British Visitors Impressed with Peace Projects Left to right: Michael Collins, Doreen Gerson, Ian Herbert, Cllr. Susan Fildes and Assistant Chief Constable Ian Seabridge of Greater Manchester Police in the Jewish-Arab Centre for Peace, Givat Haviva. Director of the Israel Information Centre in Manchester, Doreen Gerson was out of town last week as she was accompanying a small delegation of Mancunians visiting Israel under the auspices of the IIC and Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The group of four represented the media, local politics, police and branch of UK government's Trade and Investment Department. During their rather short but exteremely hectic visit to Israel, Michael Collins (Director of International Trade – Business Link, Warrington), Ian Herbert (a northern based journalist with The Independent), Cllr. Susan Fildes (Leader of the Trafford Council) and Ian Seabridge (Assistant Chief Constable, Greater Manchester Police) popped in to visit the Jewish-Arab Centre for Peace at Givat Haviva. Following an explanation about the many peace education projects bringing Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel together - both on and off campus working through schools, youth movements, local councils, sport and art projects – the delegation visited the Peace Tree fashioned by a few dozen Jewish and Muslim teens during a summer break from the official learning bench, exchanging pencil and pen for hammer and chisel to create the impressive 20ft high sculpture. Although she has been to Israel many times before, it was the first visit of Manchester IIC's director and former Glaswegian Doreen Gerson to Givat Haviva and said that she had heard a great deal about the work done by the organisation and was delighted at the opportunity to actually see the campus for herself. Northern based journalist with The Independent Ian Herbert commented: "We have been introduced to even more complexities in this most difficult of areas but shown that through mutual understanding there is a way to build community cohesion."