School for Peace brochure

School for Peace brochure (PDF)

The School for Peace was established in 1979 as ideological-educational institution in Wahat Al-Salam ~ Neve Shalom with the aim of influencing the Palestinian-Jewish relations in Israel and Palestine. It constitutes a part of the efforts made by the residents of Wahat Al-Salam ~ Neve Shalom to promote more humane, egalitarian and just relations between Palestinians and Jews, and is the first educational institution in Israel promoting broad-scale change towards peace and justice.

Our work at the School for Peace is educational and political with the aim of creating a more humane, egalitarian and just society. Our team of facilitators approach their work from a critical understanding of reality and emphasize the repercussions of minority-majority relations on the reality we live in, on the power relations between both sides, and the asymmetry that exists in Israeli society.

Our experience has taught us that facts and knowledge do not suffice in creating social-political conscience and re-examining reality. On the contrary, directly addressing events, while taking care to create a safe space for examining feelings and thoughts in the group, as well as challenging socio-political structures and offering an alternative to the participants.

Part of our programs take place at the School for Peace campus in Wahat Al-Salam ~ Neve Shalom, other programs are conducted in universities, in different communities in Israel, Palestine and even outside the region. Through our programs we try to apply the principles on which our village and community was founded. The location of the School for Peace in Neve Shalom – Wahat al-Salam, which is the only community in Israel where Jews and Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel live together in equality and peace, a safe and mutually accepted meeting place for both peoples to feel at home and to draw encouragement from a model of equality and partnership.

We offer programs which include ongoing bi-national and uni-national programs for change agents from different groups, including: students, teachers, university students, therapy professionals, activists in civil society organizations, leaders from mixed cities, lawyers, planners, journalists, doctors, environmentalists, politicians and more. We also work with the general public and professionals working with both peoples. Through interaction with the other, the participants develop critical thinking, they are exposed to oppressive mechanisms which construct society and strengthen the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and a clear and health national identity is formed. In later stages, the participants develop motivation to act for social and political change in our reality. The School for Peace acts as a supportive body and mentors the initiatives of the participants.

The School for Peace is an independent body whose main income comes from foundations and friends of Wahat Al-Salam ~ Neve Shalom around the globe, and from the participants. The institution is governed by a board and administration, the educational staff is composed of equal numbers of Jewish and Arab facilitators, who hold tertiary degrees in the humanities and are specially trained to facilitate groups in conflict. Each dialogue activity where Arab and Jews meet is facilitated equally by Jewish and Arab facilitators and tries to meet the needs of each national group.

We work in complete cooperation with Palestinian organizations who promote democracy and peace, especially the Inmaa Palestinian Organization, which is based in Ramallah. In addition, we cooperate with the Tahfiz organization from Jenin, and other Palestinian peace organizations. Throughout the years, and during all political eras, Palestinians from Israel and from the Palestinian Authority came to the School for Peace for dialogue groups and expressed satisfaction from the process and the equal place their group was given relative the Jewish national group. We continue to work and hold meetings even “under fire”, and we declare that even during crisis, our effort to stop the war and promote peace will not cease.

The School for Peace was among the first peace organizations to create dialogue and cooperation between academicians from universities and field activists, this is expressed in the courses which the School for Peace holds in three leading universities and colleges all over the country. This cooperation is also expressed in joint seminars and research on Wahat Al-Salam ~ Neve Shalom and our work, with local and international researchers.

Today, we hold a number of course for different professionals throughout the year, in cooperation with different non-profits, such as the Arab Center for Alternative Planning for our Planners and Architects program. In additions we hold courses for environmentalists, leadership in mixed cities, and a program for train 120 future politicians, Israeli and Palestinians, to become the leaders who will bring peace and justice between the two peoples. This latter program is held in cooperation with Inmaa and with support from the European Union. In addition to the courses we hold workshops for high school students, and academic courses in Tel-Aviv University, Ben Gurion University, Haifa University and Ruppin College.

In autumn 2017, the School for Peace opened a three-year training program under the title “Building Peace & Resilience” for change agents from the mental health professionals, Israelis and Palestinians, to fight incitement, and lead joint projects which promote peace between the two peoples. The program is supported by USAID.

To this day, over sixty-five thousand Jews and Arabs from Israel and Palestine participated in our courses. A number which is growing each year.