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Showing posts from July, 2014

The Center for a Shared Society at Givat Haviva

?Shall we forever live by the sword
A personal and national reflection on the day my son was inducted into the Israel Defense Forces

Yaniv Sagee, Executive Director, Givat Haviva Twenty-four years ago I fell in love with my wife and life partner, Galia. I was then 26 years old, the Secretary General of Kibbutz Ein Hashofet. This was about a year after I returned from representing Hashomer Hatzair and the Jewish Agency in the United States. It was four years after I completed my service in a Paratroopers Commando Unit, where I spent time Lebanon and served in the First Intifada as part of my reserve duty. Galia was a fresh discharge, who had just completed her military service as a welfare officer of the Golani Brigade. After five years of being together, we got married and our first son was born, Tav Sagee. Today, after the completion of his year of civil service in Hashomer Hatzair, he was inducted into the army for combat service. At the height of the Gaza conflict, the next generation is joining the cycle of war. How long will this continue? My father, Yaakov Sagee (Weissman) was born 77 years ago, in

Call from Wadi Ara Mayors and Givat Haviva

Heads of Local authorities from Wadi Ara in a call to the public: In these difficult days, we, heads of local authorities in the Wadi Ara region, together with Givat Haviva, find that it is appropriate to turn to the residents living in this area and to call upon them to maintain a peaceful fabric of life.  Over the past few weeks we have witnessed acts that may harm our long term efforts to promote equality and civic and economic partnership in our region. We believe that violence and racism are not the solution. It is important to maintain restraint, not to follow any rumor, and to seek ways to strengthen the solidarity that exists between the different communities in our area. Over the last decade we have worked very hard to create the basis for a joint and secure life for all the residents of this region. Our region is an example of a region where common economic and commercial life exists, where educational activities, communal activities and social and cultural activities take p