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| March-April E-Bulletin | 2012 |
Dear friends,
We hope you enjoy reading about some of the highlights of our peacebuilding activates over the last two months - from Israeli and Palestinian girls playing together in a mixed football tournament, to Palestinian farmers and agriculturalists receiving training from leading Israeli experts in new farming technologies. These are just a few examples of the programs and activities we run, that bring together Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, that without these opportunities, would never meet, would never go through the process of getting to know each other, of breaking down barriers, fears and stereotypes, and building a better future based on partnership, cooperation and trust.
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Israeli and Palestinian Photographers Wow Audiences with their Alternative Frames of Reality
|  After a month long exhibition at the Amiad Center in Jaffa, the well received Frames of Reality exhibition by Israeli and Palestinian artists, photojournalists, and documentary photographers has drawn to a close. The exhibition featured series of pictures chosen by the curator from amongst the personal projects of the 15 participating artists. In parallel, texts and quotes from the photographers were provided alongside the exhibited images, translated into Arabic, Hebrew, and English. Read more... |
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220 Israeli and Palestinian Girls Hit the Field in the Twinned Peace Sport Schools in Mini World Cup Final Tournament
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The 220 girls from communities across Israel and the West Bank enjoyed a day of playing soccer (football) in mixed teams. Guest communities from Raanana, Arabe, and Ramat HaSharon joined this year's tournament as a part of the Athena organization for promoting women in sports in Israel. The tournament, made possible thanks to adidas, Jafora and USAID, also hosted volunteers from Adidas Israel, as well as a group of six volunteers from Adidas Germany, who came for a week of volunteering with the Twinned Peace Sport Schools Girls Soccer program. The volunteers contributed greatly to ensuring another successful tournament! Read more....
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Peres Center Trains Palestinian Farmers and Agriculture Companies in Jenin
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As part of the "Profitable Crop Production" project, 60 leading Palestinian farmers attended a training workshop in Jenin on proved irrigation practices, fertilizer application, pest management, and methods of optimizing greenhouse crop cultivation. The workshop was run in cooperation with international agricultural companies Syngenta and Zeraim Gedera and the General Union of the Palestinian Peasants and Agriculture Cooperation, Jenin.
Read more....
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Israelis and Palestinians Talk Fashion and Footwear
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Over 20 Palestinian and Israeli businesspeople from the textile, fashion, and footwear industries participated in a Business-to-Business (B2B) event. The day began with a tour of the headquarters and factory of Israeli designer Michal Negrin in Bat Yam, where they received a personal tour of the design and manufacturing process of one of Israel's leading fashion and jewelry designers.
After lunch in Jaffa, the delegation moved to the Tel Aviv Chamber of Commerce, where 60 Israeli designers, importers, and exporters from the fashion industry were waiting to meet the group. The meeting was opened with a business seminar that included lectures by senior representatives of the Tel Aviv Chamber of Commerce, the Israeli Manufacturers' association, the Israeli Textile and Fashion Association, as well as the heads of the Palestinian Textile and Footwear Unions. The lectures included surveys of the current state of trade between Israel and the Palestinians, and opportunities for further cooperation in the relevant sectors. Following the lectures, over 200 pre-coordinated meetings between designers and manufacturers, importers and exporters, took place.
The event took place as part of the Peres Center's Private Sector Partnership, implemented in cooperation with PalTrade, and funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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First Jewish-Arab Coexistence Workshop a Huge Success
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Arab Israeli Children from Ein Rafa and Jewish children from Tel Aviv participated in an intensive and exciting day of creating and living the concept of coexistence. This was the first time two classes, Arab Israeli and Jewish Israeli children experienced this workshop together.
Part of the ongoing series of Coexistence Workshops which have been running throughout Israeli cities during the 2011-2012 school year, the workshops aim to promote respect and understanding and convey messages of peaceful relations and coexistence to students through this concentrated and short-term program. With the first joint workshop such a success, the children showed great anticipation for the joint art workshop coming up. The workshops are run in conjunction with the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem and are supported by IRespectU.
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Peres Center Teams Up with El HaLev to Provide Girls the Opportunity to Break Barriers and Blocks
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In a special joint activity for the girls from the Twinned Peace Basketball Schools program, girls from Sderot and Jericho spent a day with the El HaLev organization, participating in self-defense training, artistic workshops and social activities.
The day was a great success, with the girls starting out apprehensive towards each other, but managing to overcome these barriers, and create masks with girls from "the other side." The ultimate victory was the girls cheering each other on as they broke the blocks at the end of the day, symbolizing the greater blocks that had been broken between them.
