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Newsletter of the Educational Institutions, September 2019
Monday 16 September 2019
Opening words (by Development Director Samah Salaime)
I am delighted to send you the newsletter of the Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom educational institutions.
The summer months were full of activity and change. We completed a successful year and opened the school year with a number of children who are completely new to our system.
The School for Peace has new programs and challenges; the Pluralistic Spiritual Community Center is blossoming with weekly and monthly activity; the Nadi Youth Center is back with many new activities for our young people and the Visitor’s Center has been welcoming many guests from around the world.
In the Communications and Development office and the association we are continuing to develop educational programs and projects in the spirit of the community, which promote peace and shared society.
In October Lihi and I will be traveling to the U.S. on a promotional tour sponsored by the American Friends of NSWAS. In November October, we will hold our International General Meeting of Friends of Wahat al-Salam Neve Shalom.
This is an opportunity to thank my staff and all the dedicated staff of the educational Association who work around the clock to advance peace and educate the next generation.
I thank the Association’s board for its support of the association and wish our newly appointed managing director, Dubi Ehrlich a quick process of learning and successful entry into his new position.
Samah Salaime
Director of Communications and Development
The Primary School and Pre-school
End of the 2018-2019 School Year
At the end of June, in a beautiful, festive and exciting ceremony, we parted tearfully from the 35th graduating class from our primary school, in the presence of parents and grandparents, school faculty and representatives from the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council.
The happy ceremony ended with a historic photo of the school’s founding teacher Ety Edlund with her son, who was among the first students at school and her granddaughter Elenora, who has just completed her education at the school and successfully graduated: three generations of peace education. (Photo)
The Summer Vacation
While the school broke for its long vacation, the summer was a time of intensive preparations for the coming school year, administrative, financial and logistical. There were also opportunities for parents and children to get acquainted with the school and meet with teachers.
Summer Camps
In July, about 200 children attended our summer camps, in collaboration with the Open House in Ramle and the support of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. And after the summer camp, we started renovating and preparing the building for the school year.
The Opening of the 2019-2020 school year
With great excitement we have opened another school year: one, we hope that will be especially successful. With 314 children from kindergarten through sixth grade, and 11 classes at the primary school, this is our biggest year ever. Joining the school community are 54 new children at the first grade level. There will be 35 teachers, seven of which are new to the school.
New Curricula Launched
With the help of WASNS friends associations around the world and private foundations, our new curriculum for teaching culture and tradition classes has been launched and is being used by the teachers. We have much larger ambitions for the curricula. We are planning to publish pieces of it online and promote its use in other schools. Read more about this.
Financial challenges
As reported (https://www.wasns.org/school-update-2019-05) in our May 30 newsletter from the Primary School, we have serious difficulties in covering the school budget, due to a disagreement with parents over the amount of tuition fees that they will pay. We are making every effort to resolve this crisis, however we will need your help in order to get through the year. Read more about this.
The School for Peace
Change Agents Course for Israeli and Palestinian Mental Health Workers concluded
On June 22 2019 we completed the first of three change agents courses for mental health professionals initiated with the award of a USAID grant. When the Trump administration decided to halt support for all joint projects between Israelis and Palestinians, we were obliged to seek alternative funding. For completion of this course, we are grateful to our WASNS Friends Associations and private foundations who have stepped in to cover some of the expenses. We thank them for their support. Read the full article
Change agents course for Jewish and Arab leaders in shared cities concluded
On June 28-29 we held the final meeting for the Arab - Jewish Shared Cities Leadership Course, which was composed of several sessions. For the second year, the course included a panel for foundations in which representatives of the New Israel Fund and the Rosa Luxemburg Fund presented the funding opportunities open to organizations and activists for social change.
The participants also met with graduates of previous courses and the work that they are involved in. The participants of the current course have already begun a number of important initiatives. For more information about the course and the projects developed, see the article on the WASNS website.
