Givat Haviva Brings Tufts University to the Village of Jatt
By Lydia Aisenber
January 31, 2007
Visitors are not unusual in the home of Amir Gara in the Muslim Arab village of Jatt. At the same time, however, 40 Jewish American university students a-knocking at the Gara home is not exactly a daily occurrence. Such was the case, when a group of students from Tufts University visited the Gara home along with Givat Haviva staff.
The students had spent some days in the north of Israel working alongside Israelis in efforts to repair damage caused during the war last summer. The Tufts students had all been to Israel before, some having participated in long and short-term study programs as well. The students had raised an astounding $70,000 toward the trip to Israel and projects of their choice during their travels.
Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit and Research Fellow Joshua L. Gleis accompanied the Tufts University students. Rabbi Summit is Executive Director of the Hillel Foundation at Tufts University where he also serves as Associate Chaplain and Associate Professor in the Department of Music and Joshua Gleis who has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and studied at Tel Aviv University. Both Rabbi Summit and Joshua Gleis are involved in implementing Muslim-Christian-Jewish dialogue and were very enthusiastic about the opportunity to meet with and hear Amir Gara and particularly to do so in his own home.
The meeting with Amir Gara, a 30-year-old Israeli Arab lawyer from Jatt in the Little Triangle (Wadi Ara and environs) was arranged by the International Department of Givat Haviva situated in the same locality. Amir has been closely associated with Givat Haviva since finishing his law studies at a British university and passing the New York Bar examinations.
Amir's father, a retired high-school teacher and his mother – a very successful local hairdresser who recently opened a state-of-the-art hairdressing salon in the adjoining city of Baka-el-Gharbiya - met after l967. His father was born and raised in Jatt village as was his father and grandfather before him. The village became part of the State of Israel when the Green Line (former border with the West Bank) was drawn in l949. His mother was born and educated in Tulkarm, a Palestinian West Bank town nowadays under the Palestinian Authority.
Amir's mother became a citizen of the State of Israel through marriage and apart from Amir there are 2 daughters and another son in the Gara household. All four siblings are university graduates and of course, Israeli citizens but with a large extended family on the maternal side still living in Tulkarm – a short journey away but almost unattainable for family visits in present times.
Sitting around a rather large and impressive stairway leading up to the second floor of Amir's parents spacious home, the Tuft students listened intently as Amir described daily life for himself and his family on both sides of the Palestinian/Israeli divide. Touching on sensitive issues such as family connections to the Palestinian people, relationships with Jewish Israelis, the effects of the security fence running within a few score meters of his village and a myriad of other issues, Amir not only explained a great deal but also answered many difficult and well put questions fielded by the American students and the staff members accompanying them.
As the Tufts students left the Gara home, the continued to shower Amir with questions.
In summarizing their visit to Israel prior to their departure, the Tufts University students and staff, marked down the meeting initiated by Givat Haviva’s International Department's with Amir Gara as one of the most powerful experiences during their visit to Israel.