Givat Haviva Voice

Wreath ceremony at the Nyamata memorial, Kinazi. The remains of 50.000 victims of the Genocide are buried here.  From left to right:  Torsten Reibold, Representstive Europe Givat Haviva/Havatzelet Bernhard Kukatzki, Director State Agency for Civic Education  Dr. Beate Welter, Director Memorial SS Außenlager Hinzert, Rheinland-Pfalz Roger Lewentz, Minister of Interior Torsten Reibold, Givat Haviva´s Representative in Europe participated in the official 25th commemorations of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Torsten Reibold was part of an official delegation of the German Federal State of Rheinland-Pfalz – a decade-long partner, both to Givat Haviva and the Republic of Rwanda. During their stay, the group visited several memorials, remembering the atrocities of summer 1994, spoke with politicians and official representatives as wel l as survivors´ organizations and civil society activists engaged in reconciliation efforts and preserving the memories of the v...

During a parliamentary visit to Israel, President of Austria Mr. Alexander van der Belen and his entourage chose to visit Givat Haviva, as a leading organization building a shared society in Israel. In his remarks, the President thanked Givat Haviva for being a source of hope not only for Israel but for people throughout the world. The President praised Givat Haviva for being an inclusive and unusual institution in its successful and pioneering activity toward building a shared society. He said he hopes to share our experience and lessons learned with the inhabitants of Austria, involved in their struggle to build their own society. He took particular pleasure in meeting the students of the Givat Haviva International School and their fresh, young spirit. Read more about President van der Belen’s visit <here> Album of the event <here>

Nov 2, 2018 Visit of the Minister of Justice of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Mr. Peter Biesenbach. The Minister of Justice of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Mr. Peter Biesenbach, arrived at Givat Haviva at the head of a delegation of jurists. This is Mr. Bisenbach's fifth visit to Israel and his fourth to Givat Haviva. The Minister asked to hear about Givat Haviva’s educational programs and encounters. He was especially interested in following up what was revealed to him during his previous visits, in particular how to create real, social and interpersonal interactions in these meetings beyond mere formal meetings between the young students. During his visit, the minister and his delegation also met with students from the International School and heard about the reasons that led them to come to study at GHIS. The delegation included: Minister of Justice of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Mr. Peter Biesenbach; Dr. Andreas Christians, Head of the Depa...

At the beginning of September, a delegation and seminar for the leaders of the March of the Living delegations and leaders of the youth exchanges with Germany and Poland was held in Germany. It was attended by a delegation from  Havatzelet and Givat Haviva’s Historical Department. The delegation was hosted by the Caritas Institute in Nuremberg and Haus Am Maiberg Institute in Heppenheim. This was the first meeting of its kind of experts from Germany, Israel and Poland who have been involved for years in multi-cultural delegations and meetings on issues of collective memory, the Holocaust (March of the Living to Poland) and the youth exchanges with Israel, Germany and Poland. The encounter created an opportunity to exchange experience and knowledge on complex educational issues, such as difficult historical content (Holocaust and memory) and intercultural challenges during encounters between youth from conflict areas. The discussions considered the need for joint thinking...

We, the members of Givat Haviva’s Public Council, stand in support of all those who are leading together the agenda for creating a shared society in Israel - even at these difficult times in the wake of the National State Law - An Israeli society based on civic equality, substantive democracy and protection for minorities: these are the values expressed in the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel. We are categorically opposed to the oppressive National State law whose hasty enactment has created a deep rift between Arab citizens and the state, and we seek its immediate revocation. This law delivers a mortal wound to Israel’s social resilience and undermines the legitimacy of the citizenship of some 20 percent of the country's population. The law nullifies the principle of equality, which is critical to our efforts to establish a shared society, and undermines the foundations of equality that we have been working on for 70 years. Alongside our serious...

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....