:
Chapter 3 - The Experiential Approach
Though many "experiential" programs involve encounters,
the emphasis is less on dialogue than action, particularly joint
activities that highlight the participants' similarities rather than their
differences. By engaging in activities of mutual interest, coexistence
is promoted without ever discussing the concept.
Beit Shmuel's Jewish-Arab Coexistence
Project brings adults with a common interest in studying language together for
extracurricular activities like cultural evenings and tours.
Beit Hagefen's programs are explicitly designed to facilitate
social and cultural encounters between Jews and Arabs of all ages.
Youth movements are very popular in Israel. Re'ut Sadaka is one that encourages coexistence through year-long encounters
and programs. Unlike school-based programs, Re'ut's philosophy is
to distinguish its activities from compulsory studies.
The Leo Baeck Education
Center runs a number of programs that promote coexistence. These include a summer camp,
kindergarten and photography class. It also runs a community center
that welcomes all groups.
Interns from all over the world are paired and live and work
in a Jewish and/or Arab city for a period of up to two years
through Interns for Peace. The participation of Jews and Arabs in
joint community activities breaks down stereotypes and builds
trust among people of different political and cultural backgrounds.
For decades, people of all faiths have gone to the International YMCA in Jerusalem to participate in social, cultural and
sporting activities. The YMCA has also developed more formal programs
for promoting coexistence, notably an integrated nursery
school/kindergarten and a youth leadership program for teens.
One unique approach to promoting coexistence is the
investigation and reenactment of the practices of ancient civilizations at
the Museum of Archaeology at Kibbutz Ein Dor. By
familiarizing themselves with the region's ancient culture, participants learn
to reexamine their own lifestyles and customs.
SHEMESH offers everything from adult education courses
to leadership training to an integrated choir as part of its program to promote coexistence in the Galilee.
The effort to promote coexistence in Israel is not limited to
the elites or self-selected groups interested in bettering relations
with their neighbors. Even children at-risk, whose primary concerns
are poverty, abuse, malnutrition and neglect, are brought together
in the interest of coexistence. The Neighborhood
Home run by Friendship's Way, is a daily, after-school enrichment program
for fifty Jewish and Arab children of families at high risk.
David Yellin Teachers College sponsors a training program, Education for Peace and Coexistence, which aims to teach — and
teach educators how to teach — pluralism, tolerance, humanism
and democracy, and to further mutual understanding, respect and
peace between Jews and Arabs in Israel. Students from the school
study the academic aspects and then apply them in Jerusalem-area
nursery and elementary schools.
Another of the more unusual approaches to promoting
coexistence is the Traditional Creativity in the Schools
Project developed by the Centre for Creativity in Education and Cultural
Heritage. This is a three-year program for 5th through 7th graders
from Jewish and Arab schools in Ramle and Jerusalem. Throughout
the year, students examine their own cultural environment and
folklore, collecting information from parents and grandparents. The
aim is for children to learn more about their own folklore and about
the culture of the various other ethnic and religious groups.
Teachers, parents and grandparents participate and serve as role models
of coexistence and multi-culturalism.
Keshet is a JDC-Israel project to train community and
social workers to help immigrants, mainly Ethiopians, integrate into
Israeli society. The program is based on the experience that active
intervention is needed to aid integration.
Jewish-Arab Coexistence Project
Contact:
David Ariel-Yoel
Beit Shmuel
6 Shama St.
Jerusalem 94101
Tel. 2-620-3461
Objectives:
To establish opportunities for contact and the development
of mutual understanding between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs.
To teach Arabic or Hebrew language skills to each
respective group.
To provide information and promote understanding
regarding each other's social, cultural and religious patterns.
To create shared learning activities for Jews and Arabs that
encourage personal contact and the establishment of
interpersonal relationships.
To develop a format for inter-ethnic and inter-cultural social,
cultural and economic activities.
Target Population:
Professional adults in the Jerusalem area
Program and Activities:
Beit Shmuel is the Education-Cultural Center of the World
Union for Progressive Judaism. It was established in 1987 as a
community center designed to serve the primarily secular Israeli public. As a
result of the growing Jewish-Palestinian conflict in Israel in general,
and in Jerusalem in particular, increasing effort at Beit Shmuel has
been devoted toward fulfilling a sacred Jewish mandate: "Seek Peace
and Pursue It" (Psalms 34:15), which means to pursue opportunities to overcome one's fear and distrust of the "other" (or in stronger
language, the "enemy"). Tangibly, this means to break down the
walls that prevent human contact, and to build up mutual
understanding and basic knowledge about whom this "other" really is.
Beit Shmuel is dedicated to reducing tensions between Jews
and Arabs by conducting programs that promote mutual
contact, awareness and tolerance. Beit Shmuel relates the
Jewish-Palestinian problem in a humanistic, religious-cultural manner, rather than
just politically.
The Jewish-Arab Coexistence Project has two components.
The first is the Language Training Program, which includes Hebrew
and Arabic tracks. Courses meet two to three times a week for three
hours in the evenings. Those studying Hebrew are mostly
Palestinian business people who must command a sufficiently high level
of Hebrew language skills to engage fully in their field within the
larger Israeli context. Studying Arabic are Israelis whose professions
fall primarily within the fields of civil service, social work, business,
law and finance, and who require Arabic language skills.
The objectives of the classes are far broader than "mere"
language acquisition. Also important — and meant to be transmitted
through the language courses — is the understanding of another ethnic
group's religious, historical, cultural and social foundations. Language
instructors are selected on the basis of their pedagogic skills and
their ability to represent, in an engaging and interesting manner,
the fundamental ethos of the ethnic group behind the language.
Beit Shmuel is especially well-suited to meet the needs of
this project because it is situated at the meeting point of western
and eastern Jerusalem (prior to the 1967 Six-Day War, it was
considered no-man's land between Israel and the Jordanian-controlled
Old City). Arabs consider Beit Shmuel a "neutral" environment
because it is a non-governmental entity.
Two semesters of Hebrew courses were offered in 1995 as
part of the Jewish-Arab Coexistence Project. The language
acquisition stage is intended to prepare both Jews and Arabs for the
personal encounter. This part of the program offers a number of joint
field excursions and cultural activities. Participation is voluntary,
though each encounter is generally attended by roughly the same
number of Jews and Arabs. The nature of the field excursions is such that Jews and Arabs travel together to various parts of Israel to meet
with a third ethnic group that is somewhat unfamiliar to both.
These ethnic groups include Golan Druze and Negev Bedouin. The
excursions include bus travel, outdoor activities, site tours, the
ethnic meetings and presentations with question and answer periods.
Most Arabs have never traveled around Israel or gone to places like
the Israel Museum and get their first opportunity in outings with
Jews in the program. In 1995, the groups began to travel to Jordan.
The fourth quarter of the project year also saw efforts to
develop a new aspect of the program, with academic discussions, lectures
and tours highlighting the similarity and contrasts among the
three monotheistic religions. Subjects covered included the views
of Judaism, Islam and Christianity toward the land of Israel,
toward Jerusalem and toward each other.
The overall Jewish-Arab Coexistence Project offered the
following activities in 1995:
• Arabic language courses (two semesters) — 200 Jewish participants.
