Our Cause: Education
The University of Haifa, established in 1963, has approximately 18,000 students from diverse cultural, national and religious backgrounds. Beyond the objective of a first-rate higher education, the University also emphasizes the issue of social responsibility; promoting service to the community is one of its important goals. It aims to provide equal educational opportunities to all sectors of society, and to encourage mutual understanding and cooperation between the Jewish and Arab populations on and off campus.
The Jewish-Arab Center (JAC) was established in 1972 as an interdisciplinary research institute within the University of Haifa. It is renowned for its work in promoting Jewish-Arab cooperation in academia and in society, with initiatives in research, student activities and social responsibility.
The JAC has awarded annual scholarships to outstanding Arab female graduate students since 2001 and expanded the program in 2008 to include networking meetings for the women, where they present their work and research, create professional relationships, discuss issues, dilemmas and conflicts which they face in their work and life, and learn from each other's experiences in order to attain greater success.
The JAC is now working to bring together Jewish and Arab women, with the launch of a new program to award annual scholarships to equal numbers of Jewish and Arab female graduate students from the university's various departments. The scholarships will support the women in their academic development, while the program will bring them together for discussion groups and the develop community interventions and programs that will encourage not only female empowerment but also respectful dialog and improved relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel.
Find out more about the JAC and their programs at jac.haifa.ac.il.
