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Givat Haviva Educational Foundation eNewsletter
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Dear Friends of Givat Haviva,
We continue to keep you informed about important developments at Givat Haviva. Please encourage friends and family members to subscribe to this e-newsletter on our website, or by writing to us at subscribe@givathaviva.org As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.
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Important Givat Haviva Professional Speaks at JCPA
Speaking at the national plenum meeting of the Jewish Council of Public Affairs (JCPA, Washington, D.C.) in February was Sanaa Abu Asbeh-Watad, co-director of the Noa/Nuha Women’s Center at Givat Haviva. Asbeh-Watad spoke about Arab-Jewish relations and the work of Givat Haviva.
The session, co-chaired by David Mallach, UJA-Federation of NY, and Steve Shapiro, Chairman and Executive Director of GHEF, gave excellent exposure to Givat Haviva’s activities. GHEF Executive Committee Member Steve Skrainka, who is also active in JCPA, was the moving force behind Asbeh- Watad’s talk.
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Cohen and Krueger Families Visit Givat Haviva
Cathy Cohen, her husband, David and their son, Adam (who speaks Arabic), Harvey Krueger, and his wife, Connie, enjoyed a wonderful visit to Givat Haviva followed by lunch at Sanaa Abu Asbeh-Watad 's home in Jatt. Sanaa is director of the Children Teaching Children program and of the MEPI program at Givat Haviva.
Cathy, an extraordinary social activist who utilizes poetry to help economically disadvantaged and challenged children, as well as to promote tolerance between children of different cultures, presented a short poetry program together with Sanaa during her visit to Givat Haviva’s Arab-Jewish Center for Peace.
Myriam Dagan, co-director of the Women's Center, and Dudu Amitai, director of the Library and of Public Relations, were Harvey's guests at the dedication of the Peter Krueger Resource Center, Library and Music Appreciation Hall at the Ironi "Z" School in Yafo; the school serves a culturally diverse student body. The event was attended by leading corporate figures in Israel.
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MEPI grant for Arab Empowerment Program at Givat Haviva
A key Givat Haviva program for Arab empowerment has been awarded a $350,000 MEPI (Middle East Partnership Initiative) grant from the US Embassy in Israel. The grant will support the Institute for Training Community Leaders and Municipal Workers in the Arab Sector, a project implemented jointly by Givat Haviva’s Jewish-Arab Center for Peace and the Arab Mayors Council.
By raising the professional skills of Arab community workers and leaders, and improving the level of the services they provide to their constituents, the program strengthens the foundations of democracy and facilitates social change in Israeli Arab villages and cities.
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Face to Face Program Aims for 3500 Participants
Some 1,000 Jewish and Arab Israeli high school students continue to meet for two-day seminars of mediated encounter and dialogue. The sessions are designed to break through barriers of preconception, mistrust, and misunderstanding, as well as to impart skills for open discussion of the Jewish-Arab conflict.
The program seeks to welcome 3,500 student participants this coming year. “We’re preparing for the increase by obtaining and training more facilitators and using a more intense marketing plan to recruit schools’ participation. We will also upgrade our program materials in order to allow the program to mature,” says Shachar Yanai, Director of Education at the Jewish-Arab Center for Peace.
This successful program is funded in part by the Stella & Charles Guttman Foundation and the Sam Spiegel Foundation.
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Addition to New York Office
Simcha Shtull has joined our office as communications coordinator. Simcha, who lived for 20 years in Israel, brings many years experience as editor, web designer and communications consultant. With her arrival, the GHEF office hopes to increase the quantity and quality of its web/print promotional and marketing materials.
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Steve Shapiro, Chairman and Executive Director; Martin Mensch, Treasurer;
Judith Scheuer, Secretary; Guy Ben Dror, Israel Representative;
Linda Rubin, Associate Director; Simcha Shtull, Communications Coordinator
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