• Hebrew language courses (four semesters x five classes) — 480
Arab participants.
• Eight cultural evenings — 2,300 Jewish and Arab participants.
• Eight experiential tours — 875 Jewish and Arab participants.
• Three group trips to Jordan — 173 Jewish and Arab participants.
When the program began in 1992, 50 Jews and 50 Arabs
participated. Twelve months later, that number had reached 1,750,
with the addition of the excursions and encounters. Total
participation in 1995 exceeded 3,000.
Lessons:
Coexistence, as such, actually appears nowhere in the
program. The idea is to engage Jews and Arabs side by side in other,
unrelated activities such as language instruction and cross-cultural
events which, by virtue of the close proximity promote coexistence.
Participants feel comfortable because meetings are held in a
"neutral" environment.
The study of language can be used as a bridge for coexistence.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
Beit Shmuel provides a good model for bringing different
groups together to participate in joint activities of mutual interest.
The program could be adapted to take students from different
language programs on field trips, for example, to each other's religious
institutions and neighborhoods, or to visit a third ethnic or
religious community.
Beit Hagefen
Contact:
Motti Peri
Director
Beit Hagefen
2 Hagefen St., POB 92421
Haifa 35662
Tel. 4-525-252/1, Fax. 4-529-166
Objectives:
To organize and foster nonpolitical meetings and cultural
activities for Arabs and Jews.
To develop intercultural relations between various religions
and communities.
To disseminate the idea of coexistence between Jews and
Arabs in Israel and all over the world, and help in the establishment
of additional centers with similar ideas and goals.
To increase and enrich Arab cultural activities in Israel.
To initiate and develop cultural ties with Arab countries and
with the Palestinian Authority as part of the peace process.
Target Population:
All ages.
Program and Activities:
Beit Hagefen was founded in 1963 to create a meeting place
for social and cultural encounters between Jews and Arabs, and
to encourage and promote understanding and coexistence. Beit
Hagefen sponsors a wide range of activities for both Arabs and Jews,
including cross-cultural encounters for all age groups,
extracurricular activities, women's clubs, Arabic theater, a Visitors Center, an
Arab/Jewish folklore troupe, a library, an art gallery and a training
center for Education for Democracy and Coexistence. Beit Hagefen
also sponsors special events, such as the annual Arab Book and
Culture Month and Days of Friendship and Fraternity
(Hanukkah-Christmas-Ramadan art exhibitions, concerts and activities).
The target population of the Visitor Center is high school
students and tourists. Its activities include guided tours of sites of interest
in Haifa, hospitality provided in Jewish and Arab homes in Haifa,
Arab villages and settlements in northern Israel, and workshops
and lectures given by Jewish and Arab guest lecturers and by
members of the Beit Hagefen professional staff.
The training center for Education Towards Democracy and
Coexistence has several programs. One aimed at students from
fifth through eleventh grades, is conducted by a Jewish and Arab
instructor, with the goals of acquainting Jewish and Arab students,
eliminating stereotypes and prejudices, creating an atmosphere of
mutual tolerance, emphasizing commonalities of Jewish and Arab
Israeli citizens, acquainting participants with the national and
cultural identities of the two peoples and stressing that common
citizenship is a basis for coexistence.
Before the two groups meet, preparatory sessions are held to
examine stereotyped thinking, generalizations and prejudice,
analyze situations and events relating to Jewish-Arab relations and
explore the problems and the possibilities for cooperation based on
their identity as Israeli citizens. The first and second meetings, held
alternately in a Jewish and Arab school, begin the process of
personal and cultural acquaintance. They play mutual trust games,
study language, play sports, engage in drama productions and work on
joint art projects. Older students have lunches in the homes of
participants. The third meeting is held at Beit Hagefen. This session is designed to deepen awareness of national identity and civic
topics and air issues related to the reciprocal relations of Jews and
Arabs. The group also watches short films related to democracy,
pluralism and coexistence and discusses them, participates in simulations
and other activities to develop coping strategies. The fourth meeting
is a joint activity, such as a sports day, field trip or theater
excursion. A similar program for kindergarten children brings Jews and
Arabs together for games, language instruction, creative drama,
puppet shows and theater.
High school principals and center staff choose 14-20 students
for a two-year Young Leadership program that meets every
two-three weeks. The first meetings focus on getting acquainted, learning
about their shared interests and values. Later, they begin to discuss
differences in religion, culture and stereotypes. The political conflicts
are not ignored, but they are not the main subject. The group visits
each other's homes, travels together and works on joint projects.
The "Good Neighbors Project" for adults seeks to raise
consciousness, interest and curiosity in the Jewish and Arab residents of
Haifa, to bring about social meetings for personal, social and
cultural acquaintance, to initiate joint creative-cultural activities and
projects and to foster mutual tolerance, understanding and coexistence.
A variety of joint projects are held at community centers, such
as festivals to mark holidays, discussion forums, sports
tournaments, picnics and folk dancing.
Lessons:
Sessions to examine stereotyped thinking, generalizations
and prejudice are important to prepare groups for encounters.
Joint activities that involve the communities and parents
foster mutual tolerance.
Having students go to each other's homes for lunch makes
the encounter more intimate and meaningful.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
The "Good Neighbor Project" is an applicable model for
promoting relations between communities in the United States. Another project that might hold promise for the United States, and
would be easy to implement, is a cultural festival modeled after the one
held in the Arab neighborhood near Beit Hagefen. Works of art
are exhibited in homes, stores, even falafel stands. Visitors follow a
route through the neighborhood and have the chance to see beautiful
art, explore the community and meet the residents. Similar festivals
could be designed to bring Jews, for example, to black neighborhoods
and vice versa.
Re'ut Sadaka
Contact:
Michael Raphael
Educational Supervisor
Re'ut Sadaka
20 Allenby St.
Haifa, 33265
Tel. 4-526926, Fax. 4-8528392
Objective:
To educate young Israelis, members of all national, cultural,
and religious groups living in this country, toward a
multi-cultural society based on tolerance, respect for others and the
common construction of an Israeli society for the benefit of all its
constituent parts.
Target Population:
Jews and Arabs ages 14-18 and high school graduates.
Program and Activities:
Re'ut-Sadaka (Friendship) is a Jewish-Arab youth movement
that forms connections between Arabs and Jews and encourages coexistence. Re'ut's motto is "to respect diversity and build unity."
It is a nonformal education group and, unlike other youth groups
in Israel, is not connected to or funded by a political party.
Founded in 1982, Re'ut-Sadaka now has many branches throughout
Israel. In Re'ut-Sadaka, young people are educated according to the
principles of coexistence and equal rights — for Arabs and Jews, men
and women, and for the different ethnic groups in Israel.
Re'ut believes that differences between Arabs and Jews in
Israel exist on a basic, cultural level and that conflict stems from
miscommunication on this cultural level. Re'ut believes its goals can
be achieved through lengthy interaction between the two
peoples. Activities include weekly meetings, special topical seminars,
trips, youth exchanges, a year of service, volunteer projects and public
and social activity.
