of Economics. This past month saw the beginning of development for a shared technical training program between Ruppin Technological College in Emek Hefer and Yama Technological High School in Zemer. The purpose of the program will be to prepare students (including those who choose not to matriculate onto higher education) for careers in technical occupations in demand by the industry.

The Megiddo and Ma'ale Iron Partnership saw a flourishing of shared cultural life in the past few months with multiple art gallery exhibit openings and a special joint Jewish-Arab exhibit on the theme of olives. A new project was also launched to teach Hebrew to women from Ma'ale Iron. 
Our Education Department has had record responses for our two-day Youth Encounter Program. The Department has been busy hiring and training new facilitators to take on this demand. 

Our new shared education program for second graders, Together in Art, was launched with a meeting of the first two pairs. We also had wonderful feedback from participants in our Children Teaching Children program, with one student commenting, "I'm leaving this meeting feeling really happy, because I discovered that the negative stereotypes that were in my head are very far from the wonderful people I met today." A beautiful sentiment that truly shows us why we do this work.
Equality Programming
The Hebrew Language Enrichment Program for Arab Schools opens another year with dramatic expansion. The program is now running in all relevant middle schools in the Haifa district and has begun operation in schools throughout the North, Central and South educational districts as well. 

Ultimately bringing fluency in spoken Hebrew and ongoing, positive encounters between Jewish instructors and Arab students to more than 20,000 students in 58 schools
Givat Haviva in the Press!

AN ISLAND IN THE MADNESS - an incredible article by Robert Bosch Stiftung including a beautiful multimedia interface, worth a read and a bookmark!

The article includes photographs and an audio clip by Mohammad Darawshe, our Director of Planning, Equality & Shared Society,  that highlight Givat Haviva's efforts to establish a sustainable shared society in Israel. 

"An Island in the Madness. Everyday life in Israel is shaped by segregation, mistrust, and recurring violence. Peace is possible only if Jewish and Arab fellow citizens meet face to face."
Givat Haviva Educational Foundation | www.givathaviva.org | info@givathaviva.org