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A NEW CHAPTER FOR THE PRIMARY SCHOOL The 30th school year began for the Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam Primary School, which opened its doors in September, 1984, as the first binational school in Israel. On the first day, children from eight different towns hopped off the buses, their faces bright and eager. This year also marks the inclusion of the Primary School in the Israeli public education system. This designation from the Education Ministry has been a long-time goal, and the Primary School is now uniquely positioned to serve as a vital model of cooperative learning and teaching. However, despite inclusion in the public system, the Primary School — with its bilingual curricula and staff — remains self-sustaining. But day one was all about the children: The incoming first graders (pictured above) were greeted warmly by the sixth graders in an introduction ceremony that included a blessing for each new student from their older schoolmates. Surely, if sixth graders and first graders can become fast friends, anybody can. Please Support Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam by making a donation The American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam encourages, supports and publicizes the projects of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, the “Oasis of Peace.” For more than thirty years, NSWAS has been dedicated to dialogue, cooperation and a genuine and durable peace between Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis. Learn about the many ways you can support the programs at www.oasisofpeace.org

The first day for the first grade.

NEVE SHALOM/WAHAT AL-SALAM ON THE WORLD STAGE

SPREADING THE WORD IN THE UNITED

KINGDOM Every two years the Oasis of Peace U.K. invites two young people to present the NSWAS community and its educational work in a speaking tour. This year, Nadine Nashef and Tali Sonnenschein were chosen for the 10-day tour which took place from April 20–30. As second-generation members of Wahat al-Salam/Neve Shalom, they were well equipped to speak about their experience growing up in a cooperative Jewish-Arab village. Childhood friends and graduates of the Primary School, Tali and Nadine eloquently explained both the challenges they face in their day-to-day lives, due to the ongoing conflict, and the benefits they have derived from living in this unique village. The two women visited a diverse set of organizations in and around London: church groups, synagogues, Rotary clubs, legal groups, the UK Task Force, and others. With each visit, they engaged audiences in lively discussions about the principles and challenges of the Oasis of Peace; many listeners were learning about NSWAS for the first time. You can watch these remarkable young women answer questions on a panel in the U.K. on our website: www.nswas.org/article1078

AMBASSADORS OF NSWAS

Tali Sonninschein and Nadine Nashef.

A VISITATION, ITALIAN STYLE

Many groups from all around the world come to Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam in a spirit of friendship and support; some even come bearing gifts. On August 15th, NSWAS enjoyed a visit from a group of schoolchildren from the Pernici Primary School in Riva del Garda, Trento, Italy. Rita Boulos, Director of Visit Programs, gave the group of 16 a guided tour of the village. Then the children presented Rita with a folder full of vibrant and colorful peace-themed pictures, like the one above which shows the “fairy” of NSWAS.

A Ceremony of Lights at the Spiritual Center The Pluralistic Spiritual Community Center hosted the “There Must be Another Way” event for Kids Creating Peace, an organization dedicated to meet-ups for Palestinian and Israeli children ages 15–16. The program lasts one year and includes approx-imately 60 children from all over Israel and Palestine. The Pluralist Spiritual Community Center was proud to host the final gathering, which concluded with the lighting of candles by every member in attendance. The candles were placed on a map to symbolize the act of lighting up the world with peace.

VOLUNTEER VOICE TESTIMONIAL In September, Lera Yavich wrote a letter to the MASA Israel Teaching Fellows program, of which she is alum, imploring MASA to add NSWAS to the list of destination cities for their teaching fellows. While on her ten-month teaching fellowship in Israel, Lera visited NSWAS and was so taken by the village, its people, and its mission, that she returned again after her fellowship ended. Lera wrote: “I think it is of utmost importance that participants in MASA programs stay at Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam to learn about the peace-making process, various opinions, and how a community with such a deep conflict can strive to survive within a country that doesn’t necessarily support it (not to mention the healing power I believe this village has).” She added: “If we are to come visit Israel, learn about its culture and its history, then we should also learn about the future and what the possible outcomes are for the country.... If a village such as Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is able to survive during such intense times, then we are to have at least one thing for the future: hope.”

AFNSWAS TEAM UPDATES A warm and enthusiastic welcome to our new Director of Development, Sarah Burns, who will settle in to her new position with AFNSWAS on November 1. Sarah brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, having spent the last five years as Director of Development for Just Foreign Policy, an organization that promotes peace in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran. Sarah has also worked with the United Nations, the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, Relief International, and the Women’s Foundation of California, among many others. Welcome aboard, Sarah!

The start of the new year at the Primary School reminded volunteer Christina Valentin that “Our friends from early childhood often remain fast friends throughout life. I thought of this today when visiting the 3rd grade. There I found Yara and Naomi, who are best friends despite their cultural differences. Yara was born to a Palestinian family and lives in NSWAS. Naomi was born to a Jewish family and lives in Gizo, a nearby village.” Christina has taught in primary schools in London and Innsbruck, Austria, her home town. She began volunteering at the Primary School in September and lives in NSWAS housing.

Christina was especially touched by the friendship between Naomi and Yara (above): “Yara’s mother told us that on the morning after Sukkot [a school holiday], Yara jumped out of bed, smiled from ear to ear and said: ‘Hurray, today I will see my Jewish friends again.’ It makes me wonder why elsewhere in Israel such children need to attend different schools and grow up separately.”

The American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is a not-for-profit organization with 501(c)(3) status under the Internal Revenue Service Code. American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam 12925 Riverside Drive, Suite 230 Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 818-325-8884/afnswas@oasisofpeace.org Donate online at www.oasisofpeace.org/donate

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Fred Segal owns two clothing stores in the Los Angeles area and counts among his friends the world’s most prominent peace activists. In 1987, Fred helped organize the 450-mile peace walk from Leningrad to Moscow. A year earlier, he hosted a birthday party for His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Fred Segal Peace Park in Malibu, CA.

SUPPORTER PROFILE: FRED SEGAL Fred Segal’s involvement with NSWAS dates back to 1989, when he hosted a fundraiser at one of his clothing stores. But it’s the Fred Segal Friendship Library that is his most lasting contribution to the NSWAS community. Opened in Spring 2010, the library is dedicated to peace studies and conflict resolution. The library’s ever-growing collection includes multimedia, multi-lingual materials on political science, sociology, psychology, history, and law. At the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Segal — or “Freddie,” as he’s known around the village — reflected on his 20+ year involvement with NSWAS, whose mission is close to his heart. “We all want world peace,” he said, “especially those of us that have been working actively towards this goal. The Fred Segal Friendship Library may be very helpful in what we want.” In his book Love One Another, Freddie reflected on the mission of NSWAS: “The people of Neve Shalom have been living and learning together for over 35 years. This is a role model for Israel and the world. At the School for Peace, Jewish and Palestinian children learn Arabic and Hebrew in the same classroom — growing together and building personal friendships, a foundation for peace. Neve Shalom has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Many of us think peace begins with someone else. Peace begins with us. The responsibility belongs to all of us.”

The Fred Segal Friendship Library is the first of its kind in the region.