Re'ut combines the encounter and experiential
methodologies, though the preference is for the latter. Re'ut works with more
than 500 young people each year. At any one time, 10-15 groups of
15-20 16-17 year-olds participate in programs that last nearly a
year. The meetings take place after school to distinguish the activities
from their compulsory studies. Each group has a Jewish and an
Arab facilitator, both specially trained, and consists of Arab and
Jewish students from the same geographic area. For the first 4-5 weeks
the groups use games and interviews to become acquainted. The
rationale is to create a positive climate before delving into the
conflict. The next 4-5 weeks serve as an introduction to Jewish and
Arab culture. The third period begins to look at stereotypes and the
final meetings involve discussions of identity and politics.
Ongoing contact enables participants to break down stereotypes and
prejudice, and to respect diversity. The weekly meetings are
supplemented by in-depth movement-wide seminars on specific topics such as
political and moral issues facing Israeli society.
As a second-best alternative, Re'ut also sponsors intense
two-day "encounters," as well as special social and educational excursions
to various sights throughout the country. In addition, Re'ut
participates in exchanges with youth movements throughout the
world., which broaden the horizons of participants and allow for the
sharing of information with young people in other countries. Also,
Re'ut carries out special leadership seminars and discussions for members who will one day be counselors.
Re'ut also runs a project called "One Year of Life for
Coexistence." Participants in this project are high school graduates who
choose to do a year of service and delay their military service or other
plans. These Arab and Jewish young people become counselors to
old groups, form new ones, and participate in volunteer work
within their respective communities. During this year, they share an
apartment — living the principles of coexistence day by day and
learning problem solving techniques from experience. This program
develops leadership among young Jewish and Arab Israelis with the
goal of influencing the two communities toward peaceful coexistence
and cooperation.
To encourage members of the group to take personal and
social responsibility, Re'ut initiates volunteer projects each year.
Members of the group set up volunteer work camps in poor
neighborhoods while organizing educational activities for local youths.
Lessons:
It is important for projects to be consistent and ongoing.
The programs take place after school to distinguish the
activities from their compulsory studies.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
Teachers from Ahlen, Germany, worked with Re'ut to learn
how to teach coexistence to teens. That city was dealing with
problems between Germans and immigrant Turks. Re'ut counselors
helped organize youth groups in Ahlen to combat racism and held
seminars for professionals to teach their methods. Re'ut is
particularly interested in finding U.S. partners and working to develop
joint programs with U.S. student groups that visit Israel. The "year
of service" offers an interesting model for a kind of service corps
that would provide services to communities while promoting
coexistence.
The Leo Baeck Education Center
Contact:
Rabbi Samuel
The Leo Baeck Education Center
P.O. Box 6283
Haifa 31062
Tel. 4-833-1080, Fax. 4-833-6582
Objective:
To foster tolerance.
Target Population:
Ages four to adult.
Program and Activities:
The Leo Baeck Education Center is an organization dedicated
to the advancement of progressive and humanist education in
Israel. Connected with the World Union for Progressive Judaism
(the Reform Movement), the Center encompasses several
institutions, including a junior and senior high school and a community center.
For eight years, the Center has run a summer camp for Jewish
and Arab children to encourage the formation of a group identity.
The camp's activities include getting to know you games,
competition and contests between the groups, arts and crafts, computers,
sports and field trips.
One innovative aspect of the camp is the approach to
language. Since Arabs usually know Hebrew, but Jews do not know
Arabic, Hebrew is the dominant language. To avoid this, all instructions
for group activities were written in both languages so the Jewish
and Arab counselors had to help one another to read and
understand them. The intermingling of the languages in the instructions
was on the sub-sentence level, so neither counselor could understand
the whole sentence without help from the other. In this way, mutual assistance between the counselors and an equalization between
the Hebrew and Arabic languages was achieved.
In the future, the plan is to continue some of the camp's
activities during the school year to change the infrequent and superficial
nature of contact between the two populations, and to dismantle
any prejudices and mistrust between them by allowing a natural
growth of friendship.
The Arab-Jewish Photography class, "Film for Thought," is
aimed at ninth graders. The project seeks to add social meaning to
the production of photographs and to give an artistic meaning to
the social interaction between Jewish and Arab teens. The group
travels on field trips to sites that reflect the diverseness of Israel's
social fabric. Teamwork is emphasized in professional training of
photography skills.
As with other programs, the idea of working with young
children, from kindergarten up, is to expose them at an early age to the
"other" so they will grow up more tolerant. "Gan Yachad," Leo Baeck's
day care center aims to provide the special educational attention
needed by children, ages 4-9, from extremely distressed emotional
and economic backgrounds, to introduce Arab and Jewish children
to one another at an impressionable age so they can learn to
identify with one another and recognize their mutual humanity, and to
serve as a model of coexistence.
The classes are separate, held in mirror-image wings, with a
joint courtyard and play area. Daily interaction between the two
groups of children facilitates their education in tolerance and
coexistence. Joint programming is conducted in both Hebrew and Arabic,
with the aim of providing both groups of children rudimentary
knowledge of the other group's language.
While many coexistence projects involve people who are
predisposed toward tolerance, that is not the case in this program
because of the population's poverty and emotional problems. Hungry,
neglected children are not best suited for participating in
coexistence activities; they are struggling hard enough merely to exist
themselves. Therefore, the work done by the social worker and house
mother to help these children is a crucial first step toward helping
these children believe in themselves. Once this step has been taken,
the next step, of helping the children to believe in one another, Arab and Jew alike, can be taken.
Leo Baeck also promotes tolerance of immigrants in the way
it integrates teenagers in the classroom. Newcomers have two
conflicting needs: a) to understand the language and b) social integration.
The Center's solution is to integrate immigrants in classes that are
not language-based (e.g., math) and segregate them in home room
for subjects like Bible and literature that are language-based.
A less formal model of coexistence is the community center
run by Leo Baeck, which is open to Arabs and Jews.
Lessons:
The use of language differences to promote
interdependency, making Arabic and Hebrew speakers reliant on one another to
carry out the programs.
The use of enjoyable, experiential activities to promote the
formation of friendships between the Arab and Jewish children.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
The summer camp, kindergarten and photography class are
models that could be replicated in the United States. In addition,
the example of a community center that welcomes all groups might
be applied in areas with Jewish community centers. This would
provide a place for Jews and other groups to mix for mutually
enjoyable activities, as opposed to forced encounters.
Interns for Peace
Contact:
Rabbi Bruce Cohen
International Director
Interns for Peace
35 Ge'ula St., P.O. Box 5796
Tel Aviv 61047
Tel. 3-517-6525, Fax. 3-517-7995
Objectives:
To establish cooperative community work projects between
Arab and Jewish cities.
To train professionals in Jewish-Arab relations, democracy
and human rights.
To increase democracy and human rights by public policy
initiatives to build a more equitable society.
To increase respect among all clans and groups to create a
more tolerant society.
To educate Jews and Arabs about cooperative projects for
promoting peace.
To develop models of conflict resolution for other areas in
the world.
Target Population:
College graduates and adults.
Program and Activities:
The Interns for Peace (IFP) program brings Jews and Arabs
together for joint community activities. The assumption is that
personal, emotionally-laden experiences are the most vital
components in breaking down stereotypes and building trust among people
of different political and cultural backgrounds. IFP believes that lacking personal relations with their fellow Israeli Arab citizens,
most Israeli Jews fear them.
