Events | Past Events | Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues Foundation Forum Education Seminar (New York City)

Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues Foundation Forum Education Day – June 4, 2007

(If you are looking for information on the Foundation Forum of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab issues, click here.)

The Task Force hosted an educational seminar specifically designed for foundations at the Ford Foundation in New York City. The Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues Foundation Forum was created to gather like minds; draw on foundation expertise and to strategize on measures to address weaknesses in economic, educational and social services facing Israeli Arab communities.

This educational day will be followed by a study trip to Israel in October. Details to follow.

Panelists included:
  • Dr. Hanna Swaid, Member of Knesset
    Dr. Swaid was elected to the Knesset (HADASH – The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) in March 2006. He serves as member of the Economics Affairs Committee and the State Control Committee, and deputy-member at the Internal Affairs and Environment committee. Also, he Co-Chairs (with MK Rabbi Michael Melchior) the parliamentary Lobby for Jewish-Arab coexistence.

    In November 2003 he was elected as mayor of the Arab town of Eilaboun, Israel. He represented the Arab municipalities in Israel in the National Council for Planning and Building, and was an active member of the Arab peak representative organizations in Israel until 2003.

    After he left this post, Dr. Swaid established and managed the Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP) between 2004 and 2006. ACAP is the leading Arab NGO dealing with land, planning and development issues concerning the Arab citizens of Israel.

  • Dr. Yossi Tamir, JDC-Israel
    Dr. Yossi Tamir is currently spearheading JDC's new partnership with the Government of Israel for increased independence through employment, "TEVET." The initiative seeks to integrate severely unemployed Israelis and the most vulnerable individuals, such as long-term welfare recipients and young socially-isolated Israelis, into the workforce.

    Previous to this appointment Professor Tamir was the Executive Director of Ashalim - The Association for Planning and Development of Services for Children & Youth at Risk & their Families founded by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Government of Israel and UJA-Federation of New York.

    He is also a member of the faculty of the Hebrew University Baerwald School of Social Work. Previously, Professor Tamir was Director General of the National Insurance Institute (Israel’s Social Security administration). In the past, he served as director of the JDC-Brookdale Institute and lectured at Ben Gurion University.

  • Dr. Shimshon Zelniker, Van Leer Institute
    Dr. Shimshon Zelniker has served as Director of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute since 1997. He was an Associate Professor in Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles, and from 1980-1996 Head of the Department of Social Science at Beit Berl College in Israel.

    Educated at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (B.A., 1963) and the University of California, Los Angeles (M.A., 1964, and Ph.D., 1971), Dr. Zelniker has taught at Tel Aviv University, Claremont College, Hebrew University, and UCLA.

    Between 1982-1991 he served as Special Adviser to Prime Minister Shimon Peres, and as Chairman of the Israeli Program of the Center for Foreign Policy Options (CFPO) (1984-1991); and directed a major anti-apartheid leadership training program in South Africa.


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