Givat Haviva Voice

On the dry, grassy fields of the Givat Haviva campus in northern Israel, 70 boys from fourth through sixth grade spent Tuesday afternoon running around, playing in the pool, and getting to know one another. The children are all neighbors, from the Wadi Ara and Menashe regions of Israel, and they came to the Givat Haviva campus of the Center for a Shared Society for a three day Soccer for Peace Camp. Although most live within a twenty minute distance from each other, they rarely have the opportunity to interact, since half of the boys are Arab citizens of Israel and the other half are Jewish citizens. In his opening and closing remarks to the campers, Givat Haviva director Yaniv Sagee told them that sport is a means to bring hearts closer together, and this philosophy guides the three-day-long experience. The camp is funded by Soccer for Peace, an American non-profit that seeks to unite children in war-torn areas through their shared love of soccer. “You can give a group of ...

We, the 2018 Heart to Heart delegation, have come together to express our opposition to Israel's recently legislated Nation State Bill. We are Jewish and Palestinian youth, between the ages of 14 and 15 who are all citizens of Israel. We believe in creating a better future by working together towards a shared society. For the past three weeks we have been . participating in a youth delegation in Canada in order to give hope to the next generation. After reading and discussing Israel's Nation State Bill we feel angry and upset. We feel that the law is unfair. Some of us feel disappointed, ashamed, frustrated and scared for the future. We are all opposed to the bill and our different reactions are a reflection of the way in which this bill will affect our communities in different ways. Our delegation came to Canada to address problems of discrimination and inequality in Israel and we feel that this new law is pointing our society in the opposite direction....

Some weeks ago, Givat Haviva hosted a group of German youth who arrived in Israel on a reciprocal visit. The Youth Exchange Delegation is part of an annual leadership project of the youth departments of the Baqa al-Gharbiyye and Menashe Partnership. The project is led by the Education Department at Givat Haviva and the Pardes program, a group of Hashomer Hatzair educators engaged in youth education for social involvement and activism. The name that was chosen for the project, "I am/not wanted?" refers to the issue of the refugees, from a past and present perspective, with regard to the waves of war refugees and labor migrants during the Holocaust, after the Second World War and to this day, in Germany, Israel and other countries in Europe and Africa. During the intensive, multi-workshop week, the youth visited: At the "Besa" ["word of honor" in Albanian] exhibition at the Moreshet Institute in Givat Haviva, showing the rescue of the Jews of Albani...

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!

May 27, 2018 Visit of Ministers of Education from German States : Dr. Stephanie Hubig of Rhineland-Pfalz Mr. Ulrich Commerçon of Saarland Mr. Udo Michallik, Secretary of the Federal Board of Education Mr. Tomas Kerstan, Education correspondent for Die Zeit The purpose of their visit Givat Haviva was to deepen their understanding of the impact of our work as an educational organization, especially within the formal education system. They were particularly interested in our work with the educators who in turn work with the children. Photos of the visit: https://www.facebook.com/GivatHaviva/posts/1021874694631148

In his words, “The Jewish people, dispersed over hundreds and thousands of years, always knew how to merge into the majority population. I expected that the Jewish people would become a model for the entire world, how to integrate the minority population in the best possible way. I am happy to learn about the center of Givat Haviva, whose activities and work strategy, has taken upon itself to serve as a model for the interaction of minorities in Israel.” More pictures here

Hewn from white Jerusalem stone, an impressive memorial to the children who perished in the Holocaust is situated just a few meters from the home of kibbutz born and raised sculptor and collector of Judaica, Aviram Paz. Having taken a particularly heart-wrenching feature from the late 1940’s created Shoah memorial - a desperate mother trying to protect her terrified child – Paz has sculpted from a large chunk of olive wood a very special, poignant Hanukiah for the approaching Festival of Lights celebrations. The eight hand forged chunky iron candle holders placed at the mother and child’s feet are representative of the fire and smoke emanating from the crematorium chimney stacks, emphasizing the connection between the celebration of the miracle of Hanukah and the devastation but also survival of European Jewry from Hitler, the Nazis and their henchmen. Completed in 1946, the memorial to the children who died in the Holocaust was created by Polish born Zeev Ben-Zvi who emigrat...