Interns come from Israel and other countries. Most now
come from Israel. The average age of an intern is 32. Interns have
flexibility, cultural respect and a high tolerance for ambiguity. They
view difficulties as challenges or opportunities for improvement. As
a training program for community peace workers, IFP builds
trust through cooperative action in community development on a
regional level among the Jewish and Arab citizens of the State of
Israel. One well-trained, motivated and talented intern can effectively
bring together thousands of Jews and Arabs — adults and youth.
Peace workers undergo an intensive one month orientation program
prior to placement in the community. Usually interns are paired and
live and work in a Jewish and/or Arab city for a period of up to
two years. Interns are paid a stipend and receive health insurance
and travel money. They receive free housing from their host
communities.
IFP projects fall under six main categories:
• Mutual Community Development — Highway safety,
ecology and shared resources.
• Business/Industry — IFP initiated the "Center for
Jewish-Arab Economic Development" to encourage economic
development in the Arab sector.
• Education for Democracy — Pairs neighboring Jewish and
Arab school systems for interactions that are held every six weeks
for grades 5 to 12, and which actively involve teachers and parents.
• Sports — Mixed teams/clinics in soccer, baseball, basketball,
tennis, rugby and other sports.
• Cultural Interaction — Regional art, music, dance, theater
festivals and clinics.
• Women United — Brings Jewish and Arab women together
for projects and discussions related to health, safety and careers.
The major project is Education for Democracy, which began
20 years ago. The project pairs neighboring Jewish and Arab
schools for a series of carefully structured monthly interactions in
each other's communities for fifth through twelfth graders, where the youth do or learn together instead of talking at each other. Due
to IFP, thousands of Jewish and Arab youths visit each other's
schools, communities and homes during school hours.
The project begins by IFP senior staff identifying Jewish and
Arab school principals who agree to take the project to their teachers.
Once the teachers agree to be active implementors of the project,
the educators, IFP staff and interns meet with the parents to receive
their approval. Any parent may elect not to have their child
participate. If widespread parental resistance is encountered, then all the
parents are invited to visit the neighboring community/school before
their children actually begin the project. Once the project starts,
parents, both those who are resistant and those who are positive, are
encouraged to be chaperones for the actual interactions.
After receiving parental approval, the interns, Jewish and
Arab teachers meet together to plan a year-long series of interactions
on a particular theme. The final selection of the theme is
determined democratically by the children. On the junior high level, the
Jewish and Arab pupils are encouraged to form a Pupil Council to
plan the interactions throughout the year.
Each interaction is preceded by two preparations and
followed by one feedback session with each side separately. It is in these
uni-ethnic sessions that pupils are encouraged to reveal their fears
and stereotypes, openly evaluate the previous interaction and
prepare for the next one.
During the past 20 years, IFP trained 180 Jewish and Arab
interns. Many graduate interns become professionals in coexistence.
IFP graduates have founded and staffed many of the
organizations working on Jewish-Arab relations. Other IFP graduates
become rabbis, Jewish communal leaders or community workers. IFP's
Arab interns often become communal leaders or community workers
to strengthen indigenous non-governmental agencies in the Arab sector.
Lessons:
The IFP affective (emotional) versus cognitive (dialogue)
methodology creates positive attitudinal change by uniting Jews and
Arabs in actions that satisfy their mutual interests while
promoting respect for each culture.
By having interns commit themselves to long-term service to
the community, the importance of the project is reinforced.
Pairing of people from groups in conflict as interns creates
bonds between the two individuals and sets an example for the community.
The active involvement of parents and educators is essential to
a project's success.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
IFP can be a model for adding another layer to existing
community service programs in the United States. Interns here could
also be paired with someone from another group and sent to
work together in a community. In fact, IFP is already initiating a
project in New York to bring together African-Americans, Hispanics
and Jews. Ultimately, the project is aimed at the broader goal of
integrating all ethnic groups in Metropolitan New York. This
pilot project will concentrate on five areas: networking to create a
domestic peace corps, bringing Black/Hispanic and Jewish/White
schoolchildren together on a regular basis, networking Black/Hispanic
and Jewish/White business leaders for involvement in the
Harlem/South Bronx Empowerment Zone, pairing traditionally Black
churches with Jewish synagogues for regularly scheduled shared events
and bringing Black/Hispanic and Jewish/White youth together to
learn agricultural and horticultural skills.
International YMCA
Contact:
Rizek Abushrarr
Associate Director General
International YMCA
26 King David St.
P.O. Box 294
Jerusalem 91002
Tel. 2-257111/253-433, Fax. 2-253-438
Objective:
To foster tolerance and coexistence.
Target Population:
Kindergarten to adult.
Program and Activities:
The Jerusalem International YMCA was formed in 1878 and
is a branch of YMCA U.S.A. It is a voluntary association of
members joined together for service, leadership, self-development and
fellowship. From the outset, the center has served as a meeting place
for people of all races, faiths and political persuasions and is run by
a board comprising Jews, Christians and Muslims. The
YMCA's mission, inscribed at its entrance, is to be "a place whose
atmosphere is peace, where political and religious jealousies can be forgotten
and international unity fostered and developed."
The YMCA has many programs throughout the year
designed to foster coexistence and tolerance. Two particular programs
are pursued aggressively:
The Youth Leadership
Club brings together 32 15-17 year-olds, split evenly between Jews and Arabs, who are identified by Neve
Shalom/Wahat al-Salam (see pg. 18). The group meets for three hours every Thursday. For the first three months, they focus on
activities like going to a movie and out for pizza. Later they use
simulations to discuss issues and political problems (e.g., the future of
Jerusalem). These young people get practical experience as assistant
leaders in the spring, summer and fall camps and graduate into
leaders for the "Y" and other community centers. The program lasts
two years and the third year the graduates can become teachers. One
or two are assisted further if they choose to pursue a career in
social group work on a higher education level.
The Integrated Nursery/Kindergarten
Program has 50 Jewish and Arab boys and girls, ages 2-4. The integrated program comprises
two separate classes of Jewish and Arab children, each of whom has
two teachers — a Jew and an Arab. Each group learns about its
own culture, language and folklore, in addition to learning about
each other in joint activities. This group affects 500 persons —
parents, grandparents and other extended family members. Once a
month an activity is organized for the parents, mostly lectures, picnics
and home visits. In most instances, it is the first exposure of parents
to a different culture. Stereotypes are broken and barriers
removed unconsciously.
Lessons:
A neutral site encourages participation in coexistence projects.
It is important to train leaders.
Leadership training can incorporate conflict resolution
methodologies.
Parents of children in coexistence programs should be
included in activities.
Coexistence education can begin with young children.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
YMCA's exist all over the United States. They could be
vehicles to adopt programs modeled after the Jerusalem YMCA
programs to promote coexistence between groups in conflict in the
communities where the Ys are located.
Ein Dor Museum of Archaeology
Contact:
Carmela Arnon
Director and Curator
Ein Dor Museum of Archaeology
Kibbutz Ein Dor, Mobile Post Jezreel Valley, 19335
Tel. 06768333, Fax. 06768440
E-mail: [email protected]
Objective:
To teach mutual cooperation and respect through the
investigation and reenactment of the practices of ancient civilizations.
