Peace and Co-Existence: Projects in Israel
By Elizabeth Stewart
October 29, 2008
In a recent meeting with Muslims, Jews and members of other non-Christian faiths, the Pope urged all religions to unite against terrorism and resolve conflicts peacefully “in a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence”.
At Givat Haviva, an educational institute located in the heart of Israel, teachers and students are busily engaged in doing just that: learning about one another's culture in programmes designed to encourage equality between Arabs and Jews living in Israel.
Such equality, the institute says in its vision statement, is “the moral foundation for achieving peace with the Palestinians and the Arab states”. Through its various programmes, its aim is to promote the values of equality and human dignity, and its many courses are designed to help Arabs and Jews understand and respect each other as they work and study together.
Galit Kellner, director of Arabic Studies at the Jewish-Arab Centre for Peace, just one of the institute's many departments, thinks reaching young people is extremely important for the future of Arab-Jewish relationships. She says the centre would like to reach 30,000-40,000 teenagers every year.
“We would like to see at least a third of the 11th-grade student population taking part in our courses within six years,” she states.
These courses include Enrichment Days for junior and high school students, held in their own schools; longer seminars in which students from each culture meet with their counterparts for frank discussions and dialogue; workshops at the Givat Haviva campus; and longer programmes for teachers.
Without this and similar efforts, it's estimated that less than 2 percent of Israeli Jewish and Arab teens have occasion to meet during their school years.
The projects are interesting and absorbing. A photography course assigns Jewish and Arab students to visit one another's communities and homes, photographing both the interior and the exterior, using the camera as a tool to help them observe and understand the other person and their culture. Art courses, sports progammes, educational travel and a bi-monthly magazine entitled “Crossing Borders” are also part of the institute's activities.
The Centre for Women's Studies is important since Muslim women are often hesitant to engage in activities outside the home, while a “Peace Radio” programme promotes peace studies and mutual understanding through the media.
Givat Haviva was founded 60 years ago, when the State of Israel was born, and has continued to expand and to add centres and programmes according to need.
Recent visitors include members of the Nazareth Nuns' School in Haifa, a Catholic-run school, and the Reali School, also in Haifa, staffed by Eastern Orthodox teachers.
Lynne Coates, an artist and photojournalist from Harrogate, created a photo-exhibit based on the work of Givat Haviva and other peace projects in Israel, which was shown last year in Lincoln Cathedral.
"My aim,” Mrs. Coates explains, “is to show that people in Israel are trying to work together to create peace.”