The School for Peace Grant Winners for 2023
The School for Peace Grant Winners for 2023
SFP Graduates who initiate and implement social-political projects that promote a just and equal society
The Winner of the Dr. Nava Sonnenschein Grant for Outstanding Projects In the sum of 16,000 NIS
Project title: The Heart of the City
Project lead: Yasmine Shbita
SFP Course Graduate: Agents of Change in Planning and Architecture, 2019
About the Project:
The plan is to establish a public park in a derelict part of Tira, with an artistic center piece consisting of a historical map of the town. The map’s design is informed by interviews conducted with veteran local residents and historians.
The project has two goals: to improve the appearance of the public space, making it accessible to public use; and to bolster collective identity and connection to local history and culture, especially in the younger generation.
The project is part of a “placemaking” initiative started by the Tishreen Association and The Arab Center for Alternative Planning.
The park and map centerpiece were inaugurated about six months ago after two years of intensive labor by a crew of volunteers. Now, the addition of facilitates, such as shading and benches, is required as well as securing regular maintenance.
In addition, the ‘Heart of the City’ team is currently working on an interactive audio story project featuring local Tira residents that will appear in various locations in the city. QR codes will be added to the map in the park that will link to audio stories. This will add an artistic-historical aspect to the map that will act as resident-made archive of the town.
Grant will be invested in developing the park and the audio story project.
3 School for Peace Grant Winners In the sum of 4,000 NIS each
► Project title: Documentary film about the “Two States, One Homeland” movement
Project lead: Tamar Yarom
SFP Course Graduate: Group Facilitators, 2018
About the project:
The purpose of this documentary is to encourage viewers to imagine the possibility of ending the conflict. The film starts with a happy ending: the conflict is finally resolved with the foundation of an Israeli- Palestinian confederation. The film tells the story of how this came to be.
The story is told from the perspective of the not-so-distant future, in the year 2048. Most of the film consists of real-time documentation of a political movement that was founded about 10 years ago called “Two States, One Homeland.” The movement has a novel and innovative political vision that is both utopian and practical: a confederation. The story is set in the future to allow viewers to witness the possibility of a different future and political solution with their own eyes, while they are introduced to the solution proposed by “Two States, One Homeland.” The aim is to clarify the potential of their vision and convince the viewer that a feasible political solution that emphasizes equality, peace and partnership exists. Documentaries are a powerful tool with the potential to stir meaningful discourse and open our eyes to new ideas. Once the notion of a confederation is disseminated throughout the public, leaders will have a new path to promote.
The film is currently in editing, and the grant will assist in this process. The aim is to secure an association with a broadcasting organization that will allow broad commercial exposure.
► Project title: Construction waste repurposing for aquaculture
Project lead: Nidal Ali Nasser
SFP Course Graduate: Agents of Change in Environmental and Climatic Justice, 2021-2022
About the project:
The aim of the project is to repurpose construction waste in order to promote environmental education while promoting agriculture. The project includes 13 schools, including high schools. Elementary school pupils learn how to fashion hydroponic crop system from discarded plastic piping, and high schoolers learn to create an aquaponic system and collect bread scraps to use as fish feed. The grant will support outreach to a special needs school in Kfar Manda, where a project has been implemented to repurpose shipping containers for agriculture and aquaculture via pipes.
► Project title: “Dogma 48,” an interdisciplinary art project
Project lead: Einat Weizman
SFP Course Graduate: Agents of Change in Journalism, 2010
About the project:
Dogma 48 is a spectacle / artistic format that will center around archival documents: physical evidence, testimonies, and other leads to wider narratives about the history and continual colonial reality in Palestine/Israel. The show will feature artists from various fields, with each using two documents – one historical and the other contemporary – to call attention to processes that started in 1948 and continue to the present day. The aim of the project is to create a living, creative and topical archive, and to expose the institutionalized mechanisms of power and violence exercised by the state.
Beyond being an instrument of disseminating knowledge, the spectacle will allow creative interpretation of the colonial reality in which we live. Art has a unique ability to cast light on processes and mechanisms, as well as arouse attitudes and feelings in the audience that transcend simple factual reporting. At its best, artistic action stems from an ethical ground, where artists assume responsibility for the space they inhabit.
The grant will assist with paying artists. In May 2023, premiere performances took place at the Tamuna Theater in Tel Aviv