On November 8 – 2015, JPC hosted Dr. Thabet Abu Ras, Co-Executive Director, The Abraham Fund Initiatives and Amnon Be`eri-Sulitzeanu, Co-Executive Director , The Abraham Fund Initiatives, who spoke about Suspicion, fear and de-legitimization: The impact of the intensification of the Israel-Palestinian conflict on civilian relations within Israel. They presented an in-depth analysis of the current polarization of Arab – Jewish relations in Israel, how to rehabilitate the aftermath and how to stop the deterioration.
About the Speakers:
Dr. Thabet Abu Ras
Co-Executive Director, The Abraham Fund Initiatives
Thabet joined the Abraham Fund in April, 2014, with a rich background in civil society organizations. Thabet is a political geographer and an expert in land and planning; he obtained a PhD in the field of Geography and Regional Development from the University of Arizona in the United States in 1997. He teaches courses at Ben Gurion University and Sapir College such as ethnic relations, land, planning and regional development. He served on Adalah’s Board of Directors from 2006 to 2008, and joined the staff in October 2010 as the director of Adalah’s office in the Negev. From 2007 to 2009, Thabet was a co-director of the NGO “New Horizon” – The Arab-Jewish Center for Dialogue and a Shared Society; from 2003 to 2005, he served as the director of Shatil’s office in Be’er Sheva; and from 2005-2007, he directed a development project for the recently-recognized villages in the Negev. He is a member of the Board of Director of several environmental and Jewish-Arab educational organizations. He has been the co-chair of the board of Hand In Hand, the Bilingual schools in Israel, and is the Co-founder of AEJI, the Association of Environmental Justice in Israel.
Amnon Be`eri-Sulitzeanu
Co-Executive Director, The Abraham Fund Initiatives
Mr. Be’eri-Sulitzeanu was appointed as Executive Director of The Abraham Initiatives in 2004. Until then he served as the Director of Marketing Communications at the Jerusalem Foundation, under the leadership of the late Mayor Teddy Kollek and Ms. Ruth Cheshin, where he worked to initiate and develop educational, cultural and social enterprises in Jerusalem.
Prior to this, between the years 1992-1996, Mr. Be’eri-Sulitzeanu served as an Adviser to the Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Mr. Yair Tsaban (Meretz) and as the spokesperson of the Ministry. Amongst other tasks, he was active in designing public policy during the massive waves of migration from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia.
Be’eri-Sulitzeanu holds his B.A degree in African Studies and an M.A. in Public Policy and Administration, both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Born in 1966 in Kibbutz Alonim he is married and a father of three.