Target Population:
Arab and Jewish pupils in grades five and six.
Program and Activities:
Kibbutz Ein Dor is located in the eastern section of the
Lower Galilee, a demographically diversified region. The staff of
the Museum of Archaeology sees part of its function as affording
a common meeting ground for the different communities and
encouraging the undertaking of joint ventures between them. By
familiarizing themselves with the region's ancient culture through
investigation and the reenactment of ancient practices, museum
visitors will hopefully learn to reexamine their own modern-day
lifestyles and customs.
The emphasis in this project is on the ties made between Arab
and Jewish children. The museum interests both Arab and Jewish
children and thus provides an excellent setting for a meeting
between the two communities. Through joint participation in an
educational project it is hoped that Arab and Jewish children will get to
know each other, and learn cooperation and mutual respect. The present-day realities of suspicion, animosity, fear and
estrangement are direct products of the distance and alienation which this
project aims to combat. By affording the opportunity of a common
positive experience through a systematic educational program where
the other side's point of view is also examined, the museum staff
hopes to bridge the gap between the two sides.
Students in grades five and six were chosen because the Arab
children have mastered enough Hebrew to communicate with the
Jews, and all the children are still young enough to be open to
positive influences on the subject of coexistence. Approximately 150
pupils from four different classes participate in the program.
The schools represent a wide range of social groups in Israeli
society. Of the two Arab schools, one is from a city (Nazareth),
and one is from an agricultural village (Kfar Masr). The Jewish
schools are from a development town (Migdal Ha'emek) and a
kibbutz (Gazit).
The first steps in the project are to select schools interested in
taking part in the project; pair each Arab school with a Jewish school
from the same area, find teachers within the participating schools
willing to work toward the project's success and conduct monthly
meetings between the schools over a ten month period. Preparation
for the meetings is done by a committee comprising the museum
staff and a special task force from each school that includes
interested parents. The committee devises a creative, experiential, and
educational enterprise for each meeting and works free time into the
course of each meeting in which participants can meet in a more
open environment.
The group is divided into subgroups of four pupils each (two
Arabs, two Jews). An adult (teacher or parent) is then assigned to
each subgroup. Parents are also invited to join the project as active
participants. Meetings last three-and-a-half to four hours and
include the following: study, hands-on experience, creative endeavors,
free time and a break for food and drink.
Lessons:
The museum program provides a unique arena for Arabs and
Jews to reconfirm their desire to live and learn together. The program organizers do not ignore the day's events but afford the
participants an opportunity to address them spontaneously and freely, and
most important, together. Since the schools selected are from the
same geographic area, neighborly relationships are being formed
and mutual visits are being organized. As the fears and suspicions
are slowly peeled away, a first step in the desired goal of
coexistence between Jew and Arab in the area is being taken.
Groups are brought together to engage in an activity that is
interesting in a place that is non-threatening.
Each meeting is recorded on video to better analyze the
course of events.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
Ein Dor could provide a model for American museums to
create joint programs for groups of school children from different
backgrounds.
SHEMESH
Contact:
Harry Rhodes, Director
Yasser Faour, Chairman
SHEMESH
MATA Misgav
D.N. Misgav 20179
Tel. 4-980-0039, Fax. 4-980-0389
E-mail: [email protected]
Objectives:
To promote friendly and positive relations between Jews
and Arabs of all ages in the Galilee.
To foster mutual understanding of the two separate
communities' cultures and ways of life.
To encourage joint educational and cultural undertakings.
To spread the ideal of Jewish-Arab coexistence throughout
the lower Galilee and, ultimately, throughout the country.
To actively work to bring about equality between Jews and Arabs.
Target Population:
All ages.
Program and Activities:
In Israel today, approximately 80 percent of the population
is Jewish and 20 percent Arab. In the lower Galilee however,
the situation is the opposite: 80 percent Arabs and 20 percent Jews.
As in the rest of the country, most Jews in the towns and rural
settlements associated with the Misgav regional council have little or
no contact with their Arab neighbors. There is little tension in the
area, yet both Jews and Arabs are deeply influenced by unrest in
other parts of the country. Children grow up with racist stereotypes,
and the cycle of hatred and fear persists.
To break this cycle, residents from Moshav Shorashim and
the village of Shaab created The Shaab-Shorashim Good
Neighbors Program, which after six years culminated in the formation
of SHEMESH (Shorashim-Misgav-Shaab).
SHEMESH has grown beyond Shorashim, Misgav and
Shaab. Today it is a regional, nonprofit organization (Amuta) that
includes members from many Jewish and Arab localities in the lower
Galilee, however, it continues to be a grassroots
organization. SHEMESH is not affiliated with any institution or political
movement, but it enjoys the support of the municipal authorities in
the area.
The progress in the peace talks has changed the atmosphere
in Israel. Israeli Jews and Arabs are now more open to
cooperative ventures. SHEMESH has sponsored many such programs in the
past and is always looking for new and creative ideas that will
bring together Jews and Arabs in a natural setting. The program list
for 1995 included:
• The Good Neighbors Summer
Camps — This summer camp is the mainstay of SHEMESH programming for Jewish and Arab
children, 6-13 years old. After seven years, the camp has grown
from one session with 60 children from just Shorashim and Shaab,
to a regional camp including two sessions with nearly 300
participants from many locations in the lower Galilee.
During the first session, a two-week long day camp for 6-11
year old Jewish and Arab children, the campers spend an intensive
period together getting to know one another through arts and
crafts, sports, music, day trips, community projects and an
overnight camping trip. Parents are encouraged to participate actively in
the program, including a special evening of entertainment for all
the families involved. In 1995, SHEMESH offered a second
session of this camp for 12-13 year olds, those who have outgrown
the original camp.
• Youth Leadership
Training — More than 20 Jewish and Arab
teenagers from Misgav and Shaab meet together regularly in a
program that includes leadership training, community and social
action, and field trips and social activities together that stress
group cohesiveness. This project has proven to be a successful
method for bringing together Jewish and Arab teenagers and for
building a trained staff for SHEMESH activities.
• Chugim — Joint extracurricular activities
(chugim) are a way to bring Jews and Arabs together through informal education in
community schools. Jewish and Arab children, aged 10-12,
meet weekly throughout the school year and participate in a wide
range of activities, which have included computers, soccer, arts and
crafts and cooking. Each year, new chugim are introduced. This
combination of extracurricular activities, social events and
multi-cultural learning is a novel way in which to change the accepted
norm of separate Jewish-Arab education.
• NEIGHBORS — A student newspaper in Hebrew, Arabic
and English is produced by Jewish and Arab eighth and ninth
graders. The editorial staff meets regularly to decide on the content and layout of the newspaper. They learn together throughout
the year how to publish a newspaper and what should be special
about a joint publication. The process of working and learning
together is just as important as the end product. SHEMESH plans on
involving more schools so that it will become a regional
student newspaper.
• The Inbal
Choir — A joint choir of approximately 30 children,
ages 10-14, began working together in the middle of December
1993. The children in the choir come from the Misgav and Shaab
community schools and from local schools in the village of
Sakhnin. Music is an international language which should be used to
build bridges between the two communities.
