DAY ONE: 27/03/2018
The FES Israel welcomes the delegation of German social democratic parliament members, Christian Lange, MdB, Dr. Johannes Fechner, MdB, Thomas Oppermann, MdB and Falko Mohrs, MdB, who provide advice about cultural policy. Their stay in Israel started with an informal and intense discussion with MK Dr. Nachman Shai (Avoda) and MK Mossi Raz (Meretz) about similarities and relations between German and Israeli social democracy.
Afterwards, the delegation met with Maysaloun Hamoud (stage director), MK Prof. Dr. Yossi Yonah (Avoda) and Oded Yedaya (director of the Minshar School of Art) to discuss current emphases of Israeli cultural policy.
DAY TWO: 28/03/2018
Our delegation of Christian Lange, MdB, Dr. Johannes Fechner, MdB, Thomas Oppermann, MdB and Falko Mohrs, MdB started the day with a briefing by Gadi Zohar, chairman of the Peace and Security Association, on the security situation in Northern Israel.
Afterwards, the German ambassador to Israel, Dr. Clemens von Goetze, and Cultural Advisor Franciska Obermeyer welcomed the delegation at the German embassy for a talk about cultural policy in Israel. After lunch with the deputy director of Goethe-Institut Tel Aviv, Jörg Klinner, the delegation payed a visit to the Yung Yidish Center, hidden in the maze of Tel Aviv‘s Central Bus Station, and the Arab Hebrew Theater in Jaffa.
The day ended with talks about perspectives on cultural exchange between Israel and Germany with Sara von Schwarze, stage director and actress, and Giora Rosen, publisher.
DAY THREE: 29/03/2018
The delegation visit ended today with a dive into the culture of remembrance – a big part of Israel’s and Germany’s common history. After being introduced to the spirited work of the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum, which houses extensive knowledge and a collection of private belongings of European Jews, they visited the Atlit Detainee Camp Museum. This museum is housed in a former detention camp for Jewish immigrants from the time of the British Mandate. It recalls the hardships that the Shoah survivors who immigrated to Israel had to suffer under the British mandatory forces before the founding of the State of Israel.
The parliamentarians concluded their program at authors Anita Haviv-Horiner‘s house in Netanya to discuss German-Israeli relations in civil society. Finally, in the evening, we conducted an evaluation of the delegation program with the delegation participants.
We thank everyone who participated in making the visit a success!
