The Peres Center for Peace, located in

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, is an independent

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

non-governmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

, and

non-political Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased pos ...

organization founded in 1996 by

Nobel Peace Laureate The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

and former

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The posi ...

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

. Its aim is to further Peres' vision of people in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

working together to build peace through socio-economic cooperation and development and people-to-people interaction.

Mission

The Peres Center for Peace describes its mission as "promot nglasting peace and advancement in the Middle East by fostering tolerance, economic and technological development, innovation, cooperation and well-being – all in the spirit of President Peres’ vision."

Activities

The peacebuilding activities of the Peres Center fall into the following fields:

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and Water; Business and

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

; Civil Leadership; Community Programs in Jaffa; Culture, Media and Arts,

Medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

and Healthcare; Social Media and

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

(IT) ; Sport.

Fields of activity

; Agriculture, water and the environment : The Peres Center implements programs that facilitate cross-border research, capacity building and cooperation in order to enhance crop management practices, environmental protection, and water quality. Projects include cross-border pest management, aquaculture, crop production workshops, regional water research, joint olive oil production and more. ; Business and economics : The Peres Center provides space for interaction between stakeholders on both sides through joint economic research (in partnership with the AIX Group), capacity-building workshops and professional networking to foster cross-border cooperation across a wide range of business fields including hi-tech, confectionery, food, textile and shoe-making and more.
Projects include private sector partnerships, regional economic research, cross-border tourism projects, technology projects, and the creation of a Palestinian business directory. ; Civil leadership : The Peres Center designs and implements programs that engage Israeli and Palestinian civil society and community leaders, creating a strong cross-border network while providing enrichment and professional training. Programs generate dialogue channels between Palestinians and Israelis and between Jews and Arabs within Israel across professional fields.
Projects include international youth exchanges, a leadership program for young politicians and forums for public debate. ; Culture, media and the arts : The Peres Center delivers theater, photography and arts programs that bring together Palestinian, Israeli, Jewish and Arab adults, youth and children.
Projects include a cross-border photojournalist program, an arts program for children, and a play that expounds messages of coexistence in schools. ; Medicine and healthcare : In cooperation with the Israeli medical community, the Peres Center assists in the creation of an independent Palestinian medical system through human resource development, advancement of complex medical services and cross-border cooperation and knowledge transfer, as well as providing humanitarian medical aid to Palestinian babies and children.
Projects include a program that allows for the treatment of Palestinian babies in Israeli hospitals and a program for training Palestinian doctors. ; Social media and technology : The Peres Center designs programs that enable the people of the Middle East, particularly young people, to engage in virtual dialogue with each other.
Projects include a popular Facebook group, dialogue curricula for school groups through computer centers and a diplomacy-based game. ; Sport : The Twinned Peace Sports Schools bring together Israeli, Palestinian, Jewish and Arab boys and girls to play together through sports. These include football, basketball, wheelchair basketball, cricket, table tennis and

Australian football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modifie ...

Awards

* United Nations Gold Award (Blood Relations Campaign) * 2010 Wingate Award for Best NGO in the Field of Peace and Sport * Ashoka Entrepreneurship Award * 2010 Peace and Sports Award (Monaco) for Best NGO * 2010 Global Sports Forum Barcelona award for Best Project

Peres Peace House

Since December 2009, the offices of the Peres Center for Peace are housed in the Peres Peace House in

Ajami ''Ajam'' ( ar, عجم, ʿajam) is an Arabic word meaning mute, which today refers to someone whose mother tongue is not Arabic. During the Arab conquest of Persia, the term became a racial pejorative. In many languages, including Persian, Tur ...

, a largely Arab neighborhood of

. The Peres Peace House also contains the Shimon Peres Archives, an auditorium and conference rooms, and a conflict resolution library. Many of the Peres Center's activities, including public lectures and coexistence activities, take place within the Peres Peace House, as well as activities for the empowerment and development of the local Jaffa communities. These include legal aid services, community empowerment programs and a mentoring program for underprivileged children. The cost of the center was estimated at $6 million and timeline of three years. According to ''Haaretz'', as of August 2009, the cost and building time of the Peace House have been highly underestimated. The center was opened in December 2009. The building (2,500 sq m), a distinctive architectural landmark on the Jaffa coast next to the poor Arab neighborhood of Ajami, was designed by renowned Italian architect

Massimiliano Fuksas Massimiliano Fuksas (born January 9, 1944) is an Italian architect. He is the head of ''Studio Fuksas'' in partnership with his wife, Doriana Mandrelli Fuksas, with offices in Rome, Paris and Shenzhen. Biography Fuksas was born in Rome in 194 ...

. Through the years the building was open to the use of the local Arab community and the Center promoted projects to empower local groups and individuals. The first event held at the building was a graduation ceremony of 21 women, mostly Arab who graduated from a Women's Economic Empowerment Program and received their computer technician certificates. Over the years the center has won both negative and positive critiques. Author Witt Raczka questioned the efficacy of the organization.

Awards

In 2010 the Peres Peace House won the Emilio Ambasz Prize for Green Architecture and the Yesodot Ha'emek Prize for Israeli Architecture.

Leadership

The Director General of the center is Efrat Duvdevani, formerly Director General of the President's House during Peres' Presidency. Her predecessor was Ido Sharir, formerly Chief of Staff to President Peres. Before Mr. Sharir,

Ron Pundak Ron Pundak ( he, רון פונדק; 14 May 1955 – 11 April 2014) was an Israeli historian and journalist. He played an important role in starting the Oslo peace process in 1993, and was part of the core group behind the Geneva Initiative. Pundak w ...

served as Director General for over 10 years. The men and women who comprise the executive board are CEOs, Directors, and Presidents of various organizations, as well as scholars, academics, and journalists. The first Director General of the Peres Center was Ambassador

Uri Savir Uri Savir ( he, אורי סביר; 7 January 1953 – 14 May 2022) was an Israeli diplomat and politician. He was Israel's chief negotiator for the Oslo Accords and served as a Member of Knesset (MK) from 1999 to 2001. Early life Savir was bor ...

, who, together with Shimon Peres, established the organization and currently serves as Honorary President.

Tax-exempt status

The Israel Tax Authority denied the Peres Center's request for tax-exempt status in Israel. According to ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

'', after the Center applied for the tax-exempt status the Tax Authority demanded that the organization stop funding the training of the physicians from the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

in Israeli hospitals. The demand led the organization to suspend its application rather than stop the project. In 2016 the Peres Center received tax-exempt status in Israel. The Peres Center for Peace also has tax-exempt status in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and Italy.

References

External links

Peres Center for Peace websitePeres Center for Peace - 20 Years Video
{{Authority control Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process Israeli–Palestinian peace process Peace organizations Think tanks based in Israel Organizations established in 1996 Cultural infrastructure completed in 2009 Shimon Peres

Mission

Activities

Fields of activity

Awards

Peres Peace House

Awards

Leadership

Tax-exempt status

See also

References

External links