• Adult Courses — To break down barriers between Jews and
Arabs, communication is essential; therefore, SHEMESH has
offered adult spoken Arabic courses for the past seven years. The
Arabic courses stress the learning of spoken Arabic and Arabic
culture. Included in the course are guest speakers from different Arab
villages and visits to museums and other places of interest in
Arab villages in the area.
Lessons:
Parents are encouraged to participate actively in the program.
Leaders are trained to build a cadre of future staff for
SHEMESH activities.
Prospective leaders meet regularly to develop group cohesiveness.
Joint extracurricular activities provide an informal education
in schools.
A joint newspaper is a project of mutual interest to diverse groups.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
SHEMESH offers a model for developing community-wide
activities to promote coexistence.
The Neighborhood Home
Contact:
Beth Martin
Assistant Director
Friendship's Way
Bat Ami St., #3
P.O. Box 8349
Jaffa 61082
Tel. 3-681-6713, Fax. 3-518-0403
Objectives:
To develop long-term relations between Jews and Arabs
based on friendship, mutual respect, tolerance and equality.
To insure the primary physical and emotional needs of
disadvantaged, inner-city children of Jaffa are fulfilled by providing
nutritious meals, proper medical care, a strong sense of security and
safety, and the tools necessary for a successful integration into society.
To provide positive experiences and a supportive
environment that promotes the child's self-esteem.
To offer high-quality educational and social activities in a
homelike, loving and supportive atmosphere.
Target Population:
Children at risk, ages 6-12, parents and immigrants from
the former Soviet Union.
Program and Activities:
Friendship's Way: The Jewish-Arab Association for the Child
and Family is a grassroots, multi-service organization that seeks
to improve the conditions of socially, economically and
educationally deprived Jewish and Arab children and their families. It was created in 1983 by Jewish and Arab volunteers tutoring Arab
youngsters in Hebrew and Arabic. Starting in the homes of the
children, Friendship's Way later shifted its work to empty classrooms
made available after school hours. To make up for the lack of
funds, volunteers initiated profit-making endeavors, working as
private gardeners for two years in Tel Aviv. They donated their
earnings to pay for the rental of two floors of the current building.
The Neighborhood Home is a daily, after-school enrichment
program for 50 Jewish and Arab children of families at high risk.
The majority of kids are referred to the Home by school guidance
counselors and social workers. Approximately 80 percent of the
children are from welfare-supported families. Many children involved in
the Neighborhood Home, who would otherwise be placed in a
boarding school or foster home, receive an enriched education,
social activities and a hot, well-balanced lunch and dinner. The
Home allows children to maintain daily contact with their families
and offers a haven from dangerous surroundings. The majority of
children in the Home come from environments characterized by
substance abuse, poverty, neglect, malnutrition, violence and abuse.
The Friendship's Way minibus brings the children directly to
the Center at the end of their school day (2:00 p.m.). Upon arrival,
the staff and children share a hot lunch together like a family.
Throughout the day, the kids participate in a range of educational and
social activities. At 5:45, the children take a break for an informal
group discussion over sandwiches and tea. By 8:00 p.m., most of the
children are returned home by the Friendship's Way van. The remaining
16 kids consist of those from the most high risk family
situations. Spending an additional hour at Friendship's Way, they receive
dinner and extra time for enrichment activities and personal attention.
It is Friendship's Way's philosophy that education is a path
to equality. One of the main differences between the
Neighborhood Home and other after-school centers is that children receive
assistance with homework in addition to approximately fifteen
hours a week of formal and informal lessons in Hebrew, Arabic,
English and math. Special interest clubs are also offered in sports,
drama, chorus, music, science, dance, arts and crafts and health education.
Periodic consultation meetings take place with school
psychologists, guidance counselors and teachers. In addition, Friendship's Way provides regular updates to Jaffa's Welfare services,
reporting on the children's physical and emotional welfare and family
situation. In cases of severe neglect and abuse, a Child
Protection Official/Social Worker may remove children in danger from
their homes as a result of Friendship's Way intervention.
To best meet the needs of the child, the Friendship's Way
staff works in close coordination with their families. Parents are
required to play an active role in their children's education. They meet
regularly with the Friendship's Way staff and pay a monthly
symbolic fee. Fifteen mothers participate in a weekly discussion group on
issues of child raising.
Special consideration has been placed on teaching the
children tolerance and respect. Activities include group discussions that
deal with stereotypes and prejudices, and celebrations of Jewish,
Muslim and Christian holidays and traditions. They learn about
each other's folklore through songs, dance and stories. All
written material appears in both Hebrew and Arabic.
The cost for running these activities is minimal, since they are
led by professional volunteers on the premises of Friendship's Way.
The volunteer staff includes 30 Arab and Jewish university students
and academicians, parents and community activists. Volunteers
come from around the world and commit themselves to at least one
year of service.
Lessons:
Friendship's Way is the only program in Israel where an
equal number of Jewish and Arab youngsters in distress interact daily
over a long period of time.
The essence of the program is based on a multicultural
atmosphere. All languages are spoken, the staff is mixed Jewish-Arab, all
holidays are celebrated.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
Friendship's Way offers a model for an integrated
after-school program for youth at-risk.
Education for Peace and Coexistence
Contacts:
Ms. Hadara Keich
Director
Janusz Korczak Educational Center for Peace and Coexistence
David Yellin Teachers College
POB 3578
Jerusalem 91035
Tel. 02-651-3111, Fax. 02-652-1548
Objectives:
To study the society and culture of Israeli Jews and Arabs.
To encourage the self-expression of all cultural communities
enrolled at the college.
To develop, produce and implement teaching materials
relating to coexistence at the early childhood, elementary and junior
high levels.
To teach the theory and use the theme of coexistence in a
multi-disciplinary framework.
To serve as a local and international resource to further
coexistence and peace.
To identify, encourage and develop leadership traits and skills
that will later be used to initiate projects to further disseminate the
theme of coexistence and peace in their careers and local communities.
Target Population:
Arab and Jewish undergraduates of David Yellin Teachers
College who come from communities throughout Israel.
The administration and teaching staff of the Jerusalem-area
nursery and elementary schools where College students teach and
consult, as well as the students and their parents.
Jews and Arabs who are attracted by the work the Center is
doing and take courses for laymen and education professionals in the field of coexistence.
Program and Activities:
"Education for Peace and
Coexistence" aims to teach — and teach educators how to teach — pluralism, tolerance, humanism
and democracy, and to further mutual understanding, respect and
peace between Jews and Arabs in Israel. To achieve these goals, the
course is planned so the:
a) Intellectual learning processes shared by Jews and Arabs
result in dialogue, prejudices are replaced by new openness and
understanding and deep professional and personal friendships
are formed.
b) Graduates will promulgate the principles of coexistence
and tolerance learned in the classroom, and their shared teaching
experiences, by observing and teaching them in the Israeli
school system, and by developing related projects with their
colleagues in the "real world."
The two-semester course, "Education for Peace and
Coexistence," is a study of the historical, cultural, sociological,
psychological, educational and didactic aspects of coexistence, taught by
four instructors (two Arabs, two Jews). The course is open to all
students, but an equal number of Jewish and Arab students must be
enrolled since they study and work in pairs (one Arab, one Jew)
throughout the year. Outstanding students are awarded prizes for their
work at the end of the year, and one pair or more are invited to
attend the annual conference of the International Korczak Association.
