British Friends of Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al Salam

Neve Shalon ~ Wahat al -Salam workshop

by Daniel Z. Zylbersztajn-Lewandowski

This press release and invite was first published by me in Nov. 2008f for the British Friends of Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al-Salam.

Conflict Transformation Workshop in London based on Wahat al Salam ~Neve Shalom

Here are details about two brilliant events in the near future in London. British Friends of Wahat al Salam ~ Neve Shalom have asked me if I could post this on my blog. I gladly oblidge.



واحه السلام

נוה שלום

Oasis of Peace






BRITISH FRIENDS OF

Wahat Al-Salam ~ Neve Shalom
British Friends of Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al Salam www.oasisofpeaceuk.org
Premier House,112 Station Road,
Edgware, Middx.HA8 7BJ
020.89524717
benita.h@oasisofpeaceuk.org
Title: Applied Methods of the School for Peace in Wahat al Salam / Neve Shalom

Event Type:
Training Day Opportunity for Anyone with an interest in the Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Community Workers, Mediators, and Allied Professions and for anyone likely to deal groups in conflict. Location: London, England, 13th. Nov 2008, 9.30-16.30
We would like to offer the opportunity to gain some exceptional insights in dealing with people in conflict. It is a unique opportunity, which we are only able to offer this due to generous funding from a supporting trust, and hence hope you are just as excited as we are about this.

Details: Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al-Salam (The Oasis of Peace): This internationally famous community, where Arab and Jewish families have chosen to live together, works for peace in two crucial ways:



* it is witness to the possibility of peaceful co-operation between the two sides in the conflict, and


* for over thirty years it has run encounter workshops, where members of the Arab and Jewish communities in the region are facing each other, almost always for the first time, to confront the reality of their situation and look for ways forward.
WaSNS is located on the former no-man’s land along the pre-1967 armistice line, and infamous site of former war between Jordan and Israel, the grounds of the hills of Latrun monastery. By coincidence, not far from the Israeli Defence Forces tank museum, Jews and Arabs have chosen to live together for now 30 years in an almost polar destination for peace in the region. As far as we know it is the only place lasting that long, that was erected with the intention of the two sides living together.


The institution, School for Peace, set within the village is a renowned and internationally recognized centre of excellence in the transformation of conflict trough encounters between Arabs and Jews. It parallels with other centres in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Bosnia and other high conflict centres world-wide.


In our unique London one-day workshop on the 13th of November 2008, or prearranged at your own institute / organization, we focus on the methods of the School for Peace. We like to pass on some of its core ideas and skills.


This is a unique way of thinking through conflict beyond arbitration, and to consider issues of power, language, religion, ethnicity and general approach to a conflict like the one between Israelis and Palestinians or the ones you may face in your own work.


We also run a series of workshops for teachers for example on the 3rd of February at St Ethelburgas, London, which is more geared towards their needs.


The British Friends of Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al-Salam can also provide training nationwide on requested location.


Susan Denton-Brown our trainer is a former Head of Religious Education from West Sussex (1988-2006). She always had an interest in non-violence and conflict transformation and began to pilot British Friends of WaSNS “Dealing with Conflict” Teacher’s Pack eight years ago in her classroom, contributing to its publication in 1999. She later became one of the first British School for Peace trained facilitators. She is also inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent approaches to conflict, and is developing training materials for the Gandhi Foundation UK, as well as working on her own educational resource.


Our aim in the workshops is to provide a good understanding of the processes involved in our specific conflict transformation, as practised by the world renowned mediation centre, The School for Peace (SFP) at Wahat al-Salam ~ Neve Shalom and the experiences and challenges posed here.




Costs:
70 Pounds full rate, 50 Pounds concessions. Includes the book “Palestinian and Israeli Identities in Dialogue.” Optional: Dealing with Conflict, A Teaching Resource £20.


The base fees can be topped up with optional further donations to the charity.


Please book well in advance, by emailing or phoning us.


When? 09.30-16.30, 13th of November 2008 – one day
Location: Sion Centre for Dialogue and Encounter
34 Chapstow Villas
W11 2QZ


Bookings and Enquieres Benita Hide
Tel. 020-89524717


We also offer on site training throughout Great Britain on request.



