The inspiration to establish the Wesam Khamees Scholarship Fund for Arabs and Jews originated in Wesam's family's belief in the importance of dialogue between Jews and Arabs and the advancement of higher education to promote co-existence between the two peoples living in Israel.

Our family established this scholarship fund to commemorate the memory of our son Wesam, whose academic path was tragically cut short with his death at 17, just before he was to begin the his path of higher education.

After meetings with our family with friends, companions and high profile figures including professionals in education, judges, and spiritual leaders, we set out on the mission which we have been pursuing for more than ten years.

In 1999, when we began, we distributed only dozens of scholarships. Now, in 2009, we are distributing more than 700 scholarships per year. The scholarships are awarded at a traditional annual ceremony in Deir Hanna.

Before his death, Wesam was a leader in a non-profit organization which promoted co-existence between Jews and Arabs in Israel. In many ways, the Fund is a natural continuation of Wesam's path.

As Chairman of the fund I have worked to raise contributions from businesspeople and institutions from different fields. The positive responses from my outreach are overwhelming and have strengthened us and our abilities to achieve our goals.

I wish to extend my immense appreciation to everyone that has contributed to this mission and has done so much to complete this dream.

Fund Objectives

1. To commemorate the memory of Wesam, who tragically passed away before he could achieve his academic dreams.

2. To endow educational scholarships for Arab and Jewish students in order to promote co-existence, cooperation, and friendship between Arabs and Jews in the State of Israel.

3. To promote higher education to facilitate integration into a variety of fields.

4. To strengthen the backbone of modern society in the State of Israel.

I take this opportunity to thank all the contributors that continue to generously support us so that together we can strengthen the Fund and implement the dream of co-existence and the advancement of education in Israeli society.

I appreciate all of your encouragement along the way and for your help and contributions without which we could not have made it to this point.

Sincerely,
Lafi Khamees Fund Chairman