The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation

The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation organisation was founded in 1996 by Shimon Peres, the Nobel Prize-winning elder Israeli statesman who advocated for peace with the Palestinians and Israel's neighbours, and was one of the architects of Israel's peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan. The organisation is independent, non-profit, non-governmental and non-political. Its aim is to further Peres' vision of people in the Middle East working together to build peace through socio-economic cooperation and development and people-to-people interaction. It offers a meeting place for technology entrepreneurs, startups and investors, as well as a recently opened visitors' centre where the public can experience the story of Israel, the "Startup Nation".

Some time ago my dad came back to Israel for a visit and he and I joined a tour of the new centre. Former Prime Minister and President Peres wore many hats over his decades-long career in local politics. He was the Defence minister responsible for Israel's nuclear energy program, the architect behind the Oslo Accords and winner of a Nobel Peace Prize. He was also Israel's leading technology cheerleader, tirelessly promoting Israeli technologies and Israeli startups. This final chapter of Peres' life - he passed away in 2016 at the age of 93 - became the inspiration for the visitors' centre.

Our tour included a visit to a hall lined with 18 life-sized video avatars of Israeli entrepreneurs who have made their mark on the "Startup Nation". Tech celebrities include Uri Levine, founder of traffic app Waze, Dov Moran, whose company M-Systems created the disk-on-key and Hossam Haick, inventor of "Na-nose" technology that can sniff out cancer and other diseases.
We visited a replica of Peres' office from the time he was Israel's ninth president, then learnt about Israeli startups in automotive tech, agritech, medical devices, cybersecurity and more. We got a taste of where Israeli innovation could lead next in a virtual reality capsule and, in the final room, visited an exhibition highlighting 45 Israeli startups. The exhibit will change every year but companies currently highlighted include genealogy leader MyHeritage, radiation protection vest maker Stemrad, manure-to-renewable energy converter Homebiogas and water purity checker Lishtot. Our guide even offered us a taste of mass-produced kosher grasshopper from Hargol FoodTech. I decided to decline!

As well as the visitors' centre, the Peres Peace House also contains the Shimon Peres Archives, an auditorium, conference rooms and a conflict resolution library. Many of the Peres Center's activities, including public lectures and coexistence activities, take place within the Peres Peace House, as well as activities for the empowerment and development of the local Jaffa communities. The first event held at the building was a graduation ceremony of 21 women, mostly Arab, who graduated from a Women's Economic Empowerment Program and received their computer technician certificates.

In 2011, the Israel Tax Authority denied the Peres Center's request for tax-exempt status in Israel demanding that the organisation stop funding the training of physicians from the Gaza Strip in Israeli hospitals. The demand led the organisation to suspend its application for tax-exemption rather than stop the training project. However, in 2016, the Peres Center finally received tax-exempt status in Israel. The Peres Center for Peace also has tax-exempt status in the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy.

One of Peres' most inspirational quotes was, "Dream big. The bigger your dream, the more you will get". As you approach the entrance to the Peres Peace House, a giant sign reminds you to, "Dream Big." It is framed on one side by the sparkling blue Mediterranean Sea, and on the other, by the contemporary building that now houses the Peres Centre for Peace and Innovation. It moved to its current four storey high location in 2009. Built on the seashore of Jaffa, the building is a unique structure designed by Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas and local architect Yoav Messer. In essence, the building is simply a long box emerging out of the hillside. The short end, facing the sea, is a wall of clear glass; the other three sides are made up of thin horizontal bands of copper-green concrete and glass of various thicknesses, layered apparently randomly, like sedimentary rock. According to the architect, the building materials represent "places that have suffered heavily"; solid concrete for times of stability and fragile glass for conflict and turmoil. The only clear view is out to the sea - to the future.

Inside, the Peace House had to be divided into rooms. The internal divisions are also glass, although there is a concrete core running through the building containing stairs and services, plus a reinforced bomb shelter on each floor. Every new building in Israel is required to have them.

The 7,000 square metre lot is located next to the poor Arab neighbourhood of Ajami and is enclosed by an old Muslim cemetery to the south and by the beach to the west. The building was built on the top part of the lot, surrounded by a public park - the "Peace Park" - which falls into the sea.

We took a walk through the park and along the seafront after our visit to the centre, giving us time to think about our time there and Israel's success as the "Startup Nation". Happily, it's hard to visit The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation and not feel hopeful for the future!

* This post has been shared on The Weekly Link Up, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Our World Tuesday, Tuesday's Treasures, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Travel Tuesday, My Corner of the World and All Seasons.

