GREENE LECTURE IS FEB. 24
Allison Greene, an Old Dominion University alumna and assistant executive director of Oasis of Peace, will discuss "The Oasis of Peace: Peace is Possible" from 12:20-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, in room 1002 of Constant Hall.
After receiving her Ph.D. in international studies from ODU in 2003, Greene, a former assistant coach for the ODU Lady Monarchs basketball team, joined Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam (Hebrew and Arabic for "Oasis of Peace") as the assistant executive manager. Her job involves writing grant proposals, as well as touring around the United States to raise funding.
Green will discuss the organization of a non-profit organization in general as well as the village itself, its educational outreach programs, and its continued existence despite the ongoing conflict.
The American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is dedicated to dialogue, cooperation and a genuine and durable peace between Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis by encouraging, supporting, and publicizing the projects of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, the "Oasis of Peace."
Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam is the only village in Israel where Jews and Arabs have chosen to live, work, and educate their children together. For more than 25 years, these Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel have coexisted as equals. Currently, there are 50 families - 25 Jewish, 25 Palestinian - with 300 families on a waiting list to live there.
The community teaches understanding, mutual respect, and trust by being a model for peaceful coexistence. Its bilingual, bicultural Primary School has over 300 children enrolled, 90% of whom are bused in from 26 surrounding villages. The village's School for Peace is world-renowned for its encounter workshops that have reached over 35,000 Palestinian and Jewish youth and adults.
The village has been nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize, and has been awarded several prestigious peace prizes from organizations in Japan, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States.
For more information on the lecture, call 683-5700.