The Ins and Outs of September and October 2007
By Hilit Ben-Tzvi, Uri Barel and Lydia Aisenberg
November 6, 2007
The holiday period came and went rather fast, as always. Getting back in to the swing of seminars with groups from overseas - and also some Israelis - following the Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Succot break was no easy feat but quickly taken in stride once up and running.
With one year folding and another new Jewish year beginning, there was time for reflection on what had been a record breaking summer as far as the number of teenagers, students and older folks who entered through the gates of the Givat Haviva campus for talks, workshops and an eye-opening ride on one of the International Department's special tours of the Wadi Ara region.
For many of the professional staff accompanying groups from abroad the summer visit was not their first. However, quite a number commented that each time they came to our campus they learned something new. This can be put down to the fact that the general situation when dealing with people and places in the Middle East does not remain static and also that International Department staffers are able not only to keep abreast of those changes but also incorporate them into the workshops and specialized tours.
The seminar groups over the last few months have been in the main from Germany and the United States with individual visitors from Ireland, Germany and Austria popping in to ‘touch base’ once again while on private visits to Israel.
A group of Hashomer Hatzair movement members from North America, presently in Israel for a year and undertaking community projects involving the Israeli Arab villages of Kfar Kara and Barta’a, toured the region with one of our experienced guides.
The youngsters, most of who had attended seminars at Givat Haviva in previous visits to Israel within the framework of the movement, were only two weeks in to their stay at Kibbutz Gan Shmuel and about to begin work in local Arab schools.
Amit Friedman, the Israeli Hashomer Hatzair madrich (counselor) working with the young folk, said at a later date that the seminar and tour had been of great interest, much had been learned and that the youngsters appreciated there was still a lot more knowledge to be gleaned that would serve them well in their efforts to bridge the divide between Jews and Arabs in Israel. Hopefully we will continue to help out on that score.
A group of twenty non-Jewish civic leaders from across the United States, visiting in Israel under the auspices of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and United Jewish Communities, paid a quick visit to the region, undertaking a short tour of the Amir Mountain range and Katzir observation platform on their way north.
Another group that came for a fleeting visit consisted of folks from Los Angeles under the leadership of Ken Kahan. Mr. Kahan spent a day on seminar with us a few months ago when he and his wife accompanied their teenaged daughter and her Milken school classmates studying a semester at Alexander Muss High School in Israel, Ramat HaSharon.
“After my experience here with Givat Haviva a few months ago I made sure that even though we have very little time that a tour of the region would be included in the program,” he commented.
Having mentioned the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, with whom we have an excellent working relationship, another of their groups also recently came for seminar, the forty or so students hailing from the American Hebrew Academy of North Carolina.
Volunteers presently living and working at Kibbutz Hazorea were also visited by an International Department staff member who gave a talk about the Arab citizens of Israel, particularly those living in the Wadi Ara region so close to their present abode. The volunteers, representing quite a number of different countries, showed interest and hopefully we will meet again to continue what began as an in-house seminar.
A staff member also visited Kibbutz Baram on the border with Lebanon. At the height of the apple-picking season, sixty give young people from dozens of different countries were volunteering and helping with the harvesting, sorting and packing of the bumper crop.
Volunteer leader Raviv Gutman expressed a wish to renew contacts with Givat Haviva and organize seminars, as were held in the past, for the volunteers whom he and we see as important ambassadors for Israel when they return to their native countries.
We also received a large group of congregants from Beit Jeshurun Synagogue, New Jersey under the leadership of Rabbi Matthew D. Gewirtz. The B.J. congregants participated in a workshop dealing with Israel’s Arab citizens and then undertook a tour incorporating traveling along the new security fence in the area of Harish and paid a short visit to the village of Barta’a. The congregants fielded many questions to the Givat Haviva guide/educator accompanying the group and were full of praise for their seminar.
Rabbi Gerwitz presented a gift check to Givat Haviva for which we are most grateful.
Afula in the Jezreel Valley is partnered with a German town and every two years hosts a group of youth from their twin European city. This year, for the first time, the German youth also spent a day on an International Department seminar where they heard a talk about the Arab citizens of Israel and experienced an in-depth tour of the Dotan Valley, the new security fence, Reichan checkpoint and a visit to the divided village of Barta’a.
The German youth’s leader Isabelle Prasse was one of a group of Bundescentrale who had the same seminar some weeks before.
“After I participated in the Bundescentrale seminar I decided that it really should be part of the program for the youth group and so here I am again,” Isabelle told staff.
The German youngsters witnessed an amazing sunset over the Mediterrainean before heading off to one of the local restaurants to taste Arab cuisine.
A group of families, members of the Westminster Synagogue in London, came a-calling with tour guide Dani Margolis, himself a former Brit and no stranger to Givat Haviva.
The children were kept busy in the Arts Center whilst parents heard more about Givat Haviva, the people of Wadi Ara and participated a short tour of the region.
Upon return the children came to greet their parents carrying the colorful artwork (paintings, sculptures and mosaics) they had created – on the theme of peace naturally!
An Israeli educators from the Kibbutz Movement Department of Education also had what they described as a “memorable day” out and about Wadi Ara with staff members. Choosing an ‘alternative tour’ to celebrate the retirement of one of their veteran staff, the dozen kibbutz members from kibbutzim in the Negev and Galilee not only toured an area few had been before but also had the opportunity to spontaneously meet with Palestinians in Areas B and C of the northern portion of the West Bank that have ended up on the Israeli side of the security fence.
A visit to East Barta’a and the barbershop of local resident Rateb Kabha proved to be one of the many highlights of what was described by one of the educators as an “extraordinary experience.”
A number of representatives of tour operators and organizations from abroad planning study tours to Israel during the coming year and who wished to incorporate the subject material dealt with in our seminars in their in-the-works programs also visited of late. We look forward to welcoming them back with the groups themselves in the near future.
The staff has also been out and about undertaking a vigorous marketing campaign amongst the many educational tour operators and major organizations bringing thousands of teens, students, academics, politicians, religious lay leaders, synagogue congregations, youth movements, journalists and other media professionals to Israel.
Feedback from the major operators with regard the Givat Haviva seminars has been most positive and staff look forward to continuing to work hard and maintain the level of professionalism accredited International Department seminars.