June 2025 Newsletter

June 2025 Friends of Givat Haviva Newsletter

Dear Friend,

As you’ll read in Michal Sella’s moving update below, we are living through an extraordinarily painful time. The war in Gaza continues with no end in sight, hostages remain captive, and hope often feels just out of reach. Yet, Friends of Givat Haviva remains steadfast in our commitment to supporting education, coexistence, and the long-term work of building a shared society in Israel.

We are heartened that Michal will be traveling to the United States next week to meet with American Jewish leaders in Boston, Cleveland, and New York. These conversations are timely and vital, especially as we witness a disturbing rise in antisemitic attacks here at home. Michal’s visit and her powerful voice remind us that shared society initiatives can serve as a beacon of hope—even in times of despair.

We are also grateful to our media advisor, Ken Bandler, for securing recent coverage in both The Christian Science Monitor and The Jewish Independent. This kind of exposure helps bring Givat Haviva’s work to broader audiences and reinforces the importance of our mission.

Thank you, as always, for your continued partnership and belief in the work we do. Please reach out if we can be of assistance.

Jonathan Lack

Interim Executive Director and Board Member

Friends of Givat Haviva

We have been living in an unbearable reality for a long time. The horrible war continues, the hostages are still being held, even though most of Israeli society is interested in their return and the end of the war. The horrific images coming from Gaza do not permeate the Israeli media. We live in uncertainty about the condition of the kidnapped and in the knowledge that this enormous suffering, the danger and inhuman price that civilians pay are not leading to an agreement and a return to normal life.

On Givat Haviva's campus, the impact of the war is clearly visible. Daily, we face emotional exhaustion, the erosion of the belief that one day this trauma will end, and the uncertainty that does not allow children and youth to grow up in a safe environment. How do you find joy and create a safe space for youth in a region engulfed in suffering and anger? 

At Givat Haviva, we do not turn a blind eye; we believe in continuing the work of education and the pursuit of equality to build a better Israeli society. I want to update you on our educational and other achievements, which are beacons of light in these dark times.

The school year is coming to an end, Givat Haviva is preparing for the next school year, in which we will expand, together with the Ministry of Education, the "Shared Language" program for Hebrew studies in Arab society. Thanks to the recognition of its importance, the program will operate next year in about half of the Arab high schools in Israel to raise the level of literacy among tens of thousands of students. This move will open up opportunities for young Arab students to study in the Israeli academy and integrate into leadership roles in Israeli society in a more equitable manner. We will be participating in a discussion in the Knesset Youth Committee, headed by MK Naama Lazimi, to address the enormous importance of studying Hebrew in Arab society. We are determined to give every Arab student and young adult in Israel the ability to express themselves in Hebrew, alongside strengthening Arabic as a mother tongue and restoring its status as an official language in Israel, as it was before the passage of the Nation-State Law in the Knesset.

I hope that you had a peaceful Shavuot and Eid al-Adha. We pray for an end to the war and for peace in our future.

Michal Sella

Executive Director, Givat Haviva

מיכל סלע מנכ"לית

ميخال سيلع مديرة عامة

After Oct. 7, a hub of Jewish-Arab shared society faces its toughest test

Jewish Insider- 5/13/25

Artists pursue coexistence in the shadow of Gaza

The Jewish Independent- 5/22/25

The third conference on politics and Arab society, held at the initiative of Haaretz and the New Israel Fund, dealt with the main challenges of Arab society and provided a platform for a number of public representatives, politicians, senior academics and leaders from civil society organizations. Michal Sela, CEO of Givat Haviva, and Ola Najmi Yosef, Director of the Jewish-Arab Center, spoke at the conference about the place of Givat Haviva in designing a shared and safe space for young people and youth.

A group of graduates of the "Other Eyes" program, which conducts photography trips around the country, visited the Circassian village of Kama this month.

The unique Circassian culture, its customs, traditions and daily life were described by the hosts and inspired the photographers to shoot from new angles. In the photo: The group of graduates together with Jinan Halabi, the program director, who is usually behind the lens

Journeys into the depths of Arab society and culture for academic staff. The Leadership Department at Givat Haviva this month brought lecturers and faculty from David Yellin College and the University of Haifa to Rahat. The participants were exposed to the challenges that life in Rahat brings, with an emphasis on personal security and employment, and visited the Beit El-Shaar Museum of Bedouin Heritage.

The second art conference, “Where Do the Muses Go? The Role of the Art Field in an Extreme Reality,” was well attended by artists, curators, and art lovers. The conference addressed political pressures, Jewish-Palestinian solidarity, and silencing. Were you unable to attend? You are invited to read more here.

Just before the exhibition "Wild Light" opens, we invite you to get to know the artists. Rotem Sharaf and Ragad Suad, graduates of the residency program, wrote a joint article that was published in "Erab Rav" magazine (in Hebrew). Four residents - Samer Salameh, Odia Zilber, Ragad Suad and Roni Pixler - were interviewed for the "Behind the Scenes" podcast, edited by Ruthie Keren.

Part A and Part B of the podcast (in Hebrew)

What does the comprehensive Arabic course at Givat Haviva include? Much more than a table, a teacher, and a classroom. This month, the students of the comprehensive course went on a tour of Barta'a with their teacher, Samia, to practice the language in a real environment, because language is learned from life itself.