Register here for TalkMatters First Live Event on Thursday 15th June between 7.30 – 9.30 p.m.
Happy Birthday to TalkMatters! In our three year life, we have expanded enormously and now are privileged to be associated with over thirty grassroots co-operative Israeli-Palestinian organisations all promoting a new reality. A better world where there is a bit more love and a bit less hate.
After three years of online events we are inviting you to our first in-person event. The event will be at the Mosaic Cultural Hub in Stanmore and we will hear from three co-operative Israeli-Palestinian initiatives. Please join us to find out how the people on the ground enable Jews and Arabs to meet, talk and build-up trust, despite the political situation and the on-going violence. The Abraham Initiatives, Oasis of Peace UK and the Freddie Krivine Tennis Initiative will give short illustrated talks before we open the floor for a question and answer session.
Mosaic Cultural Hub, Stanmore
We are delighted to host our first live event in the brand-new custom-designed Mosaic Cultural Hub in Stanmore Hill.
The Mosaic Cultural Hub is at: Mosaic Jewish Community Centre, 1a Halsbury Close Stanmore Hill, HA7 3DY. It is half a mile from Stanmore station on London Underground’s Jubilee line and is just 300 yards from Stanmore Broadway. There are multiple local bus services including 142, 340, 342 and H12 that serve stops nearby. While there are few car parking spaces at Mosaic itself, there are many streets nearby (and the Stanmore Broadway carparks) available for parking. The Mosaic Cultural Hub website details the closest streets for parking and gives advice on which bus stops to use to avoid walking up the hill!
Our Speakers and Organisations
The Abraham Initiatives
The Abraham Initiatives (TAI) is one of Israel’s leading shared society organisations. They lobby the Israeli government across administrations in order to influence policy. Specifically, they are working for greater safety in Arab communities and at the breaking down of segregation in Israeli schools.
Dr Lindsay Simmonds – Co- Vice-Chair of trustees for TAI UK, Lindsay has been on the board for TAI for four years. Lindsay is a Researcher at the Department of Religion and Global Society at the London School of Economics where her research focuses on Women of Faith and Peacebuilding. Lindsay is a Fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies where for over twenty years she has focussed on women in Biblical narrative, in the Talmud and in Jewish Law. Her PhD ‘Generating Piety: Agency in the Lives of British Orthodox Jewish Women’ is being published later this year.
Laurie Kaye founded the Abraham Initiatives UK in 2006 and was its first Chairperson. He continues as an Ambassador for the organisation and remains committed to the vision of a shared society between Israel’s Arab and Jewish citizens. Laurie spent his professional career as a solicitor specialising in intellectual property and technology law and was one of the first lawyers in the UK to advise on the legal aspects of the Internet and the World Wide Web. He now acts as strategic advisor to several start-ups.
Freddie Krivine Tennis Initiative
The Freddie Krivine Tennis Initiative helps to break down stereotypes by bringing Jewish and Arab children together through their interest in tennis. They have access to tennis clubs where children from both communities can meet, play tennis and have fun. In addition, the Freddie Krivine Tennis Initiative holds after-school clubs, summer camps, team building workshops and take groups to watch tournaments together.
Jane Krivine, formerly a classical music concerts manager and arts festival director, is the Executive Director of the Freddie Krivine Tennis Initiative. Jane’s father, Freddie Krivine (1920-2005) left England to settle in Israel in 1984, a lifelong tennis aficionado, he was elected President of the Israel Tennis Association in 1992. His dream, he said, was to see an Arab Israeli play at Wimbledon. And to that end he built and supported tennis courts and programmes in predominantly isolated Arab neighbourhoods. Jane settled in Israel in 2003, first to assist and then to continue her father’s work.
Lee Wilson is a dedicated non-profit professional specializing in Jewish-Arab relationships and peace work. With a background as the Director of International Communications for Peace Now and as a coordinator in the Peace Coalition under the leadership of Dr. Yossi Beilin, Lee has played a pivotal role in raising awareness and support for coexistence initiatives. Since 2019 as the Director of The Freddie Krivine Tennis Initiative, Lee has continued to champion the cause, spearheading innovative projects promoting understanding and harmony, including afterschool programmes and shared society summer camps.
Oasis of Peace UK
Oasis of Peace UK supports the inclusive learning process at the unique village of Wahat-al-Salam~Neve Shalom (WASNS) in Israel where Arabs and Jews live in a shared, equitable society. There are four establishments – a school for children, an educational institution for adults, a spiritual centre and a youth club.
Tal Arrowsmith is the Executive Director of the British Friends of WASNS. Tal is an experienced charity executive, having worked with various philanthropies, youth movements and grassroot activist groups. Tal was recently nominated for the Future Faces Young Professional of the Year awards for her work in establishing interfaith initiatives.
Hezzi Shouster is a resident of WASNS. For many years Hezzi taught at the primary school. In 2016, he was appointed head of the WASNS Pluralistic Spiritual Community Centre where he hosted Jewish & Palestinian authors, introduced cinema evenings and interfaith programmes for religious leaders. Currently he lives in London with his wife Ruti, and he volunteers with the British Friends of WASNS.
Dr. Suliman Boulos was raised as a second generation resident at WASNS and lived there until the age of 39. Suliman has lived and worked in Germany, South Korea and the UK. Suliman is an Oncologist and the Senior Medical Director at AstraZeneca in Cambridge where he lives with his wife and two children.
@talkmattersinfo