German-Israeli and EU-Israeli Relations
Salon Berlin, Tel Aviv
Salon Berlin, Tel Aviv. Photo by Maud Meinel
Introduction
In the context of German-Jewish and German-Israeli relations as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Heinrich Boell Stiftung supports a wide range of activities in the field of political education. These include conferences, public meetings of writers as well as exploring new ways of education to learn about and commemorate the prosecution and murder of the European Jews. It supports efforts to make the discourses in the respective countries understandable in other countries and to strengthen a pluralistic and critical debate.
International Events
From left: Hatice Akyün, Gisela Dachs and Shimon Adaf in Cafe Yafa. Photo by Maud Meinel
Literature Days
Tel Aviv - Berlin: Living and Writing in the Cities
The Heinrich Boell Foundation and the Goethe Institute Tel Aviv organized the third German-Israeli Literature Days on October 27 – 31, 2009 with the motto Tel Aviv – Berlin: Living and Writing in the Cities. The events took place on the background of the 100th birthday of Tel Aviv and the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall in Berlin. Participating authors were Orly Castel-Bloom, Alon Hilu, Dror Burstein, Shimon Adaf, Marc Buhl, Iris Hanika, Judith Kuckart and Hatice Akün. The opening evening was a panel discussion with politicians (Dov Khenin, Franziska Eichstädt-Bohlig) and intellectuals (Joshua Simon, Jochen Visscher) from both cities, moderated by Nir Baram. read more and see a video featuring the events»
Conference
How is Volker? – On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany and the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Wall, the Heinrich Böll Stiftung together with the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya held a German-Israeli conference entitled 60 Years of a Different Germany – An Assessment 20 Years After the Fall of the Wall. On June 28th 2009, some 130 people gathered in the auditorium of the Marc Rich Library at the IDC in Herzliya to participate in the event. more»
Visits to Israel
Visit and events
The Stasi and its Aftermath – Reflections on the Legacy of the East German Secret Police
January 2010 was not just the 60th anniversary of the founding of the East German secret police, but also the 20th anniversary of the takeover of its offices in various East German cities by citizen’s initiatives. On this background, the Israel office of the Heinrich Boell Stiftung invited Marianne Birthler, the Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former GDR in Berlin for three events, in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Sderot which took place in February 2010. Antje Aiger more»
Kerstin Mueller visits Israel and the Palestinian Territories: March 29 - April 4, 2009 – Kerstin Mueller has been a Member of Parliament (Bundestag) since 1994 and at present she is the spokesperson of the Green Parliamentary Group for foreign policy. On a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories at the end of March 2009, she visited Hebron, Ramallah, Gaza, Sderot, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and met with politicians, NGO representatives, academics and journalists. Read more about the visit »
Cem Özdemir and Shimon Peres
Cem Özdemir in Israel – Cem Özdemir, Chairman of the German Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) visited Israel and the Palestinian territories from June 28 until July 3, 2009. During his visit to Israel, he met with various key officials in the government, academia, civil society representatives as well as with journalists.  Read more about Cem Özdemir's political exchanges»
Holocaust Survivors
Living After Surviving event, June 18 2008
Event
Living After Surviving - Shoah Survivors in Israel
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, the Heinrich Boell Stiftung together with Action Reconciliation Service for Peace invited Shoah survivors and the general public to discuss their current situation in Israel and to reflect on the future of memorializing the Shoah. On June 18th 2008, some 100 people gathered at Beit Sokolov in Tel Aviv to take part in the event. more»
[To view the FlexVideoPlayer you will need to have Javascript turned on and have Flash Player 9 or better installed.]
2010 Project Partners
Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House: We are collaborating in a publication in Hebrew of political writings of Heinrich Boell, the famous postwar German writer whose name the foundation bears. So far only his novels have been translated to Hebrew. Heinrich Boell was a very politically active writer as his famous quote “Meddling is the only way to stay relevant” demonstrates. The book will be launched with events in various cities in Israel in collaboration with the local cinematheque in which films based on novels by Heinrich Boell will be screened.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Minerva Institute for German History inTel Aviv University and Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House: With both institutions we are working on the publication of writings by two leading German intellectuals: Axel Honneth and Ulrich Beck. Axel Honneth is a professor at the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt/Main. A Hebrew translation of his writings was published at the beginning 2009. He will visit Israel in March 2010 and participate in two events at Tel Aviv University. Ulrich Beck is a Sociology professor and the director of the Institute for Sociology of Munich University. He will also visit Israel after the book with his writings will be published.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Center for European Studies at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya: We are planning to continue our collaboration of past years by organizing an international conference on the issue: What makes a Friend of Israel?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Institute for National Security Studies (INSS): Whereas in the past we organized events with the INSS on the question of the democratization of the Middle East and how to deal with the Iranian nuclear program, we are now working together with regard to possible third party roles in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

News and Events
Save the date!

What Makes a Friend of Israel?  -
an international conference
Sunday, September 5th, 2010, 10:00-21:00
The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya

A detailed program will be available soon.
Information in Hebrew and Arabic
מידע בעברית על קרן הינריך בל
معلومات بالعربية عن صندوق هينريخ بيل
Newsletter in German
The Israel office of the HBS sends out a bimonthly report in German under the title "What moves Israel?"
Read the Newsletter in German
To subscribe, please send us an email to: info@boell.org.il
Partners German - Israeli and EU -Israeli Relations