THE GIVAT HAVIVA EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE IN ISRAEL – a brief history

Givat Haviva was founded in 1949 as the national education center of the Kibbutz Artzi Movement, a federation of 83 kibbutzim throughout Israel. Its overriding goal is to foster the creation of a true shared society, resisting racism and all forms of discrimination and fostering greater understanding between different groups in Israeli society and among nations, through educating for peace, democracy, coexistence and social solidarity. The interpretation of these values and their translation into actual civil society work has developed throughout the years and has been adjusted to the changes in Israeli society and its needs. Today, through its various departments, Givat Haviva carries out numerous civil society projects in the fields of Jewish and Arab dialogue and partnership; empowerment frameworks for women; empowerment and capacity building frameworks for Israeli Arab civil society; various courses, educational and training frameworks, and many more – projects which have proved and continue to be highly effective, and some of them prize-winning projects. In addition, Givat Haviva enjoys a unique reputation thanks to its vast professional experience, especially in the fields of training empowerment courses targeting Israeli Arab civil society and women and in leading Jewish-Arab dialogue activities.

Givat Haviva acknowledges the reality that Israel embraces a wide range of ethnicities, nationalities and religions.  We believe that in a true democracy, equal rights for all citizens are an essential component.  Our mission, therefore, is to contend with those pressing national issues that confront Israel's collective social conscience:

• Striving to maintain the principles of democracy, compromise and dialogue.

• Resisting the patterns of hatred and intolerance throughout society.

• Highlighting pertinent social justice issues in the modern democratic state.

• Advancing Jewish-Arab relations in Israel and in neighboring Arab countries.

• Teaching the heritage of the Shoah and its impact on modern society.

• Documenting and disseminating the history of HaShomer HaTzair and the kibbutz movement.

Givat Haviva's spacious campus provides a well-appointed infrastructure for our programming, including classrooms and conference rooms; the library hosts the largest collection in Israel of Arab press clippings dating from the 1920's as well as the archives of the kibbutz movement, now undergoing digitization. Through the various departments at Givat Haviva – including the Jewish-Arab Center for Peace, the Arts Center, the Peace Library, Moreshet Mordechai Anielewicz Memorial Center for Study and Research of the Holocaust, Yad Yaari Archives, the Noa/Nuha Center for Women and for Gender Studies and the International Department – our distinguished faculty of Jewish and Arab educators contributes to a contemporary approach to teaching.  We believe that education is the most important contribution we can make to future generations.  Through workshops, seminars, lectures and dialogue groups, we endeavor to break down existing stereotypes and pave the way for new thinking and social change.