Historical Timeline
Historical Timeline
Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom
Timeline 1970 – 2017
This document is still (and will always be) a work in progress. The absence of a specific date does not imply that it is unimportant, or that certain events are of greater importance. As a general guide, the timeline indicates beginnings of specific projects, construction of public buildings, some life transitions, and provides some indicators of statistics for the village over time. Comments may be sent to info@nswas.info.
1969 | Fr. Bruno Hussar, the founder of Wahat al-Salam, begins to speak with monks at the Trappist Monastery at Latrun about the possibility of establishing a peace community on land owned by the Monastery. |
1970 | An association for Neve Shalom is authorized by the government. With the agreement of the Monastery, a small group of people including Bruno Hussar settle in the ruins of the crusader fortress on Latrun hill. November 6: A contract is signed with the Monastery to lease 41.2 hectares of land on the Ras Abu Morah hilltop for 49 years, at the symbolic fee of 100 Liras per annum, with an option to renew the lease later for another 49 years. |
1972 | Summer: the small community moves to its permanent location on the land leased to it by the Monastery. In the mid 1970s, a few huts and prefabricated houses go up on the hilltop, trees are planted and work is done to make the land habitable. Bruno struggles to obtain support for the budding community from contacts around the world. |
1975 | The German Friends Association is established to help support the community. |
1977-1979 | The first families begin to take up permanent residence in the community. |
1979 | The School for Peace is founded as an educational institution in the village, bringing Jews and Arabs from all over the country for dialogue workshops. In the same year, the School for Peace conducts its first facilitator training course, which soon became an annual course. April: the first child (Nir Sonnenschein) is born in the village. |
1980 | The opening of a nursery for the first five babies. With an Arab and a Jewish nurse speaking only her own mother tongue to all of the children, this becomes the seed of the first Jewish-Arab bilingual education system in the country. (See Ety Edlund’s article) With the helping of funding from Germany, a 40-bed hostel is established, which is used to accommodate participants in School for Peace seminars. The School for Peace conducts its first 5 youth encounter projects, together with the “Partnership” organization. Each workshop had 40 participants, who stayed in tents. |
1983 | Inauguration of the village’s “Corner of Silence (Doumia/Sakinah), as a basis of the Pluralistic Spiritual Community Center, which builds awareness and understanding of the region’s separate religious and spiritual traditions. Foundation of the Swiss Friends Association. Bruno Hussar publishes his memoir When the Cloud Lifted.[1] |
1984 | The association of educational institutions (Friends of the Neve Shalom – Wahat al-Salam Educational Institutions) is legally registered. |
1984 | The opening of the country’s first bilingual, binational primary school. The first pupils are from the community. It establishes methods for teaching in Arabic and Hebrew, for creating a natural and equal learning environment that promotes familiarity and respect for the separate national, cultural and linguistic identities of the children. Israel’s President Herzog visits the Primary School. |
1985 | The 1st “open day” festival in the village brings 5,000 Palestinian and Jewish Israelis for artistic and musical performances. A multi-year action-research project is conducted at the School for Peace, under the guidance of Haviva Bar and David Bergel, with the purpose of crystallizing models according to which the SFP will conduct its projects. |
1986 | The village is awarded the Armstrong Prize for Leadership. ICCY, Jerusalem. Foundation of the Swedish Friends Association. |
1987 | March: The village receives the Buber – Rosensweig Medal – Germany. April 11: The 2nd “open day” festival in the village brings 20,000 Palestinian and Jewish Israelis as well as Palestinians from the Occupied Territories for artistic and musical performances. The village is legally recognized as such by the Ministry of the Interior and therefore becomes eligible for state services, etc. |
1988 | June: the first batch of children graduate from the Primary School. The village receives the Bruno Kreisky Foundation Prize – Austria. |
1989 | The villages is awarded: (June) The ICCJ Golden Interfaith Medallion. International Council of Christians and Jews. (December) The Ahavat Shalom Congregation of San Francisco – Social action fund in memory of Steve Berman. (December) The “Beyond War” Prize, USA. This prize was shared with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter for their work in the Carter Center, and “Koinonia,” a South African organization which brings together Black and White people. |
1990 | March: The village receives the prize of The John Lindgren Foundation, Sweden. September: The School begins to accept children from outside the village and enrollment began to grow. By 1991 there were 65 children. By 2017, the educational system served more than 250 children who come from 18 separate towns. October: The School for Peace begins to teach graduate level courses at Tel Aviv University, together with the university faculty. It goes on to initiate similar programs in the U. of Haifa, Ben Gurion U., Hebrew U and a number of colleges. (By 2017, these courses had included about 1,000 participants.) The Dutch Friends Association is established. |
