IVN News

According to recent surveys:

*Mobbing is group bullying. It is ganging up on someone using the tactics of rumor, innuendo, discrediting, isolating, intimidating, and above all, making it look as if the targeted person is responsible. Mobbing has been defined as psychic rape.
This term may be new to you but I’m sure you quickly recognize the behavior!!

The levels of physical and other forms of violence in Israeli society and particularly in schools and among youth have reached worrying levels. The response to potential violence is often more reactive than proactive. Instead of creating awareness and promoting dignity and respect for all people, security systems and surveillance cameras are being installed.
Against this background the SOS Violence - Center for Violence Studies in Israel was founded in 2004 by Georg Roessler and later joined by Yony Choona.

The central purpose of the Center is to provide tools to children, youth and adults to help deescalate and reduce daily violence mainly in the education system so that both students and teachers can be mentally and emotionally free of fear and humiliation and thus open to learning. The Center targets schools (both staff and students), parents, community centers and local authorities, as well as companies.
The Center is based on the German "Academy of Violence" model, which serves as an umbrella institution to hundreds of independent programs and organizations active in the struggle against violence from all its aspects. The Center's goal is to establish a similar form of ‘poly-clinic’, promoting violence prevention knowledge and practices; offering various approaches to varying types of violence to varying target audiences. "Nothing like this exists in Israel," Yony explains. "There is much talk and concern about the increasing phenomenon of violence in Israel, but there is no framework that teaches and provides the students, teachers and parents with tools to deescalate and prevent the problem."

The Center works with a model that is scalable and can be adapted to any framework, i.e. schools, the workplace, etc. to protect against the damaging effects of violence and work-place-abuse. The basic concept of the model is to strengthen the individual on one side and the group on the other. The individual is responsible for the group and the group responsible for the individual. This inner strength and self confidence creates a protective shield around both the individual and the group.

The Center is currently giving workshops in over 80 classrooms around the country. The workshop consists of 1 pre-training day each for the teachers and the parents, 3 full days with the students (observed by the teachers) and the so called 'task force program' (with delegates chosen by their respective classes being specially trained for intervention). The Center then does consistent and structured follow-up to measure the progress and provide any necessary support to both the teachers and students.
"Thanks to the workshop, the improvement in our classroom has been unbelievable. There is also a sense of unity now that wasn't there before. The workshop has helped us in ways we never could have imagined!"
-Student from the Masorti School, Jerusalem
"After the workshop, the sense of change in my classroom was really noticeable, as was the dynamics between the students."
-Teacher from Masorti School, Jerusalem

Originally from Duesseldorf, Germany, Georg has lived in Israel for over 20 years and is amongst his many talents, a licensed tour guide and partner in a small travel agency. Around ten years ago, Georg was asked theoretically what he would/could do if he saw four skin-heads beating up a single Turkish youth, mid-day in a crowded street. His helplessness with this question and search for answers led him to what is today a unique initiative.
In 2006, Georg was introduced to Yony Choona. Their common interest and passion in this area made them fast friends and partners. Yony, a lawyer by trade, worked at the Justice Ministry involved in social legislation and volunteers his time and legal expertise at the Rape Crisis Center in Jerusalem. It was there that Yony developed emotional skills to better communicate with himself and others and face challenges to which the solution cannot be just intellectual. It was there that Yony decided to leave the world of law and dedicate himself to violence reduction and de-escalation.

The Center recently held its second conference in Israel themed - "The New Authority - In the Family, the School and on the Street". The conference took place from November 11-12th 2008 and included a vast array of lectures, workshops and tours.

SOS-Violence does not believe in the complete underwriting of a project by one sponsor. We strongly believe that the benefiting entity, in this case a school, must contribute financially towards the program, if only in a small way.
We are therefore seeking donors to partner with schools in Israel.

"The standard of school principals in Israel has to be raised," says Yehudit Shalvi, Director General of the Avnei Rosha Institute.
Starting this September, school principals from all over Israel shall be participating in a variety of comprehensive principal training and development programs at the Avnei Rosha Institute, the new and main training center for school principals funded by the Ministry of Education, Yad Hanadiv and the Israel Venture Network.

Rabbi Yossi Ehrlich, principal of the Zvia Ulpana (Religious Girls School) in Ma'alot, took part in the two-year pilot program. His school was recently awarded the district prize for outstanding educational institution. "I don't believe we would have received this honor had I not taken part in the Principal Training Course. Thanks to the program, the way I run the ulpana today has improved immeasurably."