Mental Health workers (2nd group)
We were halfway through the change agents course for the second group of mental health professionals when we were hit by the USAID spending cuts. However, we are managing to continue. In February, we held a 3-day meeting at Talitha Kumi to study theories and instructional skills. In March, we held a workshop in which participants simulated peace negotiations. In April and June there were two project-planning weekends, The course will conclude at the end of September 2019. Read more about this
Change agents courses for Advocates and for Planners
These change agents courses are proceeding nicely with with scheduled meetings. The advocates course met for a special tour of East Jerusalem. (See article)
Other news from the SFP
The Research Institute has been working on a book based on the March 2019 international conference, Constitutionalism, Constitution-Making and Sovereignty – A Theoretical and Comparative Perspective, which was convened in cooperation with the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University. This work has been proceeding in cooperation with Prof. Amal Jamal of the University of Tel Aviv.
During the summer the SFP staff worked on plans for the coming year, such as the university course. We also organized graduates forums in 3 areas: for planners, mental health workers and leaders in shared cities.
The Pluralistic Spiritual Community Centre
Film Screenings
In the framework of the Cinema in the Community program, we screened three films: Write down, I Am an Arab by Ibtisam Mara’ana, which tells the fascinating story of Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish; The Ancestral Sin by David Deri, which tells the story of development towns in Israel, as has never been told before; and Born in Deir Yassin, by Neta Shoshani, which tells the story of this site of the infamous massacre in its various incarnations. Each screening was followed by a discussion with the film’s director. To read more
Community Events
Ramadan: During this holy month of the Muslim calendar, we held three special community evening meals, with various surrounding activities. After the first of these, we went on a festive parade around the village with a Jaffra band for art and folk folklore. On the second, we held the meal in the White Dove Hall at the village entrance. Following the meal, we engaged in various discussions. On the third we had a very large meal, with guests from the Latrun Abbey (Frs. Paul and Christian). After the meal, women from the village prepared and baked holiday cookies, which we took the following morning to Israeli hospitals where Palestinian children from the occupied territories and Gaza are treated. Read more
Meetings of the "Study Circles in the Community - Nakba", a special project in which community members meet to learn about the Palestinian Nakba through personal testimony and through exposure to documents and historical knowledge. During this period we had our 7th and 8th meetings, thus concluding the series. After the last meeting, we met in small groups to consider ways to incorporate the Nakba and the Return as part of the programs of the village educational institutions.
Children’s Plays: On August 1 an Arabic language children’s play, An African Legend was held at the Al-Hayat Theater in Ramla, with the participation of one of the best known Palestinian actresses in Israel today, Mouna Hawa. On August 4, we had a children’s play in Hebrew of the The Train Theater, Jerusalem - Private Collection.
Performance of the Silberhorn band from Switzerland: On August 2, in honor of Swiss National Day, the well-known Silberhorn trio gave a performance for all ages, sponsored by the Swiss Embassy. It was enjoyed by all.
Book events
On June 19 an exciting and special evening was held in honor of the poet Marzouk al-Halabi’s book: "في مديح الوقت In Praise of Time. The evening’s host was WASNS member Dr. Maram Masarwa. Poems from the book were read and a discussion took place.
An Arabic book fair, public reading and book launch: For all ages, this event was held in cooperation with the Atafil Library of Arara. The fair lasted all afternoon, and at 8 pm we had a book launch for the bilingual book Al-Amiral-Za’ir, (The Little Prince), published by Minerva Press with the participation of translator Rowan Abu Ghosh and book editor Asaf Golani. The event was followed by a lively discussion.
The Oasis Art Gallery
On August 7 we held an Artist Hosting Artists workshop in Nazareth for 20 Jewish and Palestinian participants and 3 other visitors. This was part of the series of Artists Hosting Artists workshops that we are conducting this year. The program consisted of a morning workshop in natural clay, held at the Mosmar Pottery. In the afternoon, there was an optional afternoon tour in the city. The program was organized by Dyana Shaloufi Rizek. The hosting artist was Bassam Mosmar.