1991 | The binational kindergarten receives state recognition. The SFP teaches its first facilitation course according to the inter-group encounter model. WAS-NS receives the following prizes: (January) Arsenale della Pace, Casa della Speranza “Michele Pellegrino,” Italy. (February) Fontazione S. Valentino, Terni, Italy. Received in previous year by Mother Theresa. (May) Marcus Sieff Award, Israel. Second place was shared with Rafiq Halabi and Shlomo Buhbut. |
1992 | The village establishes a 40 room guest house for local and international visitors. The new accommodation facilitates expanded participation in educational programs, as well as to provide comfortable facilities for local and international guests. (Funding comes from the German Stamp Foundation, the Ministry of Tourism and other donors.) The House of Silence, the first building in the Pluralistic Spiritual Community Center is built. |
1993 | The Primary School receives status as a “recognized, non-official” school, a status that also guarantees limited state funding. May: WAS-NS receives the Niwano Peace Prize, Japan. November: WAS-NS receives the prize of Pfarrer-Georg-Fritze-Gedaechtnisgabe, Koeln, Germany. |
1994 | The Primary School moves into its new building. |
1995 | The School for Peace, together with the School of Social Work of Tel Aviv University, begins a yearly training program for Arab and Jewish women who have not received a university education. These courses include lectures, discussions and dialogue sessions and are aimed at women’s empowerment. The courses continue over the next 15 years and include about 600 participants. |
1996 | February 8: The death of the village’s founder Bruno Hussar. He is buried in the village cemetery. |
1997 | February 4: The death of Tom Kitain (age 21) in an army helicopter accident brings a period of sadness and soul-searching. Summer: The village swimming pool is completed and opens for its first season. The nearby basketball court, named after Tom Kitain, opens too. September: The Education Ministry assigns to the primary school the status of "experimental school," thereby recognizing its potential value in providing a model for emulation. September 1: former Prime Minister Shimon Peres visits the village. September: WAS-NS is awarded the Paul Harris Prize of Rotary, Israel. |
1998 | December 13: Visit by Hillary Clinton (US First Lady) and Sara Netanyahu. |
1999 | The school year opens with 250 children, toddlers and babies enrolled in the system. November: The Eisenberg Auditorium is completed enabling the convening of large events (up to 400 persons). December: WAS-NS signs a new contract with the Trappist Monastery at Latrun, according to which the Monastery gives to the village 22 hectares of land (approximately one half of the land originally leased to the village under the terms of the lease contract of 1970). Ownership of the land will enable WAS-NS to change its master plan and expand the village by an additional 91 new housing lots. |
2000 | 37 families now live in the village. Spring: The new village municipal office building is completed, housing also the communications and development office. Preliminary plans for a Peace Campus on state lands on the hilltop are approved. Publication of the SFP’s seminal book, Israeli and Palestinian Identities in Dialogue: The School for Peace Approach in Hebrew and Arabic (followed later by additional languages including English). July: WAS-NS receives the Academy of Family Mediators 2000 Peace Award (instituted in 1988 to honor outstanding contributions to global peace.) August: WAS-NS receives the Geneva International Medal of Excellence Award (Nominated for Medaille d’Excellence 2000 in the category of youth for the work of NSWAS youth and the program for youth). September: The Education Ministry changes the status of the school to that of an official school. October: Following the outbreak of the 2nd Intifada, the village embarks on a humanitarian aid program for residents of the Occupied Territories, including medical treatment days and assistance to children in need of special care. This activity continues during the ensuing years. November: founding member Anne Le Meignen is named Chevalier dans l'Ordre National du Mérite by the Republic of France. |
2001 | December: WAS-NS is one of two recipients of the annual award by the Italian Committee of UNICEF, as an organization that conducts work aiming to produce a better future for children. The new expansion plan for the village is approved, permitting the construction of an additional 91 housing lots. |
2002 | The School for Peace campus expands and the Robert Nathan Wing is constructed, replacing the old municipal building. The courtyard is roofed in to provide a new public space. June: WAS-NS receives the 2002 Award for Humanity, CEVI (Christian Associations of Young Women and Men) and GRA (Foundation Against Racism and Antisemitism) Switzerland. December 4: The Commission on Peace of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington awards NSWAS the Peacemaker Award. December 20: Actress Jane Fonda, accompanied by Eve Ensler and a team involved with the V-Day movement, conduct an evening for Palestinian and Israeli women peace activists.
