A talk from Samah Salaime, the Communications Director of a quite remarkable village Wahat al-Salam-Neve Shalom-Oasis of Peace.
Here Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews live together in equal numbers. Here, there is a primary school, where Arab and Jewish children from the village and the outlying community attend in equal numbers. The teaching is bi-lingual. Here is also the School for Peace, which runs programmes for Jewish and Arab professionals, and students of all faiths and ages aimed at promoting understanding between the two communities. The Pluralistic Spiritual Center, provides a framework for spiritual reflection on issues at the core of the middle east conflict and the search for its resolution.
Samah will talk about current events in the context of the work of the village and show how only its inclusive and peaceful model can provide lasting peace.
As a Palestinian Moslem woman of Israeli citizenship, she has developed a serious reputation in Israel for her public advocacy of equal rights between Jews and Palestinians. She is a founder of Women in the Center (an NGO tackling Arab women’s issues) and a strong supporter of efforts to improve inner-city relations between the Arab and Jewish communities.