A Local-to-National
Program for Building a Shared Society in Israel
A Givat Haviva Flagship Program, SharedCommunities is a bold, concrete response to the urgent challenge of creating
a socially cohesive society in Israel. The program builds structured, mutually
beneficial cooperation between pairs of neighboring Jewish and Arab communities
divided by increasing tensions and mutual alienation that threaten the democratic
fabric of Israel today.
What differentiates Shared Communities from
other Jewish-Arab P2P initiatives?
· Long-term
community engagement: A 4-year program going beyond limited encounters to
establish sustainable frameworks for cooperation that advance long term goals.
· Multi-generational:
Targeting
all ages in order to generate significant change within family units and across
generations – creating a new social reality.
· Holistic:
Inter-community
projects reflect community needs and interests in a wide range of sectors
appealing to diverse audiences.
· Bottom-up
and top-down: Links
political and grassroots levels in a unique framework rooted in the community
and supported by municipal leadership.
· Critical
mass: Activities
are implemented on a large scale in order to reach a critical mass that can
bring about community-wide change.
How does the program work?
Municipal leadership and citizens are engaged
across the Jewish-Arab divide through the creation of inter-community mechanisms
and frameworks that facilitate joint action responding to common needs, goals
and interests. Key program components include:
1. Cross-CommunityProject Implementation: Community activists coordinate the implementation of
cooperative projects reflecting the needs and interests of communities based on
a comprehensive mapping process. Hundreds of residents engage in grassroots
projects in fields such as education, economic empowerment, ecology, art and
culture, capacity building, sports and more.
2. Inter-MunicipalSteering Committees: Joint
steering committees are established between each pair of communities, headed by
mayors and including municipal staff and grassroots community leaders.
3. Capacity Building& Training: Community leaders are
empowered through activities strengthening skills necessary for successful
program implementation.
4. Think Tank: Local and
international experts, researchers and practitioners accompany the project,
helping to build a model of inter-community cooperation for replication on
national and international levels.
5. Seminars &Conferences: The
program brings together participants and the wider public at strategic
intervals to share experiences and amplify impact.
What has been done so far?
Givat Haviva has established a partnership
between the first pair of communities -
the Jewish town of Pardes Hanna-Karkur and neighboring Arab village of Kfar
Kara. Ten projects are being implemented simultaneously between these
communities engaging over 500 citizens. Based on the success of this pilot, 13
new pairs of communities have asked to join the program. Shared Communities has
also been adopted by the Israeli Union of Local Authorities as a best practice
for scaling up nationwide.
Why Givat Haviva?
This initiative builds on 60 years of
experience gained by Givat Haviva, a non-profit organization founded in 1949 as
the national education center of the Kibbutz Federation in Israel. A pioneer of
Jewish-Arab joint programming, Givat Haviva has developed Shared Communities as
a new model for building a shared society and helping to foster a sustainable,
thriving Israeli democracy.