The school sports hall, which is funded by the state lottery, with additional funding from Richard Goodwin, is completed towards the end of the year. |
2003 | April 2: The School for Peace receives the peace prize of the Deutsch-Israelische Gesellschaft (DIG). May 25: Visit by President of the German Bundestag Thierse and Ambassador Dressler to inaugurate a new building for the volunteers and interns. |
2004 | Al-Nadi, the Youth Club begins its work for the young people in the village. March 17: Early death of Hagar Edlund, one of the first children. |
2005 | 55 families now live in the village. September: Following disagreement with the Ministry on appointment of the principal and other matters, the Primary School decides to revert its status to that of a recognized but independent school. The School opens its new, larger, airier building. The kindergarten (ages 4-6) moves into its new premises on the bottom floor of the new building. The School for Peace begins its change agents courses for journalists. |
2006 | May: The Pluralistic Spiritual Centre building opens, ten years from the death of Bruno Hussar. (Funding comes mostly from the French Friends of NS/WAS) June: Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters gives a concert in WAS-NS. July: WAS-NS receives the Coppa Video Award at the Anti-Racist World Cup in Montecchio, Italy for the film "Face to Face" (about young people in the community) August: The children hosts its first summer camp for children from the Occupied Territories. September: The school year opens with an enrollment of 146 children. The village participates in demonstrations against the war in Lebanon. December: Prof. Stephen Hawking comes to address a group of physicists. December: the village receives the Building Bridges Award at the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee. |
2007 | January: The village honors Ruth Dayan and Samih al-Qasim. February: The village for the first time divides its leadership into two separate organs: one for the municipality, another for the educational institutions, with separate boards for each one. August: The Pluralistic Spiritual Centre begins its “Journey” (Massa-Massar) youth encounter program. The School for Peace received for the first time a large grant from USAID (by 2017 another 2 such grants had followed), which enabled it to develop its first change agents courses, together with Palestinian organizations. The courses target professional groups and focus on the initiation of projects to bring about societal change. Between 2007 – 2012, 10 such courses were conducted for mental health workers, politicians, teachers and others: about 400 professionals. The first SFP courses begin for mental professionals. By 2017 4 cycles have been conducted (2 for Israelis + Palestinans from the Occupied Territories, 2 for Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel) Altogether, 120 participants have taken part. |
2008 | May: The village awards diplomas to young people from the village who have participated in a leadership program. June: The village is awarded the Frederick II Peace Prize in Italy. August: The PSCC begins its Cross-Cultural Mediation program. School for Peace staff Nava Sonnenschein and Wafaa Zriek Srour. Receive the Women's Peace Power Foundation – "Women of Peace Award". |
2009 | January: Graduates of SFP change agents course for mental health workers organize a protest meeting against the military campaign in Gaza. The meeting is addressed by Shulamit Aloni, Profs Ramzi Suleiman, Ariella Friedman and others. The village organizes additional protest activities. March 8: the early death of village member Dr. Abdullah Haj Yehya, who was instrumental in the Humanitarian Aid program of the village. March 22: the early death of village member Ohad Bar Shalom. Ohad had been active in projects of the village and the School for Peace. June 18: Death of Coral Aron, who came to the community in 1980 and worked tirelessly to obtain support and funding for its development. |
2010 | January: A conference, “A Year Since the War, a Decade of Siege,” is convened by the village and the SFP. Participants include representatives from Shatil and many organizations for peace and social change. They organize activities aimed at establishing trust with Palestinian NGOs. April: The Fred Segal Peace and Friendship Library building opens and is inaugurated. April: SFP founder Nava Sonnenschein is awarded the US "Women of Courage" certificate. July: A conference, “Before it’s too late: moving from protest to persistent activity” is convened to create strategies for peace and change organizations. On July 22, 120 activists protest the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident. The School for Peace begins its change agents courses for architects and planners. The first course takes place with the Palestinian organization Hewar. The 2nd (2014) with the Arab Center for Alternative Planning. The School for Peace begins its change agents courses for environmentalists (together with Dani Rabinovitz, in 2 cycles). |
