|
Dear Friends,
On this occasion of the New Year, in the spirit of one of Givat Haviva’s wonderful programs, “Women Cooking for Peace,” we offer you this special recipe for a New Year’s cake:
- Take the 12 months of the year, and sift well to remove all traces of negative emotions of racism, victim-hood, hate, fear, anguish, stubbornness and selfishness
- Add a pinch of positive emotions of acceptance of others, tolerance, inclusion, love and hope
- Split each month into 2 equal parts, making sure that equality is maintained and harmonious partnership exists between each part
- Dip in Arabic and Hebrew language and culture
- Add 3 heaping tablespoons of optimism
- Generously sprinkle with faith and hope, a handful of tolerance, and a pinch of patience and inclusivity, and finally a smidgen of acceptance of those who are different
- Into this mixture, pour a very generous helping of love
- Put in the oven at your individual temperature for a few minutes, remove and garnish with imaginative artwork created in Jewish-Arab partnership
- Serve with a warm smile that embraces the soul
Bon appetit and
Happy New Year!
|
|
Click the photo above to view the recap video from last Spring's Conference.
The Givat Haviva Annual Shared Society Conference is widely recognized as the primary convening event for all actors working to build a shared society in Israel. Bringing together citizens and leaders from diverse sectors of Jewish and Arab society, including civil society, government, private sector, academia and the donor community, and providing a much-needed platform for discussions, experience sharing and collaborative strategy development towards building a shared society in Israel.
Stay tuned for dates for this year's Fifth Conference!
|
|
Check out our New Materials Summarizing last Spring's Shared Society Conference
|
Conference Booklet
is now available, summarizing our Fourth Annual Shared Society Conference last May -- featuring President Barack Obama's letter, President Reuven Rivlin's speech transcription, and remarks from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Secretary of State John Kerry's endorsement letter, "I commend Givat Haviva, and your leadership, for critical work over the years in promoting understanding between Arabs and Jews and for helping build public support for reconciliation and cooperation among various groups in Israel."
|
|
Updates from our International Department & a New Book Published!
|
Givat Haviva's International Department was quite busy this past month, with visitors from all around the world coming to learn about our work and mission for a shared society, as well as visiting the surrounding area. Recent visitors have included a delegation of various youth movements from Europe and North America, a Hasbara Fellowships group, 20 teachers from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany, the Olive Tree Initiative with our friends Daniel Wehrenfennig and Susan Seely, the Center for Regional Engagement, University of California Irvine, Santa Barbara Hillel, and the German-Israel Exchange group that is part of our Children Teaching Children program outreach.
In addition to all the busy work the International Department has been involved in this past month, our very own Lydia Aisenberg has published her book,
Either Side of the Divide, to rave reviews. The book is a collection of articles published over the last 20 years in English language newspapers and magazines in Israel and abroad, and "is the rare book that allows a reader entrance into the lives and events of people who are the heartbeat of today's headlines" (Review by Pnina Moed Kass of Esra Magazine).
Interested in your own tour and visit to Givat Haviva? The International Department offers tailored and flexible programs to fit your schedule in a variety of languages.
Contact the Department today!
|
|
Israeli Arab and Jewish teens with their German exchange peers through Children Teaching Children, gather on the Green Line running through the village of Barta’a
|
|
Our Public Engagement outreach continues, with Givat Haviva's recent support for the struggle against uprooting Um al-Hiran. After 13 years of legal proceedings, the Supreme Court decided by a 2:1 majority to approve the state plan to destroy the Arab-Bedouin village of Um al-Hiran and establish a Jewish settlement called Hiran in its place. The Givat Haviva team, together with representatives of other shared society organizations supporting the struggle, attended an Iftar dinner in Um al-Hiran to express identification with and support for the struggles against the demolition of houses in the village.
Our Road Map for a Shared Society program recently held a four-day Workshop: Shared Societies – Approaches to Minority Related Issues in Europe and Israel led by Mohammad Darawshe, and held at the Robert Bosh Academy in Berlin with leading specialists from all over Europe. The leaders of the five Professional Groups working to develop this road-map gathered to learn from and with Europe's experts in the integration of and shared society with national minorities.
|
|
Program Updates from the Field
|
Yihye Beseder - Hebrew Language Program for Arab Schools, has finally finished an intense summer of recruiting and training 77 teachers for this school year's dramatic expansion. We are excited to begin classes for 30,000 students this year, an impressive growth from last year's 10,000. The program is also expanding into new areas beyond the Wadi Ara, including schools in the Haifa district, Tel Aviv districts, and more in the north, central and south including in the Negev.
Activities with our Shared Communities participants have continued to grow and progress. This past month saw Megiddo and Ma'ale Iron work toward the construction of a share stadium, a commercial area and a farmer's market. The community wide forum is working with senior citizens to embark on as project documenting life stories, focusing on life in the area before 1948, in cooperation with Beit Berl College's "Time Tunnel" project. The opening of Menashe and Baka al-Garbiyya's Neighbor's Path nature trail is set for this February.
|
Regionally, as part of a new initiative of Shared Communities, 22 participants have completed our Mediation-Sulcha Leadership course. The course combines mediation certification with instruction in traditional Sulcha methods and dialogue based community leadership. The participants are all from the partnered communities, and are now working on developing a practicum to apply these methods and develop the application of their skills in real-world situations.
|
|
Help continue our hard work to make Shared Society
a living, thriving reality in Israel today!
|
|
Visit us at www.givathaviva.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|