The Fairhaven Project is a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of State and the Northeast Maritime Institute (NMI) of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. The 2008 program brought six Israeli and Palestinian students to Fairhaven for three weeks to live and work as crew aboard the 74-foot tall ship S/V Fritha. Student selection was based on leadership, maturity, and having been touched by the violence around them. The structured curriculum included elements of oceanography, ecology and maritime science. Most importantly. the program brought the Arab-Israeli conflict to a very human level and, in the end, even the most conservative members of the group understood the perspective of the other side, and a constructive dialogue of how to bring peace to the region was established. The students returned home with an alternate vision of themselves, the conflict, and the role they could play. The transformative nature of this program advances the cause of peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, and provides impressionable youths in the region an alternative path to peace. The Fairhaven Project continues and, in 2009, the six students returned to the U.S. with four additional students to continue to expand the dialogue of peace. Videos
President Obama Delivers Message on Ramadan President Obama (Aug. 21): "I know...that Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection – a time when Muslims fast during the day and perform tarawih prayers at night, reciting and listening to the entire Koran over the course of the month. These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam's role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings." -Full Text -White House blog -Message also available in: Amharic | Arabic | Bengali | Dari | French | Hindi | Indonesian | Malay | Pashto | Persian | Punjabi | Russian | Turkish | Urdu
Civic Education and Leadership Fellowship (CELF) 2010
The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv announces the call for applications for the Civic Education and
Leadership Fellowship (CELF) for January 15 – May 30, 2010. Applications are due by
September 1, 2009.
The CELF is a five month fellowship for university teachers and scholars. The objective of the CELF
program is to enhance international standards in social science education through improved curricula
development and course delivery, increased institutional capacity, expanded student and faulty
engagement; and improved critical thinking and analytic capabilities of educators in institutions of
higher education.
This fellowship is sponsored by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the U.S.
Department of State and provides academics from the Middle East and North Africa with an
opportunity to participate in custom tailored programs focused on civic education at the Maxwell
School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New
York. MORE
