The School for Peace

As you may already know, the School for Peace suffered an arson attack in September of 2020, largely destroying the SFP library and main classroom. That no one was hurt is our chief gratitude - but the outpouring of support from all over the world has also underlined the vital importance of our programming. The process of rebuilding has been taken as an opportunity to rebuild our facilities to further enhance programs with newly spacious, versatile facilities. Having already raised [amount], we have only to raise another [amount] to ensure completion of the project.

But even though a pandemic and the loss of our main gathering space, the work of pursuing peace and justice has not slowed, not by a long shot. Ongoing meetings of the Change Agents for Theater and Cinema course, Environmental Justice Course, Change Agents Training Course for Lawyers, and Arab-Jewish Forum for Planners have all taken place in the last six months. These ongoing programs train and encourage a variety of professionals to create the sort of cross-cultural collaborations which will build sustainable peace.

This work is further sustained by the naming of Dr. Roi Silberberg as the director of the School for Peace. With his unique perspective as an alum of the program, his leadership is already helping to open new avenues of collaboration and education. Looking forward to the rest of 2021, with the support of our friends, the School for Peace will continue to host the Change Agents courses while also significantly expanding both Graduate programs and collaborations with institutions in the village. While updating the School for Peace curriculum, we will also train facilitation groups for youth and adult cross-cultural encounters and offer courses at four Israel universities. In all these ways, we work to stay at the forefront of this moment and this movement.