2011 | January: The School for Peace, the forum for freedom from the Occupation and Shatil organize a conference for creating strategies for a common struggle against the occupation. Approximately 60 activists attend. June 11: A conference in Nazareth, organized by the village, the SFP and other NGOs and intended to bring closer cooperation between Arab and Jewish peace and social change activists, draws several hundred participants. September: WAS-NS members and School for Peace graduates take part in a rally in which hundreds of people come out in support of Mahmoud Abbas’s address to the United Nations. |
2012 | Publication by the SFP of a bilingual Arabic – Hebrew literary anthology, “Two People Write from Right to Left”, for use in schools.[2] March: Death of Abdessalam Najjar, one of the village’s founding members. June: Pupils and parents respond to a racist attack on the village and school (slashing of car tires, daubing vicious slogans on the school entrance) with the “peace brush” wall painting activity. August: Death of Ahmad Hijazi, director of the School for Peace, together with his son, in a car accident. |
2014 | June: The School for Peace is awarded Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF) Prize. July: After the beginning of the war in Gaza, the village participates in protest activities, including an activity organized by the forum for freedom from the Occupation, in Tira. The slogan adoped is “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies.” The School for Peace organizes another strategy meeting for peace and change organizations, Reversing the Equation and Getting Free of the Occupation. October: The Peace Museum begins to take shape. November: A symposium, “Reversing the Equation / Get Free of the Occupation” is convened. |
2015 | March: The PSCC convenes its first conference in memory of rescuers during times of genocide or ethnic cleansing. May 4-5: The SFP, together with institutes of TA and Hebrew Universities, convenes the conference “Dilemmas of Recognition in Asymmetric Conflicts”. Attended by 90 academics and leaders of NGOs. July: The SFP wins the S.E.R. Reconciliation Award. September: The Primary School is once again an “official” (i.e. state) school, which will guarantee a higher level of state funding. Enrollment for the 2015-2016 school year is approximately 183 pupils (a rise of 12% from the previous year). December: Evi Guggenheim awarded NCBI Bridge-Builders Prize. Foundation of the Austrian Friends Association. The School for Peace begins its change agents courses for leadership in shared cities. |
2016 | The village population stands at 60 households (about 260 people). Expansion of the village: the first families move into homes they have built. The first neighborhood of the expansion comprises 34 homes. May: WAS-NS is presented the Winspiration award May: The Primary School organizes its first annual “Peace Holiday” event. The school year opens with 228 pupils for the 6 grades of primary school. November: A forest fire narrowly skirts the village. The village organizes an event to honour the fire and rescue services. December: The School for Peace completes its 34th facilitator training course. Till now, there have been approximately 800 graduates of this annual course. |
2017 | School for Peace graduates begin to build professional communities for action towards societal change. By 2017, the School for Peace participants had numbered approximately 65,000 participants, including some 30,000 in the youth encounter program. February: A delegation from the Palestinian Authority visits to plant an olive tree in the village to honor “peace heroes”. On the same day, a strategy meeting for peace organizations takes place in the village to organize events to protest 50 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. March: The Primary School opens its new Library and Computer Room. March: Hundreds of School for Peace grads call on PM to halt Arab house demolitions and find alternative planning solutions. March: The village inaugurates “The Garden of Rescuers” in memory of all those who have helped to save lives during times of genocide or ethnic cleansing, with an event in honor of current day rescuers. |
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[1] For further publications about the village, please see http://wasns.org/-publications-
[2] For further publications about the School for Peace, see http://sfpeace.org/publications/