Due to its success, the government agreed to take ownership and lead a national process and hence, the Avnei Rosha Institute was established in 2007 as a joint vision and venture between the Ministry of Education, IVN and Yad Hanadiv. Education Minister Yuli Tamir chairs the Institute's board of directors.
"IVN's Principal Training Course triggered the initiation of the Avnei Rosha Institute as a sustainable nation-wide systemic solution," says Itsik Danziger, IVN Executive Board Member and Avnei Rosha Board Member.

The Institute is based on the recognition of the crucial contribution made by school principals to the quality of the educational endeavors of the institutions they manage. The vision incorporates the promotion of the education system in Israel and improvement of its performance by school principals, who constitute a leading professional community. "The standard of school principals in Israel has to be raised," argued Yehudit Shalvi, Director General of the Institute. "Not enough excellent people consider this career path."
Yehudit Shalvi aims to change the hiring criteria for principals. Applicants will have to have a master's degree, which only some 55 percent of principals do today, according to Education Ministry data. In addition, they will have to participate in a practical training course that will be formulated by the Institute and offered at several locations throughout the country.
The new courses will replace the courses that prospective principals are currently required to take.
"We intend to affect change on several different levels. The pool of potentially top-quality principals is small.  We hope to raise the quality of principals by locating outstanding teachers and providing them with pre-principal training. In addition, some 150 experienced and seasoned principals, the majority of which trained by the Institute to become personal mentors, will act as guides to some 400 principals in their first and second year on the job." 

"Of course the financial assistance was necessary, but more than that, it was tremendously important for me to know that I wasn't alone. I was amazed and relived to have IVN's support, " says Amos Hevron, owner and CEO of IT IS*, a printed circuit board assembly company located in Rosh Pina.

For the most part, the Second Lebanon War in July 2006 highlighted and exacerbated longstanding difficulties facing the economic structure of Northern Israel, but did not directly cause them. This was not true however for IT IS.
Experiencing serious financial difficulties, Amos moved IT IS from Yokneam to the northern city of Rosh Pina in the summer of 2006 because the rent was more affordable. Unfortunately he moved two weeks before the outbreak of the war. Under constant daily attack for a period of two months, IT IS was unable to produce and deliver product in a timely fashion. Things went downhill quickly and Amos found himself once again having to move in order to reduce expenses, but this time to a garage facility in the Bedouin town of Tuba-Zangryia with virtually no hope of salvaging his company.

In April 2007, IT IS became part of IVN's Economic Reconstruction Initiative (IERI), which targets small to medium size businesses with untapped growth potential. The initiative was established to stimulate business growth in Israel's periphery through a model of consultancy, mentoring and micro financing, combined with strengthening and empowering regional business consultants and MATI's (Small Business Development Centers).

Through IERI, the local MATI matched IT IS with business consultant Tzahy Ravel whose purpose is to guide Amos on a strategic level and lead him from a point of barely surviving to economic growth by upgrading the business and economic infrastructure. Tzahy is an independent, regional business consultant with many years of experience in the business arena. Through IERI, Tzahy received additional training and acts as consultant for 7 additional companies within the IERI program.
At the beginning of the process Amos was unable to plan a week ahead, cash flow crises were a daily occurrence and manufacturing processes were unstable. Since then, Amos and Tzahy have met almost once a week and speak often. IT IS is not only economically stable but already in the first stages of growth. IT IS is at the final stages of getting ISO standard; they have expanded from 6 employees to 14; sales have gone up by over 200%; cash flow is stable to the extent that the bank manager notified IT IS last week that the company is no longer under tight supervision; quality control has improved dramatically; the company acquired much more manufacturing equipment; IT IS is slowly absorbing new customers in order to build a stable and varied customer-base.

Amos Hevron says "Tzahy and I developed a relationship based on trust. He taught me, advised me and positively changed the way I look at my business and the work process. As the business owner, I would make decisions based on emotion and instinct. Tzahy gave me perspective and I trusted him and followed his advice. Now that I have learned the correct way to run and expand my business, I can begin building on the stable foundation that IVN has helped me build. "

When asked about the process, Tzahy said, "As a consultant, my role is not only to help reshape and redefine the business, but also the business owner. It hasn't been a smooth ride but we finally reached a point of trust. I may have acted as a guide, but Amos did all of the hard work."

