Givat Haviva Voice

On page 13 of the “Deal of the Century,” almost as an afterthought, hidden among all the clauses about annexations and a conditional Palestinian state, the President of the United States brings up the vision of transfer, and then adds a justification to this that should shock any Jewish person living in the United States. This is something that is astounding in and of itself, when you take into account that the four architects of the agreement: Ambassador Friedman, son-in-law Kushner, and emissaries Greenblatt and Berkowitz are all themselves Jewish Americans. Trump is proposing the option of an exchange of land in which Wadi Ara (the northern triangle), along with the southern triangle up to Kafr Qasem, will be transferred along with its residents (because according to this plan of course no one is vacating his home) to the State of Palestine. Not a personal transfer where a resident is thrown out of his home, but rather a collective transfer is what he proposes, throwing citi...

Last month, Givat Haviva Israel's Executive Director Yaniv Sagee spoke at the United Nations in New York as part of the final step in gaining Consultative Status for Givat Haviva for the UN’s Economic and Social Council. Consultative Status in the Council is the highest status the UN gives to non-government agencies, giving them a number of rights to participate in the work of the UN, to present their viewpoints, and to deliver testimony. By granting Givat Haviva this status, it also means the UN has certified that the work done at Givat Haviva has direct relevance to the aims and purposes of the United Nations. We are excited about this important new relationship with the UN!

 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...

From the Ha’aretz Oct 2016 supplement “Israel at the Cutting Edge” Leaders//Innovation Talk SOCIAL ACTION / Yaniv Sagee Innovation can mean – and must mean – casting aside paradigms that are no longer relevant. For us, at Givat Haviva, it has meant changing the way we view shared life between Jews and Arabs in Israel. Founded in 1949 by the kibbutz federation, Givat Haviva was and remains the pioneering organization tasked with promoting what we used to call “coexistence” in Israel. If coexistence was the goal, dialogue was the means of bringing about change. The theory was simple: In a state in which Jews and Arabs live in separate communities and attend separate schools, we must bring them together for joint encounters in which they can get to know one another and develop a basis for good relations. In October 2000, with the outbreak of the second intifada, that premise of coexistence crumbled – as Israeli Arabs identified with their people, the Palestinians....

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...

Givat Haviva condemns the heinous murders committed against innocent civilians in Tel Aviv last Friday. We share in the mourning of families who lost their loved ones, praying for a quick recovery of the wounded, and hope that those responsible for the crime will be caught soon. In the face of rumors and suspicions poisoning the public atmosphere and the venomous incitement against all Arab citizens of Israel, incitement in which unfortunately the Israeli prime minister decided to play a major and destructive role, we stand behind the public announcement of the Council of Ara-Arara strongly condemning the murder and declaring in unambiguous terms "that this is a case of one man who is not representative of the villagers" and stressing "that the incident is alien to our culture and the culture of both villages." As an organization acting in partnership with the Local Council of Ara-Arara on behalf of shared living, we know that their statement faithfully reflects...

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...

On a cold winter evening three and a half years ago, I went to Hampshire College in Massachusetts. At the time, I was the Jewish Agency emissary of Hashomer Hatzair in North America. I went there to help one of our youth group counselors, Allison, who was caught in a double bind. As a counselor for Hashomer Hatzair, in opposition to the occupation in the territories and inequality between Jews and Arabs in Israel, she found herself under attack and socially boycotted by Jewish students on campus. On the other hand, identifying as a Zionist who views Israel as the national home of the Jewish people, Allison found herself attacked and boycotted by leftist groups and supporters of Palestine on campus, who accused her of racism. "Even in the United States, it's difficult and complex to be a Shmutznik (nickname for member of Hashomer Hatzair, leftist Zionist youth movement)," I thought to myself as I walked to meet with students from both groups who came to hear me media...

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...

Mr. Mohammed Al Madani and the Palestinian delegation, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, Mr. William Grant, mayors, heads of peace organizations, the Kibbutz Movement, youth movements, students, dear citizens – Salam aleikum! Welcome to Givat Haviva, ahalan wa-sahalan! From the day it was founded, 65 years ago, by the kibbutzim of Hashomer Hatzair, Givat Haviva has been committed to peace. We have organized this conference together with our Palestinian associates from Al Tawasul, out of a sense of urgency shared by citizens who are holding hands, demanding their leaders to make peace. It was almost a year ago that President Obama visited here in Israel.  He chose to make his keynote speech at a public event, addressing the entire nation. In that speech, he said: "That's where peace begins -- not just in the plans of leaders, but in the hearts of people.  Not just in some carefully designed process, but in the daily connections -- that sense of emp...

Anyone who thought there cannot be serious peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians was sadly mistaken. The talks are on the table and people of the right are feeling the pressure. This is also the pretext for Liberman’s latest proposal for transferring territory and populations in exchange for Israeli populated areas of the West Bank.  According to his plan, Wadi Ara and the Triangle would be transferred to the Palestinian state, together with the inhabitants.  The very idea is despicable, immoral, a blow to Israeli society, and, in any case, constitutionally, does not stand a chance of being adopted. Some background: Wadi Ara and the Triangle were assigned to Israel at the armistice talks held with Jordan in Rhodes in 1949. This is how it came about that 300,000 Palestinian Arabs live in the villages and cities of the area.   They represent an historic ethnic minority with their own distinct culture and dialect, much like the more th...