Editing Arab–Israeli peace projects (section)

== Educational efforts ==

=== Act Beyond Borders ===
The project<ref>[http://www.actbeyondborders.net/ Act Beyond Borders Website]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001164105/http://www.actbeyondborders.net/ |date=October 1, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.futureworlds.eu/wiki/Act_Beyond_Borders|title=Act Beyond Borders|date=14 April 2015 }}</ref> is funded by the European Commission's European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) for Strengthening the role of civil society in promoting human rights and democratic reform, in supporting the peaceful conciliation of group interests and in consolidating political participation and representation (Transnational and regional actions). It is implemented by [[Future Worlds Center]] based in Cyprus with the collaboration of the Association for Progressive Education in Honor of [[Meir Ya'ari]] (YAARI) and the Palestinian Dialogue Center. The action aims to enhance the capacity in CSOs to actively promote Human Rights within their community, on a national as well as a trans-national level. It actively engages civil society actors from Israel and Palestine to collaborate on jointly developed community action projects that aim to foster mutual understanding, to promote and advocate for the implementation of Human Rights standards in the region. One of the aims is to bring together stakeholders from countries in the same region with the view of facilitating the peaceful conciliation and management of group interests and promoting solutions on divisive matters or controversial areas.

=== MEET – Middle East Education through Technology ===
[[MEET – Middle East Education Through Technology|Middle East Education Through Technology]] (MEET) is an innovative educational initiative aimed at creating a common professional language between Israeli and Palestinian youth. Working together with the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] ([[MIT]]), MEET enables its participants to acquire advanced technological and leadership tools while empowering them to create positive social change within their own communities.

Program founders Yaron Binur, Anat Binur, and Assaf Harlap became aware that many Israelis and Palestinians never get a chance to interact with one another on a personal level, even though they grow up and live a few short miles from one another. Inspired by their experiences of multicultural cooperation in international educational institutions, the founders decided that a fast-paced, intensive program in technology would be an ideal medium to bridge the divide. With this vision, they created MEET in the summer of 2004.

MEET seeks excelling Palestinian and Israeli high school students; admission into the program is very competitive. Once admitted, students meet continuously for three years. Their first summer includes instruction in basic Java programming; this extends into the first yearlong segment of the program. The second summer includes more advanced topics in computer science and introduces a business and entrepreneurship curriculum. The program is capped by a long-term project beginning in the second yearlong segment and extending into a final summer term. Alumni activities maintain the student network after graduation.

MEET graduates have been accepted into top universities in the region and abroad, including the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/meet-tt0919.html|title=Unique Middle East program rooted at MIT bears fruit|author=Greg Frost, News Office|date=19 September 2007|work=MIT News}}</ref> The skills and bonds of friendship forged by MEET students, combined with the students' natural talents, prepare them for a successful future of leadership, achievement, innovation, and cooperation.

Aside from its partnership with [[MIT]], MEET has been supported by the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] (which has donated lab space for the summer sessions since MEET's inception), [[Al-Quds University]], [[Sun Microsystems]], [[Hewlett-Packard]], and other national and international organizations,<ref>[http://meet.mit.edu/board.html Partial list of MEET's supporters] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720001934/http://meet.mit.edu/board.html |date=July 20, 2011 }}</ref> as well as many individual volunteers from around the world.<ref>[http://meet.mit.edu/ MEET's Website]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828192533/http://meet.mit.edu/ |date=August 28, 2016 }}</ref>

=== Hand in Hand Bilingual Arab-Jewish Schools ===
[[Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish Arab Education in Israel|Hand in Hand]] runs a network of four bilingual ([[Arabic]] and [[Hebrew]]) schools that serve more than 800 students in Jerusalem, the Galilee ([[Galil Jewish-Arab School]]), Wadi Ara ([[Hand in Hand – Bridge over the Wadi|Hand in Hand "Gesher al HaWadi" School]]) and [http://www.hajar.org.il/ Be'er Sheva (the Hagar School)].  Half the students are Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the other half are Jewish citizens of Israel.  Students study in both languages simultaneously, and plans call for an eventual expansion to the 12th grade.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=627266&contrassID=2&subContrassID=15&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y Eli Ashkenazi, "The Jew comes to learn from the Arab – and it works," ''Ha'aretz'' English Edition (Israel), September 21, 2005.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220224608/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=627266&contrassID=2&subContrassID=15&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y |date=February 20, 2007 }}</ref> [http://www.handinhand12.org/ To Hand in Hand's Website in English]

