peace work




 
Counter:

     
 

   Our Staff 
 

 Nitsan Gordon – Giles   M.A., Dance/Movement Therapy (Thesis on Nonverbal Cues to Prejudice) - is an Israeli Jew and the founder and director of “Beyond Words”. She is trained and experienced in dance/movement therapy, healing touch and multi-level listening techniques – all of which are used as part of the Beyond Words Educational Model. For several years, she has led courses on understanding and healing prejudice in three Colleges; as well as workshops and trainings using the BW model in Israel and the United States and more recently in NZ. Nitsan is the mother of two children. 

 

 
     

 Sylvia Margia is currently completing her MA in Women Studies. Sylvia is a Christian Arab Israeli and the co-director of Women in the Center. She is a facilitator both with Beyond Words and Creativity for Peace and has recently started a first of its kind Women’s Empowerment and Peace center in the Arab city of Nazareth called Women in the Center. In her 12 years as a social worker with Bituach Leumi she has led several groups for low income and widowed Jewish and Arab women. Sylvia is the mother of two children.

 

 
     

Tamar Carmeli is an Israeli Jew and has seven years experience in different types of bodywork including the Alexander technique. She studied at the Academy of Dance in Jerusalem and is an accredited level II facilitator in the Avi Greenberg method of Holistic Reflexology and has seventeen years of co-counseling experience. She has been one of the facilitators of the “Beyond Words” project since its inception and has been instrumental in developing the interdisciplinary methods used in the program. Tamar is the mother of three children. 

 

 
     

Itaf Awad is a Muslim Arab Israeli, She is the granddaughter of Nasra Awad, midwife, healer and peacemaker in her community, has a Masters Degree in Political Science specializing in local authorities. For 26 years she served as assistant to the mayor and heading up and coordinating all matters relating to women. She has devoted herself to work for peace as a facilitator in meetings between Arab and Jewish women, incorporating techniques and exercises of listening and understanding others. Like her grandmother, Itaf is a mediator who always walks with patience and compassion as companions. 

 

 
     

 Mervat Hamati  B.Ed.,--- is a Christian Arab Israeli and a kindergarten teacher with many years of experience. Mervat is a leader of Arab women’s empowerment groups in Israel and has volunteered to support abused women in the city of Acco. She has worked as a facilitator for BW for several years Mervat is the mother of three children.

 

 
     

Aura Hammer has a degree in architecture from the Technion – the Israeli Institute of Technology. She is an Israeli Jew who created a coexistence group called “Neighbors” where she facilitated a “Beyond Words” group for Arab and Jewish mothers and teachers, a second group for families and a summer camp for Jewish and Arab children. She has facilitated with Maagale Hakshava for three years and with BW for two. Aura is the mother of one child. 

 

 
     

Nurit Avrahami  is Jewish Israeli educator who worked for over 20 years with troubled youth in a kibbutz setting. She is an accomplished artist and sculptor, and a Reiki and Karuna master. Currently she teaches drama and expressive arts in local schools and leads self-empowerment and Reiki workshops. She has been a facilitator with Maagale Hakshava for three years. Nurit has recently begun co-facilitating with Mervat a “Beyond Words” teachers group in the village of Me’ilya.

 

 
     

 Nahawand Aker  is a Muslim Arab Israeli educator who worked for seven years an elementary school teacher and for the past fifteen years has been teaching kindergarten in the 4000 old city of Acco where she also grew up. Along with Yifat she led a Beyond Words group for mothers from the old city of Acco. Nahawand is the mother of four children.

 

 
     
Yifat Maayan is an Israeli Jew who holds a Masters degree in Expressive Arts. Her expertise is in working with children with special needs and for the past eight years has been working with Arab Druze children in two villages in the Galilee. She leads groups of children, adolescents and adults in expressive arts. Yifaat and Nahwand used the BW approach with mothers in the old city of Acco. Yifat is the mother of two children.
  

     

Asmahan Mansur– BA in Education and Management with Honors. Asmahan is in the process of completing her studies for her MA in education with a focus on learning systems. She is Christian Arab Israeli and a facilitator with Beyond Words and Maagale Hakshava. She has studied Bio -organamy and Reiki and has began incorporating it into her work. Asmahan is learning and using Capacitar methods in her workshops within Israel and has also translated some of the Capacitar literature into Hebrew and Arabic. She is the mother of' two children.

  
     
Noa Maayan - Noa is an Israeli Jew and the administrative director of Beyond Words with several years of experience in fundraising and administrative consulting . She is also a certified facilitator for Maagale Hakshave (the way of the council) and has led several circles using this approach for Jewish and Arab women as well as teenagers throughout the country. Noa is the mother of four children.
  
     
Miri Golan – has an MA in Administrative Community Social Work wrote her Masters thesis in social justice on poverty and soup kitchens. She is an Israeli Jew Bituach Leumi social worker and group leader for Arab and Jewish low- income women and widows, as well as a Beyond Words facilitator and one of the founders and co - director of Women in the Center in Nazareth. Miri is the mother of three children.
 		  
     
Lora – Hillel Dicker is a Greenberg method graduate and a Beyond Words facilitator who facilitates groups of Arab and Jewish women in the Galilee. She is an Israeli Jew who is learning and using Capacitar methods in her workshops within Israel. Lora is the mother of two children.