  1. Who is Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al Salam? Wahat-Al Salam ~ Neve Shalom
  2. What is the School for Peace? School for Peace
  3. Who are British Friends of Wahat al Salam ~ Neve Shalom (Oasis of Peace)Oasis of peace
  4. General Press: Church Times, Radio Four Midweek (select 21st of May) , BBC World Wide TV (27th May) , BBC World Service (20th May and June 08 Persian Service), Radio Netherland, Daily Telegraph
  5. Susan Denton Brown Article (opens pdf)
  6. Wahat al Salam in Arabic



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Also….

Three faiths poetry evening
2008 is the European Year of Inter-cultural Dialogue. How to celebrate this and make it mean something? Three poets from three different faiths are coming together at St John’s Wood Church in the evening of 6 November to perform work – their own and others’ – which they feel represents their own interpretation and appreciation of inter-cultural dialogue.
Rana Kabbani, Rabbi Mark Solomon and BH Fraser, the City poet will talk about their poetry choices and read from 1830.
Speaking about why they are taking part in this event, Rabbi Solomon finds that poetry distils the essence of human experience and aspiration, and so hopes that sharing poetry in an interfaith gathering will create a bridge of understanding and profound sympathy which will carry us all to greater knowledge and hope.
Benjie Fraser feels that in times of crisis and uncertainty, there is often a chance to give birth to fresh initiatives. One such venture is this evening of three poets and three faiths to give voice to interfaith dialogue. It is an inspiring and exciting challenge which he hopes will give expression to new projects for how the faiths can work more together in Britain. No one faith has an exclusive hold on anything but many faiths can sometimes sound as one voice.
Rana Kabbani believes the three religious cultures share a love of language and poetry, that their central messages are ones of peace – so sadly unheeded – and that they have more things in common than differences.
Tickets for the event which include refreshments before and after the readings are £20 and the proceeds will go to Neve Shalom – Wahat al-Salam : a village, jointly established by Jewish and Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel engaged in educational work for peace, equality and understanding between the two peoples. http://www.oasisofpeaceuk.org





The evening is also being supported by the European Commission Representation in the UK.

NOTES:
Rana Kabbani is a writer, art critic and broadcaster. Born in Damascus in 1958 to a family of well-known poets (Nizar Kabbani), musicians, dramatists (Abu Khalil al-Kabbani) photographers, jurists (Fawzi al-Ghazzi) and Islamic mystics (Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi), she grew up in New York City and Djakarta. She is the author of Imperial Fictions, a highly-acclaimed critique of Orientalism in travel writing and art. Her second book, Letter to Christendom, was made into a BBC documentary. She has translated into English the poetry of the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, (to whom she was married), published as Sand and Other Poems.
BH Fraser published his first collection City Poems in 2004. He has given recitals in and around the City of London at locations including The Guildhall, Inner Temple, Mansion House and St Stephen Walbrook. He has spoken about his City poems on radio and
television. His work has been published in magazines including PN
Review and Standpoint. New work can be found at www.bhfraser.com
Mark L Solomon was born and educated in Australia. He trained as an orthodox rabbi and received ordination from Jews’ College, London, in 1991. After serving an orthodox congregation, he joined Liberal Judaism in 1992, and in 2000 was appointed Rabbi at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John’s Wood, where he also sings as a cantor. He is ‘foster rabbi’ of the Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community, and has been lecturer in Talmud at Leo Baeck College since 1992. With a special interest in interfaith dialogue, Rabbi Solomon is Co-Chairman of the London Society of Jews and Christians and a governor of the Ammerdown Centre in Somerset. He is active in Jewish-Muslim dialogue and is a member of the steering group of the Scriptural Reasoning Society, trustee of the Interfaith Alliance UK and the London Ecumenical AIDS Trust.
To book send a cheque over £20 per booking to
Bookings and Enquieres
British Friends of Wahat al-Salam~Neve Shalom
Premier House
112 Station Hse
Edgware
Middlesex HA8 7BJ
Website: www.oasisofpeaceuk.org