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Visitors

Hand in Hand has attracted international attention for our ground-breaking educational model and shared community frameworks.

Below are some of the prominent visitors who took time to see our school and/or meet with our students, teachers, parents, and community members throughout the country: 

Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin

Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Mourad

Pope Francis I

US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power 

“You are proof that we can live together in peace and that we can’t let the difficult experiences, like what you went through this week, harm our faith in our ability to live together.”

–President Reuven Rivlin, Following the December 2014 arson attack

Below is the full list of prominent visitors from 2013-18:

Israel

President Reuven Rivlin

Justice Minister Tsippi Livni

Education Minister Shai Piron

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai

Taybe Mayor Shua Mansour Masarwa

Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav

“It is important that Jewish and Arab children learn together – next to each other, on the same desk. This will ensure that they will not become enemies.”

–Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, January 2016

Knesset Members: Dov Lipman; Afu Agbaria; Dov Khenin; Uri Ariel; Moshe Feiglin; Ahmed Tibi; Rachel Azaria

Director of Ministry of Justice Emi Palmor

Professor Manuel Trajtenberg, Chair of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education in Israel

Rabbi Benny Lau

Jerusalem City council members Tami Nir and Rachel Azaria (then Deputy Mayor)

“There are brave people in this city who are creating the Jerusalem of the future for all of us. People here at this school look complexity in the eye and move forward together.”

–Rachel Azaria, December 2014

North & South America

US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power

“You are the best ambassadors peace can possibly have.”

–Ambassador Samantha Power, February 2016

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and his wife Julie Fisher

Her Excellency Sharon Johnston, Wife of the Governor General of Canada

Consul General Michael Ratney

Mayor of New York Bill DeBlasio

Members of the Canadian Parliament

Premier of Quebec Philippe Couillard

AFT President Randi Weingarten

Argentinian Education Minister Esteban Bullrich

Celebrities: Lavar Burton; Sean Penn; Chelsea Handler

US-based Israel organizations:

  • AIPAC President Bob Cohen
  • JStreet President Jeremy Ben-Ami
  • Jewish Agency Board of Governors

Politicians

  • US Senators: Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ranking Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO); Senator Ed Markey (D-MA); Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
  • Members of the US House of Representatives: Suzanne Marie Bonamici (D-OR); Susan Davis Alpert, (D-CA); John Thomas Graves, (R-GA); Morgan Griffith, (R-VA); Janice Kay Hahn, (D-CA); Randall Mark Hultgren, (R-IL); Steve Israel, (D-NY); William James Pascrell (D-NJ); Jerrold Lewis Nadler, (D-NY); Todd Young (R-IN); Steve Stivers (R-OH); Jim Renacci (R-OH); Alan Grayson (D-FL); Karen Bass (D-CA); Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
  • First Lady of Mississippi Mrs. Deborah Bryant
  • Massachusetts State Senate President Stanley Rosenberg
  • 15 New York City Council members

Europe & Asia

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern

Austrian Education Minister Sonja Hammerschmid

Dutch Ambassador to Israel Gilles Beschoor Plug

Finnish Ambassador Leena-Kaisa Mikkola

German First Lady Daniela Schadt

German Ambassador Andreas Michaelis

Members of the Irish Parliament

Italian Ambassador Francesco Talò and Senator Nicola Latorre

Japanese First Lady Akie Abe

Mayor Arne Sigtenbjerggaard of Vejle, Denmark

Pope Francis I

Polish First Lady Mrs. Anna Komorowska

President-Minister of German State of Hesse Volker Bouffier

Swiss Ambassador to Israel Jean-Daniel Ruch

Swedish Parliament Deputy Speaker Mrs. Susanne Eberstein, and other Swedish Parliament Members

UK Ambassador to Israel David Quarrey

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