In Stage I, Arab and Jewish students and faculty study the
similarities and differences between them. This phase is on both
the theoretical/academic and social levels. The core course meets
for three hours weekly and includes a group dynamics workshop
led by a psychologist, which comprises about 25 percent of the
course hours, and a large number of guest lectures by experts in such
fields as Arabic and Hebrew children's literature and Palestinian
nationalism. This stage is part of the regular course work required of all students in the Korczak Center.
During their academic/theoretical studies, students visit
Jewish and Arab schools to examine the social, political and cultural
foundations of the educational system. They also visit Neve
Shalom/Wahat al-Salam (see page 18), to study a mixed classroom and
community. The course opens with an "encounter" weekend at
Neve Shalom.
Stage II consists of the preparation and construction of
models and curricula for teaching coexistence in the school system and
in informal educational settings. Students create curricula and
teaching materials for separate preparatory activities in Jewish and
Arab classrooms, as well as for combined activities that follow
between the groups.
In Stage III, joint teams of Arab and Jewish students teach
and conduct formal activities — drawing and painting, singing
and dancing, nature hikes, drama and games — within an
educational framework (elementary schools, day camps). These activities,
with both Arab and Jewish participants, demonstrate the similarities
and differences between the cultures, teaching the lesson that it is
possible for one culture to get along with the other.
The final stage involves the production of a videotape
incorporating the shared experiences from the academic, practical and
social components of the program, and evaluating how those
experiences affected and changed the attitudes of the participants.
The results of the project are assessed and published.
Lessons:
It is important to hold a comprehensive, preliminary
preparation component for the faculty — which should, ideally, be
composed of members of all groups or communities involved in the
conflict — to become familiar with and respect the "other" group. This
can include theoretical studies, discussions and group dynamics
techniques.
The students should be members of all groups or
communities involved in the conflict — in numbers that would enable them
to study and work in pairs.
Theoretical studies should include cultural activities and the
arts, and should encompass all activities relevant to the daily life of
the communities involved, such as holiday celebrations and
religious ceremonies. Once the students have internalized their
opposite's culture, they will be better equipped and motivated to initiate
activities to promulgate the principles of tolerance and coexistence.
Young children are more receptive to new ideas;
consequently, projects are created for kindergarten and the lower grades of
elementary school. The program has shown that differences of culture
and language can easily be overcome at a young age.
Working with young children requires a very structured
project, with a preparatory period in which each group is taught
separately by a mixed pair of students to prepare them for the later stage
of combined group activities.
The project must first win the sincere support of the adults
involved — the school faculty or the community center staff.
These are essential for the smooth running of the project.
The support and cooperation of the children's parents are an
essential component of the success of the project. Many parents
found this an excellent opportunity to meet members of the
opposite community and benefitted from the same learning experience
that had been planned for their children.
The Jewish and Arab students who study, work and create
together in these courses and in their practice teaching
assignments build mutual respect and, often, long-lasting personal
relationships that extend from the professional to the social sphere.
The nursery and elementary school children who participate
are exposed, often for the first time, to the concepts of
tolerance, openness and mutual respect. For them, it is a major revelation
when they suddenly discover that, whether Arabs or Jews, "the
`other' children look just like us, go to school just like us, play games
and learn just like us." For many, especially the younger ones, this
is the first and, for some, the only opportunity to see the other
children and their families in a non-threatening, equal-status situation.
The concepts and pedagogic methodologies taught at the
College ultimately influence the entire educational system through
the careers of the program's graduates.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
The College could work with U.S. institutions to build an
academic program and to create a community center or school
project. The staff could also develop original teaching materials for use
in schools and other educational frameworks.
Traditional Creativity in the Schools Project
Contact:
Dr. Simon Lichman
Director
Centre for Creativity in Education and Cultural Heritage
Korei Hadorot 20
Talpiot, Jerusalem
Tel. 2-723-934
Objectives:
To design and implement innovative education projects that
help create a climate of cultural pluralism and intergenerational
understanding through strengthening participants' interest in their
own cultural heritage.
To build lasting relationships between neighboring cultures
and generations in each community.
To involve parents and children in the research of their own
traditions at home.
To bring parents into the schools as educators.
To bring parents of Jewish and Arab communities into
contact with one another.
To provide educators in both communities the opportunity
to work together.
Target Population:
Students in grades 5-7 and their parents.
Program and Activities:
In the process of creating a unified national culture and
integrating immigrants from diverse backgrounds, pressure is felt to
join the mainstream, with the result that home-cultures in both
Jewish and Arab sectors of society have often been rejected by the
younger generations and even looked down upon. Children have
become alienated from their parents and grandparents, dismissing
their home-culture as irrelevant to their modern lives, while the
older generations lose their traditional audience for the transmission
of their culture. Furthermore, contact between different
communities, even those living side by side, is often limited to the workplace,
with little opportunity to gain direct, positive knowledge of one
another. Information coming through the media often reinforces
negative stereotypes.
Since 1991, the Centre has been concentrating on a folklore
and coexistence project called Traditional Creativity in the
Schools, which focuses on three problem areas: cultural pluralism,
social integration and generation gaps within each community, and
coexistence between neighboring Arab and Jewish communities.
The program is conducted with pairs of Jewish and Arab
schools in Ramle and Jerusalem. These schools were chosen because
the communities have mixed populations and the participants are
more likely to encounter each other than in many other places in
Israel. The program will soon be expanded to include schools with
large populations of new immigrants.
Classes participate for a three-year cycle, meeting one
another between 10-15 times over this period. Throughout the year,
the children examine their own cultural environment and
folklore, collecting information from parents and grandparents. The
paired Jewish and Arab classes come together three-five times per
school-year to explore, for example, both communities' traditions in
play, food and oral history. So far, programs have been conducted in
four schools involving 520 children, 120 active family members and 35 teachers and principals.
The aim is for children to learn more about their own
folklore and about the culture of the various other ethnic and religious
groups and receive a window into each other's daily life and traditions.
With various family members helping to create a mosaic of family
history and cultural heritage, the Centre expects to see a refreshed
relationship between generations, with parents and grandparents
acknowledged by the schools as having wisdom to impart. The two
schools' staff work together on education whereas ordinarily they have
no framework even to visit each other's schools. The children see
their teachers, parents and grandparents working together, visible
role models of coexistence and multi-culturalism. The ultimate
objective is that groups of people (children, parents, grandparents,
teachers), having worked together for several years, help to develop
a climate for coexistence, tolerance and self-respect.
The programs run throughout the school year. They are
ongoing from one school year to the next. The Project Team works
with pupils and Form Teachers in weekly class meetings in each
school. Joint activities between the paired Jewish and Arab classes take
place every 5-6 weeks in alternate schools; separate or joint feedback
classes are held every seventh week. Exhibitions and joint End of
Year community events are also organized.