Read full article
Shabab Exhibition
This was an exhibition of young artists expressing themselves through art with various methods, materials and tools. The exhibition focused on individual life and its dilemmas, on learning, experimentation, continuity and perseverance. The four featured artists, Klil Wexler, Aseel Egbariah, Shani Avivi and Shade Twafra, created a unique environment that fascinated and inspired everyone who came. The exhibition ran from May 20 to July 20. On the final day, a meeting took place with the artists. They spoke about their works and answered questions from the audience of WAS-NS members and accompanying family members, friends and admirers.
A new exhibition, "Fragrance of the South" has just opened: more about this in the next newsletter.
The Nadi Youth Centre
The Nadi – the village’s after school framework for children and young people - strengthens the connection between kids and between families, inculcates the values of our unique village, and helps to develop in the children a sense of belonging to and caring for their place of residence. The various programs incorporate values acquisition, leadership training, enhancement of creativity and the development of social skills.
Under its new director, Lihi Levian Yaffe, the Nadi has expanded its activities and even moved to a new location! With the renovation of the new nursery, the Nadi was able to move to a much larger space suited to the growing number of children and young people under its wing.
Activities were tailored for the Nadi’s three age groups: grades 1-3, grades 4-6, and grades 7 and up. They included enrichment activities like Lego building, board games, nature trips, soccer games and drama. During mid-term school breaks and the long summer vacation, the Nadi arranged additional special activities.
Spring Break
With most of the village’s children on vacation for two or more weeks, the Nadi arranged a variety of activities: a family walk to the Latrun Monastery, a pottery workshop for making signs for the children’s rooms, an artwork session, a community day at the village horse stables, a family picnic, a bowling tournament and a chess tournament, joint theater games and an Easter egg hunt.
Summer
In early summer our neighboring village Harel was evacuated due to severe fire damage for several weeks so we opened the Nadi for them to use as a temporary nursery until they were cleared to return home.
During their long school break, the Nadi children enjoyed a trip to Tel Aviv’s nature museum, took part in a regional soccer tournament, attended movie evenings, did some construction with recycled wood, played soap bubble games, and held a book festival in the village. The activities came to a grand ending with a play directed by our Yasmin Bar-Shalom.
We are already working hard on next year’s program that will include new youth groups guided by the youth themselves! Children from nearby communities have also been invited to participate in our programs. Stay tuned till our next up-date…
Communications and Development
Academic Contacts
Two happy events at the end of the academic year helped to strengthen our relationship with institutions of higher learning in Israel. One was the selection of Samah as the first Arab woman on the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (see interview with Samah on WASNS website )
The second event was an exciting invitation for Samah to speak at an Open University of Israel graduation ceremony. The Open University is the largest university in the country. The thousands of students and their families present were moved to learn about our vision of living together, activism and peace. Here are a link to the video and to her speech
Embassy Contacts
In the recent quarter, as part of our work to strengthen contacts with diplomatic delegates in the country, Communications and Development director Samah Salaime attended several festive events at the Canadian, French and British embassies and, in addition, arranged a visit to the village by the German ambassador.
The German ambassador, Dr. Susanne Wasum-Rainer visited on April 15, after previously meeting Samah in January. Her visit was highly successful, for which see separate articleon the WASNS website.
On May 22, Samah was invited to an ALLMEP event at which Canadian Ambassador Deborah A. Lyons spoke about Canada’s agenda for peace, the environment and human rights in Israel / Palestine. The ambassador invited Samah to attend a roundtable on women’s leadership in the country, attended by various corporate executives from civil society. The Canadian ambassador will be visiting the village soon.
On July 14, The (outgoing) French ambassador Helene Le Gal invited WAS-NS representatives to celebrate Bastille Day at her residence. Attending were ambassadors from around the world, government figures, business leaders and representatives from many peace organizations. At the event, Samah met the Jordanian ambassador and invited him to visit the village. The ambassador was interested and pleased to learn that a significant number of School for Peace take place in his country.
