Windows Group Description (taken from website)
Introduction to Windows
Windows is a non-profit, joint organization of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians from the Occupied Palestinian territories. Windows' believes that both Palestinians and Jews have the right to live as equals with equal and comprehensive human rights. Established in 1991, Windows promotes acquaintance, and understanding between both peoples, as well as empowerment of the youth with whom we work through educational and cultural programs, media and art. Windows was established based on the conviction that educating the next generation, our children, plays a vital role in working for a just and lasting peace. To advance the process of reconciliation in our region, it is important to understand and internalize democratic values and human rights and to deepen mutual knowledge of the other. We further these goals mainly through media-related educational programs. The organization is not affiliated with any political party and we do not offer political solutions.
We began our activities with the publishing of Windows, a Hebrew and Arabic magazine that is written by and for Jewish and Palestinian youth ages 12-15. Over the years, this project has expanded to include a video magazine for teens ages 15 and 16 and a youth leadership program for 17 and 18-year olds. The magazine is primarily distributed through an in-school program which seeks to utilize Windows magazine, in addition to a variety of other media, in order to explore multiple perspectives of the conflict. Also, the organization regularly produces exhibitions of Palestinian and Israeli art. In addition to these programs, the Windows friendship center in Tel Aviv offers a wide range of activities including lectures, meetings, films, exhibitions, tours, spoken Arabic courses and more, to a wide audience of all ages and from both nations. Widows also collects and distributes food, clothing, and other household items to people living in both the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and to Israelis in need. In order to futher reduce the physical suffering of the population, Windows supports projects for economic sustainability in the OPT.
It is no simple task for Israeli and Palestinian youth to overcome the vast amount of misinformation and stereotypes they are taught about one another. The limited availability for interaction, a result of living in mostly segregated communities and exacerbated by the ongoing violent political conflict, perpetuates the historical fears, prejudice, and hatred that divide the two peoples. Windows is therefore dedicated to fostering large scale change in the way Israeli and Palestinian youth see themselves, "the other" and the conflict. Participants in Windows programs go through experiences that promote conflict transformation among both peoples, towards a peaceful reality with which both sides can live. We believe that a just and lasting peace must be based on democratic values, human rights, and mutual knowledge and acceptance of “the other.”
History
Windows began as an idea. In the summer of 1990, in the midst of the Intifada, Nina and Rutie sat together in Rutie's small kitchen. Nina told Rutie about a South African tri- lingual magazine for children, "Moloshongololo," and Rutie expressed her desire for a Hebrew-Arabic magazine for youth in the region. They decided, right then and there, that they were going to do it.
Despite pessimistic feedback and discouraging responses, they pressed on, growing more determined with each rejection. Finally, after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Israeli Ministry of Education began to invest in peace programs. The Ministry enabled the creation of the first issue of Windows in January 1995, which was written and edited mostly by a group of Jewish and Palestinian kids from Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
Since then, friendship centers have been opened, numerous editions of the magazine have been written and distributed, and many projects have successfully joined the magazine.
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