The ICFC workshops in Israel created active engagement and leadership development at the community level between Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, and other minorities who because of complex history, pained memories and ongoing conflict hold resentments.
GOALS
The project sought to:
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Rebuild Israeli Arab and Israeli Jewish Communities and interdependencies that foster conviviality and profit
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Confront painful pasts in building better futures for Arabs and Jews, from different geographic backgrounds and different religious commitments
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Foster dialogue between formerly opposed Israeli Jews and Arabs, who never imagined they would be able to converse or work peacefully with each other
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Support them to take joint actions to reinforce their redefined relations and to strengthen their communities
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Transform hostility into collaboration between Arab and Jewish neighbors
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Confront painful pasts in building better futures for Arabs and Jews, and citizens of Israel’s surrounding countries
ISRAEL
PARTNERS
LOCATION
PROCESS
GOALS
PROCESS
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In 2003, ICFC President, Dr. Hillel Levine, convened a group of international experts to train Israeli Arab and Jewish facilitators in the ICFC’s method of Historical Conciliation.
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Between 2004 and 2009, ICFC and its facilitators conducted intensive pilot projects in three multiethnic communities. All were in or on the verge of conflict prior to ICFC intervention
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In May 2010, the ICFC trained 26 Ossim Shalom facilitators in the method of Historical Conciliation
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These trained facilitators conducted successful workshops in four “hot spot” communities
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On November 2627, 2010 ICFC and Ossim Shalom held an intensive weekend retreat for the Hajar Inter-Communal Leadership Training Group in Beersheva, Israel.
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For our current activities in the Middle East, please see our DeadSeaNet project page
LOCATION
Israel and Palestinian territories
PARTNERS
Ossim Shalom (OS)
Like ICFC, OS identifies dialogue as the most basic and effective tool of social work. Owing to its widespread presence throughout Israel – it employs around 1,600 social workers – OS brings extensive local connections to the partnership. This has allowed ICFC to scale up significantly its national presence.
Learn more about our partnership with Ossim Shalom:ICfC-OS Partnership
The Hajar Inter-Communal Leadership Training Group
This NGO composed of concerned Arab and Jewish residents in the area, established bilingual elementary school in Beersheva, one of only five ethnically mixed schools in Israel. The children come from Bedouin families, Israeli-Palestinian families, and Jewish families of the region.
This joint undertaking and more has proven that the Hajar group has a genuine, steadfast commitment to peace and pluralism with one another. However, even the most established, capable bi-national groups in Israel are susceptible to disintegration when political disasters strike, as many residual and unresolved conflicts, pains, suspicions, and tensions lie beneath the surface, thwarting imagination and inhibiting action.
Therefore, ICFC and Ossim Shalom worked with the Hajar group to provide them with the critical tools necessary to ward off the potential for falling apart during difficult political times. A group of 15 participants from Hajar, including the school’s parents and board members, participated in a series of Historical Conciliation workshops and the intensive weekend retreat.
Partnership between the Beodouin leader Kher Albaz and ICfC Advisory Council member Yosef Abramowitz moves forward and gets media attention.
This recent article published in Haaretz was written by Yosef Abramowitz, ICFC's Advisory Council member, and Kher Albaz, ICfC's Senior Fellow and International Trainer. Mr. Albaz and Mr. Abramowitz were brought together by ICFC President and Founder Hillel Levine to discuss the problems of the Bedouins living in the Negev. This article communicates how an entrepreneurial association can enable Bedouins to contribute to the environment through growing and using solar energy in Israel, while strengthening their economic standing, educating their children, and fully participating in a pluralistic society.
Image by David King