American Friends of Neve Shalom-Wahat Al-Salam

Perrine Vaillant grew up in Paris, France and has been the Executive Director of the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam since 2011. She first came to the organization as Assistant Executive Director in 2008. She had previously been working in the non-profit sector with Amnesty International, and other organizations in France and the United States. She also worked with the French embassy in Rabat, Morocco. Perrine holds a Masters in International Relations and Geopolitics from the Institute of Political Studies of Toulouse, France and Certificate in Human Rights with the College Universitaire Henry Dunant in Geneva.

For four years, I have worked with the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam and been inspired by the tireless work of Jewish and Palestinian residents of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam toward a peaceful future for the two people in the region. Their dedication makes the “Oasis of Peace” such a unique place, whose impact reaches out to the entire region and further.  Think about it: in 30 years, they created the first ever binational, bilingual and multicultural primary school in Israel, where Palestinian and Jewish children learn together about each other, while achieving academic excellency. They also opened the School for Peace, a institution that, before anyone used to talk about “people-to-people” programs between Jews and Palestinians, brought hundreds of teenagers from both sides together for in-depth encounters where they could discuss the core issues of the conflict, get to understand the “other side” without giving up their own identity and beliefs. The School for Peace has brought more than 50,000 youth and adults together since its creation in 1979 and is now internationally recognized for its conflict resolution work. The village also created institutions like the Pluralistic Spiritual Center that focuses on interfaith and mediation work all around the country, and the Nadi/Youth Club where young people of the community can develop skills and deal with their unique situation of growing up in the only community of its sort while being citizens of the often segregated State of Israel. And finally, Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam continues its avant-garde work with the recent opening of a Peace College, which reaches out to students and scholars not only in Israel but from all over the world to learn from the experience of the community and advance peacebuilding studies. So you can imagine what a pleasure it was for me to accept the position of Executive Director in 2011. I look forward to develop the capacity of the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam to advance - from the United States - the impact of the educational programs of the community. There is still so much we can do with your help to make sure peace finally prevails in the region. Thank you for your interest in and support to the “Oasis of Peace.”