IERI's mentorship program gives the businesses and the consultants the opportunity to learn from the experience gained by those running established, successful companies. The mentor volunteers his/her time. Whereas the consultant is effective on the strategic level, the mentor provides a more managerial overview. The mentor works with the consultant and occasionally meets with the business itself.
Yair Sakov** was matched with consultant Tzahy Ravel. Together they coach and mentor a number of businesses, one of them being IT IS .

"Working with Yair has been great. We defined our roles from the beginning. We have a relationship based on mutual respect and cooperation," said Tzahy

Yair enjoys the time he dedicates to IERI. "I believe in IVN's mission of creating a fundamental and long-lasting change in Israel's cultural and economic infrastructure. IERI gives me the opportunity to be involved hands-on and be part of this exceptional team. I also enjoy teaching. My role as mentor allows me to do just that. Amos is an extremely creative person. Tzahy taught him how to focus and harness that creativity without destroying it. Tzahy is a real professional with very good business sense. My role is to back-up, support and advise the consultant and provide the perspective beyond the day-to-day."

From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success!

For more information please contact:
 Amos Hevron ~ 04-6860564 ~ 052-2568853 ~ itis2007@bezeqint.net

*Founded in 2005, IT IS specializes in printed circuit board assembly and provides a wide range of services including assembly, soldering and purchase using Through-Hole Assembly and Surface-Mount Technology (SMT). The factory has a professional team and is in the process of adding two SMT production lines set to also produce by LEAD FREE process. IT IS main advantage and expertise is with small-medium sized projects, running on a tight schedule.

**Yair Sakov - VP and General Manager Wireless Business Unit – Gilat Networks Systems (GNS)
Prior to joining Gilat, Mr. Sakov was Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at FTS, a provider of business support systems software to the communications industry, and also served as interim General Manager of FTS’s U.S. Division. Prior to FTS, he was a partner at a venture capital firm serving as a director on the board of several high-tech companies as well as a strategy consultant to a number of companies primarily in the wireless and telecom markets. Yair also held positions at Intel and 3Com.

IVN believes that only in a democracy can the individual be an active partner in shaping the public space, thereby making full use of his/her talents as well as making a contribution to strengthening the society. Launched in 2004, the Education for Active Citizenship program, a strategic partnership of the Israel Venture Network and the New Israel Fund, was designed to address these issues.  The program is unique in that it provides students in Israeli schools grounding for a rich and life-long engagement with and commitment to the issues of civil society, democracy and community activism
The program was launched in the Bedouin village of Tuba Zangariya, located in the Galilee, in 2006.

Within the framework of the Active Citizenship program and with the cooperation between IVN and the Department of Education at the Nachum Guttman Museum of Art, the museum's team was hosted in the Bedouin village of Tuba Zangryia.  Over a period of 4 days during May 2008, an arts event for 3rd and 4th graders, themed "Your Environment", took place. The children were exposed to the varied works of the artist and to the values he represented - love of the place and of man. Under the guidance of the museum's team and the inspiration derived from Nachum Guttman's art, the children created paintings, illustrations and sculptures, which examined their identity, both as individuals and as part of something larger. The highlight of the 4 day event was the huge wall drawings on the school walls, the result of joint work between the professional illustrators from the museum team and the students. The wall drawings are based on the event theme "Your Environment" both in the past and future, depicting regional imagery and  as well as images reflecting their Middle Eastern way of life and their personal, social and national yearnings for a better world in the future.

Yael is one of IVN's 2008-10 Social Entrepreneur (SE) Fellows. Initiated in 2004 in partnership with the New Israel Fund, IVN's SE Fellowship Program supports and incubates entrepreneurial individuals, such as Yael, dedicated to developing and implementing innovative and sustainable social/economic solutions in Israel and beyond and empowering people and communities to create positive, sustained change. However, they often lack the resources and support mechanisms to achieve their goals. The Fellowships enable SEs to dedicate 100% of their time to their projects during the 2-year period of the Fellowship, growing and expanding the projects.

