The October 7 Hamas attack and its aftermath deeply impacted all of Israel’s ethnic groups. The Jewish majority experienced indescribable fear, while many citizens comprising the Arab minority–which makes up one-fifth of Israel’s citizenry—faced its own fear of being seen as Hamas terrorists.

Mohammad Darawshe, a faculty member at the Shalom Hartman Institute and director of strategy for the Givat Haviva Center for Shared Society, will discuss his work with Givat Haviva and its impact on Jewish-Arab relations to foster dialogue and mutual respect in Israel and beyond. Q&A will follow.

About the Speaker

Mohammad Darawshe is considered a leading expert on Jewish-Arab relations. He has presented lectures and papers at the European parliament, NATO Defense College, World Economic Forum, and Club de Madrid, US Congress, Herzliya Conference and Israel’s Presidential Conference. Mohammad was the recipient of the Peacemakers Award from the Catholic Theological Union, and the Peace and Security Award of the World Association of NGO’s, and was Leadership Fellow at the New Israel Fund. In 2008, Mohammad Darawshe was elected as a city council member in his hometown Iksal. In 2009, he served as a member of The National Committee which drafted Israel’s Coexistence Education policy. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Hartford University. He lives in Iksal with his wife and four children.