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Shimon Peres Launches Latest Book
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The Shimon Peres Archives, housed at the Peres Peace House welcomed a new addition to its collection - a new biography of David Ben-Gurion that President Peres co-authored with David Landau of the Economist and former editor-in-chief of Haaretz. The Washington Post called the book "invaluable." Peres provides an incomparable revelatory and intimate view of his mentor, the first prime minister of Israel, and insight into the vision and leadership of the mythical man. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton describes the book as one that "presents a uniquely human portrait of David Ben-Gurion...Peres brings his nation's founding father to life with the energy, candor, and wisdom he's become known for in his six decades of public service." For more information about the book click here.
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The Peres Center Welcomes the Oxford Orchestra
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In March, during its tour of Israel, the youth Oxford Orchestra made its final stop at the Peres Center for Peace. As a guest of the Tel-Aviv University Orchestra, the youth orchestra performed a concert in the Marc Rich Auditorium at the Peres Peace house, which delighted community members of Jaffa. The Peres Center was pleased to invite the community at large to enjoy the concert and marvel at the talent of the young musicians.
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New Publication: "The Arab Peace Initiative and Israeli-Palestinian Peace: The Political Economy of a New Period"
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The Aix Group celebrated the publication of its fifth stage of research, "The Arab Peace Initiative and Israeli-Palestinian Peace: The Political Economy of a New Period" at a public event at Tel Aviv University. Members of the Aix Group were joined by Professor Joseph Zeira of Hebrew University, Basem Khoury, former Minister of National Economy in the Palestinian Authority, Jacob Perry, former Director of the GSS, and Smadar Peri, Chief Arab World Correspondent of Yediot Ahronot.
Following a brief survey of the work - which includes 12 jointly produced essays on the economic implications of the promise of regional peace offered by the Arab Peace Initiative, including trade, institutional arrangements, cooperation in infrastructure, and Israeli-Palestinian final status issues from a regional perspective - the panel discussed the relevance of the Arab Peace Initiative from both a political and economic perspective, particularly in light of the Arab Spring and other recent developments.
The Aix Group's fifth stage of research was made possible by the generous funding of the European Union's Partnership for Peace Program, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the French General Council of Bouches-du-Rhône, the French Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, and the World Bank. The event was organized in cooperation with the S. Daniel Abraham Center for International and Regional Studies and the University Institute for Diplomacy and Regional Cooperation, both at Tel Aviv University.
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Bootcamp Innovation Marathon at Peres Peace House
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 Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs and innovators from technology companies and startups gathered at the Peres Peace House to participate in the Bootcamp Innovation Marathon of 2012. The Marathon brought together investors from five different countries to meet with the entrepreneurs. The preparation of the companies by Bootcamp ventures and interactive panel of investors gave the participants the opportunity for networking and building relationship with mutual benefit.
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20 Children from Jaffa Visit Tel Aviv University
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Over the last month, 20 participants of the Peres Center's Perach program visited Tel Aviv University and toured the Theater and Film School and the Biology School. This was the first time these children had visited a university, which served to give them something to aspire to for their futures.
The Perach program is an after school tutoring program which provides 40 Muslim Arab children in Jaffa with mentors to serve as role models and furnish the children with personal guidance and assistances with homework, along with individual attention. All the mentors are Arab student students who attend universities and colleges in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. In addition to the tutoring and mentoring services, the children are also able to participate in other extra-curricular activities run by the Peres Center.
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Peres Center Hosts Singularity University Executive Briefings
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The Peres Centre was pleased to host the first executive briefing of the Singularity University sponsored by Ramon Foundation, a long-time Peres Center partner, at the Peres Peace House in Jaffa. The purpose of the briefing event was to inform, educate, and prepare executives to recognize the growth opportunities and disruptive influences of exponentially growing technologies and how these key fields can affect their organizations, and industries in the years to come. Two days of lectures included lecturers from The Singularity University of NASA such as Salim Ismail, Dan Barry, Raymond McCauley and Daniel Kraft.
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 The opening event attracted a large audience which was impressed with the professional and beautiful photographs, and excited to meet with the Palestinians and Israelis photographers involved in the project. Throughout the month, the exhibition continued to receive positive responses and great exposure.
This exhibition is part of the Frames of Reality project which has now completed three cohorts, run in partnership with Local Testimony and made possible by Freedom to Create. The project enables a joint creative process for Palestinian and Israeli photojournalists, and encourages artists to express their own unique experiences and portray alternative views of the conflict in an unrestricted environment. The exhibition opening also launched a book of the photographers' work, the third Frames of Reality book now published, with tri-lingual, Arabic, Hebrew and English commentary.
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The event was topped off with all the girls watching the Israel Women's State Cup final soccer match at the new Petach Tikva soccer stadium. Participants watched and eventful match, and were invited to come to the pitch at half-time, to receive medals and cups.
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The event was topped off with all the girls watching the Israel Women's State Cup final soccer match at the new Petach Tikva soccer stadium. Participants watched and eventful match, and were invited to come to the pitch at half-time, to receive medals and cups.
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