Over the past two years, the global political agenda has dramatically shifted to focus on the issue of global warming and the climate crisis. As the severe environmental, health and economic consequences of the intensive use of fossil fuels are revealed, the urgent need to significantly reduce carbon emissions has become clear. Of no less importance is the question of the imminent peak in world oil production and the ensuing energy crisis. Oil prices have recently increased to an all-times record and are expected to increase even more.
Yet very little is being done in Israel with regard to climate change and the rapidly approaching energy crisis.  In fact, following the blackouts of the summer of 2007, which are expected to significantly increase in 2008, it can be stated that Israel is already in the midst of an energy crisis and its ability to provide it's citizens with steady supply of electricity is now cast in doubt.

"It is hard to underestimate the importance and urgency for Israeli society of the conversion from lavish fossil fuels to a low intensity, alternative energy economy - securing Israel's energy independence is becoming an existential question," says Yael. "Some of the world's most advanced research on solar energy is conducted in Israeli academic institutions, and Israeli companies have become world leaders in renewable energy production, yet almost none of this knowledge is implemented internally."

For more information on how you can get involved, write to Yael at yael@energia.org.il or visit her web site at www.energia.org.il.

Recent research has found that one out of every three Sderot children suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Since the beginning of the Second Intifada in October 2000, Sderot has been under constant rocket fire. It is difficult for children to concentrate on schoolwork or carry out daily routines; they experience anxiety symptoms which can include sleeping difficulties, nightmares, sweating, development regressions, wetting beds, and fear of the outside. In addition, residents no longer wear seatbelts in the car because when the alarm sounds people have to leave the car and find shelter; businesses have closed because customers can’t go out to shop—and as businesses close, no one has money to buy anything anyway.
It’s the uncertainty, the never knowing, that takes a toll. Occasionally, almost a whole day will pass without a Kassam. Other days, 30 or even 40 will hit. In March 2008, the mayor said the population had declined by 10%-15% as families left the city. 

What is Education for Active Citizenship?
"Becoming aware of one’s privileges and obligations as a citizen and developing the capability for participation in society."
IVN believes that only a democratic society allows the individuals who compose it to realize their full potential and be an active partner in shaping the public space. Unfortunately, there appears to be a lack of awareness that we, as citizens, have the power to bring about change. One explanation for this phenomenon stems from the lack of a meaningful educational framework for teaching democracy.

In order to address this critical problem, IVN, in partnership with the New Israel Fund (NIF), launched the Education for Active Citizenship (AC) Program. With the support of the Ministry of Education, IVN created a pilot to demonstrate the effectiveness of implementing a civics curriculum for all grades from K – 12.  The program is unique and provides students in Israeli schools grounding for a rich and life-long engagement with and commitment to the issues of civil society, democracy and community activism. The AC program was launched during the 2004-5 school year as a pilot in the development town of Sderot and was expanded to schools in Kiryat Shemona and in the Bedouin village of Tuba Zangariya*. We are continuing to scale the program and to date we have 4,240 participating students.

Within the framework of their Education for Active Citizenship Program, during the week of 10-14 February, 2008, Tuba Zangariya's 10th grade participated in a "Civil Rights Week" and celebrated democracy with a wide range of activities.

The week's activities included workshops with law students from the Arab Association for Human and Citizens' Rights, a play by Beit Hagefen Theater (The Arab-Jewish Center, Haifa) – "The Tyrannical King", the students prepared materials on issues such as health, child rights and gender equality, the 10^th grade students imparted this knowledge to their younger peers in grades 5 and 6 through a 2-day student-to-student teaching activity and much more.

In a questionnaire that was circulated after the week's events, one of the students said "We feel that we able to and capable of giving and contributing."

"This last week made me realize that more projects of this kind can be carried out at the schools. Once it was said to be impossible!" said Aziza.

These activities are just the beginning. On the week of May 2-6, 2008, a "Spring Week" is being organized in the village. This involves cleaning and cultivating the public areas of the village and the schools, in cooperation with the schools and local public authorities.

*The village of Tuba-Zangryia, the only Bedouin village in the Upper Galilee, in fact, the only Arabic speaking community in the Upper Galilee, has almost no structure for voluntarism, contribution to the community, or even youth movements to teach values to its youngsters. The AC project involves the two elementary and the comprehensive middle and high school in Tuba-Zangriya; the staff and teachers receive printed guides in Arabic, adapted to their culture, in-service training and hands-on guidance. Each school draws up a program, with the students choosing projects in which they will be actively involved, on behalf of the community, applying the democratic values they learn in class to a project for the community, where possible integrating other organizations, individuals, etc. in the project.

"Since Manage began the process in June 2007, our business has undergone an unbelievable transformation," says Jos Cohen.