The themes for fifth and sixth grade, respectively, are Traditional Play and Traditional
Foodways. Subjects of study are chosen in consultation with the school staff and pupils, based on folklore
and traditions found in the students' homes. Pupils ask their parents
and grandparents questions about these subjects and bring
information and examples to class. Background lessons are given by project
staff and teachers on, for example, outdoor games around the world,
food acquisition and preservation in hunter/gatherer societies, and
the way information passes by word of mouth from one generation
to another. The paired Jewish and Arab classes meet for joint
activities. Members of students' families (as folk artists) teach,
according to different traditions and practices of their childhood, activities
such as jump rope and hopscotch, the making of rag dolls, hand
puppets, kites, pickles and clay pita ovens.
The third year theme (grade 7) is Learning From Ourselves: Active Archives. Students assemble and maintain bilingual Active Archives out of recipes, photographs, cassettes and oral histories they
collect over the three years. They record stories and songs from
family members and work on family photograph albums and histories.
In joint meetings, the pupils sing each other's songs and introduce
their family stories. They annotate photographs of their joint past
activities, reinforcing both their sense of having shared experiences
and the knowledge they have acquired of each other's life. They
design photographic exhibitions that are open to their communities.
Participating schools receive teaching hours from the
Ministry of Education, giving the program official recognition in the
curriculum and assuring that teachers are paid for project work.
Lessons:
Feedback sessions are held with children to evaluate success
from their point of view, what they want in the future (e.g., more
play/discussion/activity) and to summarize what they learned about
the subject and about each other. Project staff and teachers talk
with participating and nonparticipating parents and grandparents.
The Centre also has a series of evaluative videotapes of class and
joint activities. The photographs that are taken for ethnography
and documentation purposes are also used as evaluation tools
with children, parents and teaching staff. All feedback is reviewed
with teaching staff.
Over the past five years, the project has developed an
ongoing relationship between each pair of Jewish and Arab schools and
the Centre has gained the confidence of the communities. The
children show sustained interest in each other's way of life and in their
own heritage. They call for information about various customs
and express a stronger desire to learn Arabic and Hebrew
respectively. They enjoy seeing their parents in project activities and
encourage them to participate. Outside of project activities, there is
ongoing communication between children that does not stop at times
of tension.
By involving students in activities that are exciting and fun,
educational and taxing, they can achieve a level of intimacy. As
people participate in the project over a period of three years,
long-term relationships between individuals, and an ongoing relationship between each pair of schools, as institutions, have been created.
The two principals believe the programs contribute to the overall
atmosphere of coexistence in their school-communities; they work
to maintain the relationship between the schools and,
furthermore, argue that involving more classes and schools could have an
even greater impact on the cities.
The project provides participating children with a
framework through which they can ask their parents and grandparents
questions about their lives, the "history" they have experienced and
the way they lived as children. Most parents and grandparents
cooperate, and those who come to the schools are always ready to
come again, even if the activity is not directly in their area of
expertise. Building Active Archives out of the data collected from the
home encourages the children to consolidate what they learned about
their own traditions and about each other's community. The
products in themselves are active records of the cooperative spirit in
which the two school communities view one another and of the
specific families' involvement with their children's education.
The children are in the program for a period of two-three
years, meeting quite often over this period of time.
Participation in the program is in itself an experience of
coexistence. Children work on their own heritage rather than the
gap between communities, learning about each other's culture as
they experience their own. An atmosphere of pluralism is
encouraged through the acceptance of differences between groups as well as
the discovery of similarities. Members of the extended family are
brought into the process in their expert capacity as tradition-bearers and
have a crucial role in planning program content. Where folklore
projects usually see preservation of tradition as their main task, this
project shows participants how the wisdom of tradition, transmitted
as ongoing and dynamic, can facilitate social cohesion.
The project focuses on whole communities rather than on
the individual students in the classroom. Since it is a "folklore
project," participating children involve members of their family when
learning about their home-culture, and the joint activities between
the paired classes themselves are designed around specific folk
artists from some of these homes. The Centre does not work for a
predetermined amount of time in any community but rather as an ongoing part of the local system of education, adding new pairs of
classes as the older grades "graduate." In some instances, parents now
have their third child in the project, fostering an ongoing
relationship with parents and teaching staff of the other community.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
The Centre offers an interesting model for combining the
study of culture and folk art with coexistence.
Keshet
Contact:
Victor Shebar
JDC-Israel
POB 3489
Jerusalem 91034
Tel. 2-655-7271
Objectives:
To encourage integration between new immigrants and
veteran Israelis.
To increase the awareness of professional intervenors of the
necessity and the difficulties of integration.
To teach the intervenors techniques that will help them gain
the trust of their target populations and overcome cultural differences.
To enlarge the number of integrating projects all over the country.
Target Population:
Social workers and community workers who concentrate on
the absorption of immigrants, especially those from Ethiopia.
Program and Activities:
As a result of the various waves of immigration, the Israeli
society comprises many groups with different ethnic and cultural
backgrounds. To prevent the isolation of certain groups of
immigrants and to reduce conflict between the immigrants and the
veteran Israelis, it is necessary to encourage integration between these
groups. To integrate, each of the populations has to adapt to a certain
extent, but they also should keep their own ethnic and cultural
identity. It is also necessary to increase contact and understanding
between the various populations. The basic assumption of the
program, which has been found to be correct, is that the passage of time
alone is not enough to reach this goal of integration. Instead, active
intervention is needed.
The participants in the Keshet program are organized in four
regional groups that are guided by senior professionals. In the
course of a year, seven central workshops are held, where all the
participants meet for a whole day to receive theoretical and
experiential training on issues that are important to the process of
integration. For example, conflict identifying tools are taught, lectures are
held and the participants take part in group dynamic activities. In
addition, seven regional meetings that are practically oriented are
convened to help the participants with the task of setting up an
integration project.
The conflict resolution model developed in this and previous
programs includes four strategies of intervention. They focus on:
• Attitudes — A better understanding of one's own internal
fears can explain the interaction that develops with external entities.
• Specific conflict — Each one of the groups in conflict should
list their fears of losing out in the conflict, and their expectations
of winning, in order of importance. Consequently, the parties
discuss the points they have marked as less important and thus
reach a greater level of agreement.
• A mutual project — This approach advocates the
establishment of a project on a neutral issue. This will help both parties work together in a more pleasant atmosphere, while each of the
groups gets a chance to modify its attitudes toward the other.
• The professional training of each of the members of both
groups — This way the spotlight is placed on what they have in
common and the attention to differences is minimized.
Lessons:
Focusing on professional intervenors (social workers and
community workers), who work with immigrants and veteran
Israelis, has been found to be more effective than the employment of
outside specialists who are not involved in the community and
not trusted by the target population.
It is vital to include the veteran population in the program
of integration. Often, all of the absorption efforts are directed at
the population that is absorbed, while the absorbing population
is neglected, which affects the process negatively. To minimize or
solve conflicts during the course of the absorption, one should
recognize that the veterans feel threatened in their identity and that they
may feel disadvantaged. Consequently, this group should be
convinced of the need for integration and be helped and included in the process.
Opportunities for Cooperation:
JDC has programs around the world and offices in the
United States, so it is well equipped to work with U.S. organizations to
adapt its programs. Given the difficulty of absorbing newcomers to
this country, a program to train Americans to prevent the isolation
of immigrants would be extremely helpful.
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