Intensive Arabic Semester

Givat Haviva is the organization that runs the Intensive Arabic Semester program. The Givat Haviva Institute, founded by the HaShomer HaTzair Movement, educates and acts to promote the values of equality and human dignity. Givat Haviva implements activities to develop the experience of equality between Jews and Arabs living in Israel, and provides tools to this end. This is the moral foundation for achieving peace with the Palestinians and the Arab states. Givat Haviva fulfills the mission of the Movement in the field of Holocaust study and the heritage of the youth movements, and initiates research and educational activity based upon the wealth of material stored in the archives on the values of kibbutz and social solidarity.

The International Department of Givat Haviva was originally founded in the mid-l980's. At that time the main focus was the development of the kibbutz movement and beginnings of change in the individual kibbutzim. 

During the l990's the winds of change on the political front in Israel brought about a demand to develop programs dealing with background to the Middle East conflict, the different components of Israeli society and the need for in-depth study tours of the country, facilitating one-on-one meetings with both Arab and Jewish citizens of the State. Within our groups there are Israeli students through Birthright Israel, from USA, Canada and Britain as well as Spanish-speaking countries. We also host universities and colleges from North America and Europe and journalists from electronic and print media. Givat Haviva's educational projects and programs deals with peace education and the fostering of coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel.