Oasis of Peace
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The Oasis of Peace, known as Neve Shalom (נווה שלום) in Hebrew and Wahat al-Salam in Arabic is a village jointly founded by Israeli Jews and Arabs (Palestinians) in an attempt to show that the two cultures can live side by side peacefully.
Its name originating from a phrase in the Old Testament that "My people shall dwell in an oasis of peace", the idea of united village was first proposed by Father Bruno an Egyptian Catholic (although Jewish by birth) who set up a home at the site of the new village in 1972 (on land rented from the Trappist Latrun Monastery for the cost of 25 US Dollar for a hundred year lease) and waited for others to join him.
It currently has 184 inhabitants with 300 people (half Jewish, half Arab) on the waiting list for places in the village. While the village wishes to expand it is opposed by the current right wing Israeli government.
The village school teaches both Arabic and Hebrew and places are in heavy demand, the yearly intake includes hundreds of children from neighbouring areas.
The village has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times.
External links
- Village homepage (http://nswas.com/)
- Canadian Friends of the Oasis of Peace (http://www.oasisofpeace.ca/)
- American Friends of the Oasis of Peace (http://oasisofpeace.org/)