The United Kingdom has a new ambassador to Israel, Patrick Neil Wigan. The ambassador chose held a working session in Nazareth with Arab women leaders from various organizations, which was attended by Samah Salaime who invited the ambassador to visit. The embassy staff has already come to the village to prepare the ground and to hear our views and ideas on Jewish Arab relations in the country.
Overseas Contacts
Rayek and Nava in Switzerland
Two new books (German language link) recounting the success of WAS-NS, one, The Anteater and the Jaguar, based on WAS-NS longtime resident Rayek Rizek’s personal journey in life and in the village. The other, The Power of Dialogue, by School for Peace director Nava Sonnenschein, brings together the fascinating stories of 25 successful School for Peace graduates who continue their life journey and contribute towards various fields.
The Swiss Friends of Neve Shalom Wahat al-Salam invited Nava and Rayek to a conference of the Association in Bern, at which they were able to speak and to launch German and English versions of their books.
Conference in Morocco
Samah Salaime was invited to speak at the Women and Peace in the Middle East Peace Conference in Morocco, which brought together representatives from Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Israel, Palestine and the United States. Since the Israeli women’s delegation did not include any Palestinian citizens of Israel and only Jewish women were therefore present, Samah joined the Palestinian delegation, which included activists from shared society organizations and Palestinian representatives from Jerusalem.
News from the Visitors Centre
During the first half of the year (January to the end of June), about 2,000 people visited the village; a third from Israel and two-thirds from abroad.
Various high profile visitors came during this time, including the diplomatic delegations mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter. In addition we had significant group visits of faculty and students from a number of local and international educational institutions, including the University of Malta, University of Vienna, students groups from China, Hong Kong and Australia, and various European countries. There were also visits from peace organizations such as Hands of Peace (Jewish and Arab children) and women’s groups. Our busiest months are usually in the fall, during which period this year we are expecting important groups from WASNS friends associations and the upcoming annual meeting of the friends associations in the village.
Volunteers and Interns
In recent months, the Communications and Development office has received several interns from France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden - all of them students who worked here for periods of varying length and worked in the educational institutions and the C&D office. They received guidance and close support from the staff and shared with us their impressions from the community.
One of these interns, Helen Kaufmann, a teacher, came to us from Lucerne University in the framework of an innovative teacher exchange program. The collaborative arrangement involves the Swiss Friends Association, the School for Peace and the Primary School. It will give teachers experiential learning in peace education and multicultural education according to our model.
New Coordinator: WASNS member Reem Haj Yehya has now taken over from Raida Hatib as coordinator of our volunteers and interns program. Reem, who recently returned to WAS-NS after obtaining her degree in psychology has previous village experience in coordinating the Palestinian summer camp, and has volunteered in many village youth projects. Our plan is to develop and renovate the volunteer house and to encourage our Friends Associations to send more representatives to come to work and study at the various village institutions. We will be happy for any assistance with this.
The National Elections
In the run up to the September 17 national elections, we invited representatives of the political parties to visit for a discussion evening with the residents. Representatives of two parties, the Joint List and Meretz accordingly visited.
A political and media storm was provoked recently when Joint List leader Ayman Odeh stated in an interview that he would be prepared to support a center-left government under certain conditions, such as a commitment to work towards ending the occupation and granting full rights to Arab citizens. Following Ayman Odeh’s comments and the reactions to them, Samah wrote about the affair in Local Call (Hebrew) / +972 Mag (English), and was interviewed by key media outlets.
The activities and ongoing development of Wahat al-Salam Neve Shalom depend on the moral and financial support of all who believe in our mission. Please contact us or our Friends Associations (see below) about possibilities for tax-free donations.
Bank Information:
Association of Friends of Educational Institutions
Acct No. 12-690-454444
IBAN: IL 92-0126-9000-0000-0454-444
Swift code: POALILIT