=== The Institute for Circlework ===
The Institute for Circlework organizes workshops in Israel that unite Jewish and Arab women, with a particular focus on women leaders. The intention of these workshops is to awaken global consciousness, that is, the awareness of our commonality as members of the human family and of a single planetary community.

Circlework is a method developed by a German-Jewish author and seminar leader, Jalaja Bonheim (www.jalajabonheim.com), which she has been practicing and teaching in the United States for 25 years, and in Israel since 2005. Circlework uses circle gatherings to create a field of open-heartedness and love powerful enough to heal individuals and communities. Circlework is based on the assumption that the root causes of violence and war lie within us, and that our own consciousness is where change must begin.

The Institute for Circlework offered its latest series of circles in Israel during the Gaza war.<ref>[http://www.instituteforcirclework.org/ web site of the Institute for Circlework]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009093444/http://www.instituteforcirclework.org/ |date=October 9, 2016 }}</ref>

=== TEC-the Center for Technology, Education and Cultural diversity ===
TEC strives to build trust between Arabs and Jews, religious and secular through joint online courses and initiatives between college students and school children. The center established in 2003 by the heads of ICT in 3 teaching colleges is funded by the Mofet Institute Tel Aviv.<ref>[https://archive.today/20121219041159/http://tec.macam.ac.il/ web site of TEC]</ref>

=== The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies ===
The [[Arava Institute for Environmental Studies]] is an environmental studies and research program, located in [[Ketura, Israel|Kibbutz Ketura]], Israel. The Institute's mission is to advance cross-border environmental cooperation in the face of political conflict. Under the motto "nature knows no borders", the Arava Institute brings together Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and other international students and researchers to enable them to cooperatively solve the region's environmental challenges.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/21/arava-institute-muslim-jewish-dialogue_n_7105274.html|title=In The Middle East, Muslims And Jews Work In Unison To Care For The Environment|date=2015-04-21|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=2016-06-01}}</ref>

In the Arava Institute's academic program, the participants study a variety of interdisciplinary courses ranging from sustainable agriculture, through waste management, to political ecology; as well as engage in a weekly peace-building leadership seminar that serves as a platform to address the Arab-Israeli conflict, and seeks to provide them with tools for open dialogue and conflict resolution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.israel21c.org/joining-hands-to-build-a-green-future-in-the-mideast/|title=Joining hands to build a green future in the MidEast|website=Israel21c|date=19 May 2016 |access-date=2016-06-01}}</ref>

In addition, the Arava Institute holds a number of research centers that engage in transboundary scientific work in the fields of water management, sustainable agriculture,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/051122-old-plant-seed-food/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324045922/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/051122-old-plant-seed-food/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 24, 2015|title=2,000-Year-Old Seed Sprouts, Sapling Is Thriving|date=2005-11-22|work=National Geographic|access-date=2016-06-01}}</ref> conservation,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/science/.premium-1.687747|title=Evrona Reserve's Ecology in Danger Due to Oil Spill's Damage to Trees|last=Rinat|first=Zafrir|date=2015-11-23|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=2016-06-01}}</ref> renewable energy,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/world/middleeast/solar-project-pairs-muslims-and-jews-to-aid-west-bank-farmers.html|title=Solar Project Pairs Muslims and Jews to Aid West Bank Farmers |last1=Glanz |first1=James |date=2016-05-14 |last2=Nazzal|first2=Rami|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-06-01}}</ref> and sustainable development.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dbknews.com/2016/03/29/israel-arava-institute-water-shortages-umd/|title=Israel Arava Institute addresses water shortages with UMD students|website=The Diamondback|access-date=2016-06-01}}</ref>