Proud Israeli Women

A regular customer contacted me with a request for a special card for her mother-in-law's 70th birthday. She's a very active, vibrant woman, my customer told me. She made Aliya 2 years ago (literally, the Hebrew word "aliyah" means ascent or rise, but for generations it has been used to mean "to move to Israel") and is proudly Israeli with strong South African roots.
Mum-in-law is always on the go. She recently travelled to Italy with a friend, is a keen swimmer, she likes to take selfies and is constantly looking for - losing - and finding - her keys... phone... credit card... glasses. She often wears a particular necklace that my customer sent me a photo of. Finally I learnt that she is a beloved remedial teacher and still teaches English to children to this day.

I have shown the birthday girl wearing her favourite necklace and waving a South African and an Israeli flag. She has found her key and her credit card and is holding them tightly in her other hand. An alphabet book represents the years she has spent teaching, whilst a towel, swimming goggles and mobile phone mark her love for swimming and taking selfies respectively. I added a little picture of the Colosseum in Rome to serve as a reminder of her recent trip to Italy.

"My mother-in-law loved your card! She was blown away!" my customer wrote to me.

Another proud Israeli, Ella, is one of those lucky people who receives one of my birthday cards every year 😉. Last year I showed her all glammed up for her high school prom. She is now serving her time with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and so this year mum asked me to show her daughter in her olive green uniform, sitting next to a computer, working through the stacks of paper next to her. I added the big red number 19 to mark her age.
"Lisa, you did it again! Absolutely love your card!" she wrote on Facebook and shared the card for all to see.

The mother-in-law featured on the top card might have her favourite necklace but this lovely rose gold one is quite possibly now mine. Some time ago Anna and Robert of Monday Monarch kindly approached me and offered to send me a necklace or bracelet from their site. It's always nice to support fellow Israeli makers and so I was more than happy to have a good look around. I chose a 1 disc, rose gold 18" necklace and asked them to engrave it with my initial, using the font of my choice.

The handmade rose gold initial necklace which arrived so beautifully packaged in my postbox was a great choice! It is gorgeous and dainty and feels so light that you can almost forget that you are wearing it.
If you are looking for a great personalised gift - or something special just for yourself - Monday Monarch are located in Tel Aviv and will be very happy to hear from you!

* This post has been shared on {wow me} wednesday, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, You're the Star Blog Hop, Share Your Style, Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty, All Seasons and Mix it up Monday.

Bulgaria, Belize and back

Twins Gabi and Adi each receive one of my customised cards on their birthday every year. I certainly remember making cards for their Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13, if not before, and they are now 23! Last year I showed Gabi at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and Adi campaigning for his favourite candidate in the local municipal elections. This year these young men have been travelling. Gabi has been swimming with sharks in Belize, Central America and Adi went to Bulgaria. (Just to show my age, I am now resisting the temptation to write Great Uncle before Bulgaria 😂)

I have shown Adi against the mountainous background that I could see in the photo his mum sent me. Apparently about 30% of Bulgaria is mountainous and mountains take up most of the southern and western parts of the country. I added the Bulgarian flag behind him to show where the photo I based my card on was taken. A big number 23 marks his age.

Gabi is actually still travelling but sent his parents a clip of him first feeding sharks and then swimming with them. Yikes! I have shown him swimming in the sea, wearing diving gear. A shark is swimming towards him.
I asked his mum how Gabi was going to get his birthday card since he is currently halfway across the world. "I'll take a photo of it and send it to him!" she replied. "We couldn't have a birthday without one [of your cards]!"

How wonderful is that?

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty, All Seasons, The Weekly Link Up

Football and Fishing at Fifty

Mark really wanted a Lordship from the Principality of Sealand for his 50th birthday and so that is what his family surprised him with on his special day. His wife asked if I could make a card based on that theme.

I have shown "Lord Mark" standing in front of Roughs Tower, an offshore platform in the North Sea which Sealand claims as its territory. He is wearing a Manchester City F.C. shirt to show his support for his favourite football team and is holding the certificate declaring his Lordship.
Balloons and a big red number 50 mark his age.
I hope that his family now remember to address him in the appropriate way!

Another husband was celebrating his 50th birthday as well. His wife told me that his hobbies include cricket and fishing and watching rugby and football. She also wanted me to put a 50 somewhere on the card.
I have shown Gerald with a fishing rod over his shoulder and a cricket bat in his other hand. To his right is the badge of his favourite football team, Watford F.C. and to his left the England national rugby union team emblem, a red rose.
My customer seemed thrilled with the card. "I love love love it!!! Thank you" she wrote to me.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., The Weekly Link Up, Made By You Monday