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Dear Friends,
Today in Jerusalem and the Holy Lands, a sea-change looms. Tensions crackle along the Gaza border. US funding cuts upend the work of Palestinian hospitals and schools; and attempts to redirect regional priorities undermine the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
This is the new environment in which Jerusalem Peacebuilders (JPB) operates, and after four weeks in Cyprus, Jerusalem, Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, I am pleased to report that you can and should be proud of the peacebuilding organization that we have built together. JPB is strong, well organized and gaining momentum. Here are some highlights:
- In Cyprus: Meetings with Creating Friendships for Peace (CFP) advanced our partnership. Now CFP will work with JPB to connect Jewish and Arab parents, thereby expanding our work to include whole families. CFP will also offer two weeks of additional summer programming for selected JPB teens at no cost to JPB.
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With CFP Chair Linda Ziglar |
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| With JPB Co-Founder Stuart Kensinger |
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- In Jerusalem: Planning sessions with JPB educators demonstrated that our educational team has never been stronger. Meetings with a representative of the second largest network of Arab and Jewish public schools in Israel promise to open a new and important partnership.
- In Houston: Based at Palmer Memorial Church, JPB's patient work is gathering momentum among the city's various schools and faith communities. This spring JPB will lead an adult peacebuilding program at Camp Allen and another pilgrimage to the Holy Lands.
My late mother was fond of saying, "
Tis the will of the soul that decides the goal and not the calm or strife." Come what may, Know that the soul of JPB is firmly fixed on advancing peace through leadership. Thank you for your trust, generosity and loyalty.
Peace, Shalom, Salaam,
Canon Nicholas Porter
Executive Director, Jerusalem Peacebuilders
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SUMMER 2018 ALUMNI MEET FOR REUNIONS
Events held for all four youth institutes
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JPB alums happy to be reunited
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In October, JPB Educators organized a series of alumni reunions in Tel Aviv, Israel for participants of JPB's four 2018 Summer Institutes in the USA. Over 50 teens, parents, and staff from the Voyager, Service-Learning, Interfaith Citizenship, and Leadership Institutes attended. The reunions featured dialogue, training, lots of smiles, and a delicious picnic lunch.
Teens were given time to share and reflect on their summer experience, catch up with friends, and discuss ways they are using the knowledge and skills learned in JPB back in their home communities. While youth and staff met together, parents were able to connect and dialogue about their children being involved in JPB. The training portion of the reunions focused on discussing multiple narratives related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the importance of critical thinking and multi-angled analysis.
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Catching up with old friends and reflecting on the summer
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Eager to stay connected and participate in our year-round programming, JPB staff discussed upcoming opportunities such as overnight workshop retreats, in-school programs, and holiday celebrations around Hanukkah and Christmas. Overall, everyone was
very impressed with JPB and the parents all agreed that their teens were positively transformed by the experience.
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JPB PRESENCE IN HOUSTON CONTINUES TO GROW
Year-round program for Americans in development
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Jack and JPB Educator Dr. Paula Green reconnect at PeaceCon 2018
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After serving in Nazareth last spring and operating JPB summer institutes, JPB Regional Director, Jack Karn, returned to Houston, TX to continue developing our USA programming. Part of a multi-year plan to bolster our domestic presence, Jack and JPB Co-Founder, Stuart Kensinger, are making steady progress in connecting with local schools, faith communities, and nonprofit organizations to launch new programs. This fall he is offering workshops at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, Church of the Good Shepherd (Kingwood), St. John the Divine, and St. Francis Church, and is in discussions with St. Francis School, KIPP Houston High School, Emery Weiner School, Post Oak School, Houston Academy for International Studies, and Congregation Emanu El to offer similar youth programming. Working closely with the Rev. David Wantland of Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church and with local partners, Jack is leading the development of an interfaith youth group for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim teenagers in the city. In the spring, he will focus on developing a new adult training opportunity at Camp Allen. More to come soon! |
NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH ISRAELI SCHOOL NETWORK
Relationship with Amal Group advances programming
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This fall, JPB and the Amal Group began discussions on piloting a series of leadership and peacebuilding workshops in Jewish and Arab schools in Israel. Based on the success of the workshops, we hope to recruit several promising students for our summer institutes in the USA.
The Amal educational network (est. 1928) is a leading school network in Israel, with 128 educational institutions across the country, including high schools, junior high schools and colleges, with a total enrollment of over 40,000 students. Amal provides an educational-academic framework with an emphasis on technology, the sciences and the arts for all strata of the population from high-achieving young people of Israel's elite to young people who are at risk. Committed to bi-communal reconciliation, Amal
brings together Arab and Jewish schools for cross-sector programs, like English, leadership and MUN. It is here in these paired schools where JPB will focus its efforts.
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"In JPB I learned how to live with and love other people
despite their differences, I learned how to connect
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~2018 Participant
Help us raise the
next generation of peacebuilders.
Now more than ever the world needs them.
Please donate securely online or make your donation check payable to
"Jerusalem Peacebuilders"
and send it to the following address:
Jerusalem Peacebuilders, Inc.
3300 Chimney Rock, Suite 301
Houston, TX 77056 USA
Jerusalem Peacebuilders (JPB) is a tax-exempt organization per section 501(c)
(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is further classified as a public
charity. Donations may be made directly to JPB and deducted under Section 170 of the Code. JPB's federal tax identification number (EIN) is 45-2233148.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING YOUTH
PEACEBUILDERS!
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UPCOMING SPEAKING DATES
Meet JPB's Executive Director and get involved!
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 Please join JPB's Executive Director, The Rev. Canon Nicholas Porter, at one of the following speaking engagements. In addition to preaching and leading workshops, Fr. Nicholas will be on hand to field questions and discuss ways you can support the work of JPB.
Speaking Dates and Locations:
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JPB EDUCATOR RECEIVES US PEACEBUILDING AWARD
Dr. Paula Green honored by the Alliance for Peacebuilding
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Paula delivers her acceptance speech at PeaceCon 2018 in Washington DC
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In October, JPB EXCEL Educator, Dr. Paula Green, was awarded the
Alliance for Peacebuilding
Melanie Greenberg United States Peacebuilder Award for her work with Hands Across the Hills - a
grassroots project that aims to build bridges across the widening political and cultural divide in America.
The Washington-based Alliance for Peacebuilding, a 15-year-old international organization that has been focused largely on global peace work, decided that Dr. Green's impressive career and recent work with Hands Across the Hills merited the first-ever award.
JPB is pleased to announce that Paula will co-leading the EXCEL training of trainers program for Israeli Arab and Jewish educators in Cambridge, England this summer.
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UPDATE FROM OUR PORTER FELLOW IN JERUSALEM
Della provides key support for JPB in the Holy City
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Della at the
Dome of the Rock
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Through the
Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, a Porter Fellow serves at St. George's College in Jerusalem. Beyond assisting the college in its educational programming, the Fellow engages with JPB's year-round programming. Below is a quick update from 2018-2019 Porter Fellow, The Rev. Deacon Della Wager Wells:
"The last several months have been busy ones for JPB, with back-to-back reunion meetings in Tel Aviv for all four 2018 summer institutes. Alumni arrived for the picnic-style event with homemade food to share, with several bringing siblings, cousins, and/or parents! Beyond these great reunions, p
lans are now being developed for an overnight retreat for alumni in Jerusalem in December. The retreat will explore themes of barriers and boundaries, including exploring Jerusalem's Old City."
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PHOTOS FROM OUR COMMUNITY
Awards, Friends, Presentations
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Because the future of Jerusalem is the future of the world
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