Givat Haviva Voice

 Text and photos: Lydia Aisenberg “I have been to Israel at least 20 times in the past but for some reason I never visited the Givat Haviva Center for Shared Society, and have to admit to this being a real mistake,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told hundreds of Israeli Jewish and Arab educators, Israeli teens, overseas students and local Jewish and Arab dignitaries during a visit to the doyen peace education campus in Wadi Ara. “My wife and I have been really touched meeting old friends again here in Israel but also in the making of new ones as we are experiencing such a warm and friendly an atmosphere such as here today in Givat Haviva, and for that we thank you,” said President Steinmeier toward the end of a 2 hour visit to the 1949 founded organization which he described as being “an isle of hope.” “Where politicians failed you are succeeding in showing that Jews and Arabs can live together in Israel and as you say, the goal must be to show youngsters co...

A week ago, for a moment, it seemed like a ray of light pierced the darkness. The prime minister and the leader of the opposition spoke together about a historic opportunity for peace that would justify a partnership between them. By the next day it was clear that the light was from the engine of the train of war and hate … and we got a right-wing nationalist government. In the choice between peace and war, between democracy and ethnocracy, in the choice between a politics of fear and a politics of hope, again and again my beloved country chooses the slippery slope that leads to ruin. But we have not gathered here today for the sake of anger and wailing. We have gathered here to strengthen the construction, the partnership, the hope, the true light and not the false. We have gathered together because we are connected partners in the society which is marching toward that slippery slope, but we are also working to prevent the crash and to create an alternative. 2500 years ago, t...

Sixty years after the conclusion of WWII, the UN decided to make January 27 th , the date of the Red Army’s entrance into Auschwitz, the official date of the International Holocaust Memorial Day commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. The UN issued a decision encouraging member states to develop curricula to teach the younger generations the lessons of the Holocaust in order to prevent such crimes in the future, to preclude any attempt to deny the Holocaust, and to denounce all instances of religious intolerance, racism and violence against ethnic or religious groups. Here in Israel, we focus on anti-Semitism, so Naftali Bennett, who is both Minister of Education and Minister of the Diaspora, presented The Anti-Semitism Report in this week's cabinet meeting. According to the daily paper “Yisrael Hayom," this Report indicates that more than 40% of EU citizens hold anti-Semitic views and agree with the statement that Israel behaves as did the Nazis or that Israel is con...

Together with all those who love this country, the peace camp, and Givat Haviva, I mourn the passing of Yossi Sarid, who was a partner in the struggle for the soul and the character of the State of Israel. I knew Yossi when he was Minister of Education, and I never forgot the attention and encouragement he gave me in my position as head of the National Council of Youth Movements and general secretary of HaShomer HaTzair. Yossi was the clear voice of the Left and the Peace Camp, a voice that was sharp as a knife and was unwilling to remain silent in the face of any injustice in the one country that he knew and loved, always loyal to his belief that one should demand more from what he loves most. Yossi was a politician, but first and foremost an educator who believed in education as the key to shaping the character of Israeli society. This was the aim of his actions and writings, and the source of his support for Givat Haviva’s activities in his various positions in politics and...

The government of Israel was wrong to outlaw the northern branch of the Islamic Movement. This measure shows a lack of insight and understanding of Arab society in Israel. Transparent relations between Jewish and Arab citizens are essential for the democratic fabric of the state of Israel and for the relations between Jews and Arabs living in a shared society, even if at times such relations are challenging and difficult. The activity of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement did not meet the expectations of the Jewish public, and even parts of the Arab public, but better that it be open and transparent than clandestine and underground. Yaniv Sagee, Executive Director of Givat Haviva, and Mohammad Darawshe, Director of the Center for Shared Society, said, "Dialogue between conflicting narratives is difficult and challenging, but it is better than no dialogue. The state should deal with the issues raised by this discourse in a more democratic and educational manner th...