NSWAS Week-by-Week

Notices:

Prize for Journalism

In this Issue

1. Elections in NSWAS

2. The School: holidays for the Jewish students

3. School for Peace preparing to open this year's Youth Encounter Program

4. Trip to Gaza

5. Interesting visitors

6. A Condolence

7. New Secretary for the Dutch Friends of NSWAS

8. Comments on last week's issue

The elections for the Secretary and the Secretariat of NSWAS took place on October 4.  This year the candidates for Secretary (the mayoral position) were Ety Edlund and Rayek Rizek (the incumbent).  Rayek was reelected for a third term.  He will be joined on the secretariat by Daoud Boulos, Ety Edlund, Dorit Shippin, Hezi Schuster, and Michal Zak.

Rayek and some of the new Secretariat members volunteered these comments:

Rayek

I think the main reason I was elected for a third (one-year) term is because people saw my leadership as fair and balanced towards the various departments of the village.  According to my view of the village, every department is equally important for the good of the whole, and every person in it deserves respect.

 In my third term I hope to reap the fruit of some of the processes begun in the first two years, including a conclusion to the negotiations with the Latrun Monastery on the land, and an improvement in the administrative organization of NSWAS.  I will also work to improve the social fabric of the community.  The new Secretariat is excellently suited to all of these processes, since it gives a wide representation of the various departments and interests of the members.

Daoud

My everyday involvement in capital development and fundraising for various projects in the village was behind my interest in becoming a secretariat member.  As a member I can be available for direct reporting to the secretariat.  Issues that need clarifications or ones that are in controversy can be dealt with expediently and without having to wait for reporting later.

 I also intend to present new ideas that will help improve the administration of funds, and help prevent the overall financial situation from reaching a critical point.

 The coming year will witness major developments and expansion of the village.

My hope is that we can move into the new millennium with renewed enthusiasm for our goals, and work together and support each other, because the umbrella of NS/WAS is big enough for all of us.  Only in this way can we improve our social life and inner relationships which can then reflect positively on our performance towards the outside.

Hezzie

 I feel there is a danger that we are too preoccupied with the things that divide us, and do not spend enough time on those that bring us together.  I think this is because we direct our activities towards the outside, without taking time to initiate community activities.  I therefore want us to invest more in social and cultural activities.  I think that this may bring about an improvement in the atmosphere of the community.  I will work towards this goal while on the Secretariat.

Dorit

I want to help improve the administrative organization of the village, because I think this can move NSWAS closer to realizing its full potential.  I would like to see changes in the role of the Secretariat, and greater participation of the various departments in decision-making processes affecting the village as a whole.  I would also like to see an improvement in the financial administration and fundraising mechanisms.

Michal

I wanted to serve on the Secretariat in order to help take a part in the decision-making, especially in regard to the administrative organization of NSWAS.  As one of the people who helped frame the current arrangements a few years ago, I would like to help to improve them again now.  I see organization as something dynamic, which requires a continual process of adjustment.

I am also determined to help create a dialogue in the village to review our goals and ideals as a community, since it has been a while since we have sat down together to discuss these.

The Jewish students enjoyed a week?s holiday for the Succoth festival.  The Arab students continued classes during this time and, on Thursday October 14, they put on a uninational cultural show, with Arab music and dance, and enjoyed a meal with traditional foods.  The presence of separate holidays during the School year enables teachers and students to have a breather from the ongoing cultural and linguistic encounter at the school, and to spend time developing aspects of their own identity as a people. 

School for Peace preparing to open this year's Youth Encounter Program

The first of this school year's youth encounter projects is scheduled for October 17.  The youth encounter program is being coordinated by Eitan Bronstein and Omar Ighbariya.  The facilitation team includes four Jewish and five Palestinian permanent facilitators.  In practice these are supplemented by fifteen interns from the SFP facilitators' course and several others from the Tel Aviv University / SFP  internship program.  The permanent team have the added responsibility of coaching the interns.

On September 27, the entire team met for a study day to prepare for the school year.  In the fast-changing political environment of Israel, facilitators have to be ready to face issues that arise in the encounters.  This time the study day focused on the aftermath of attempted terror attacks by Palestinians from within Israel.  Whether or not these attacks were isolated incidents or part of a new pattern, they resulted in a drastic rise in suspicion towards the Palestinian minority by Jews, and a high level of defensiveness on the part of the Palestinians.  Thus, the study day helped the facilitators anticipate situations that could arise around this subject in the youth encounters. 

Five members of the village traveled to Gaza to take part in a weekend for Israelis organized by Hagit Ra?anan and local Palestinian organizations.  During the weekend they planted a ?Peace Pole,? saw something of the development projects of the Palestinian Authority, initiated a ?Succat Shalom? / ?Arishat el-Salam? (peace pavilion) and even had time for a dip in the sea.

Interesting visitors

Gershon Winkler, a former orthodox rabbi of New Mexico who mixes native American rites with Judaism, visited with a group of Americans. They were welcomed by Rayek Rizek, then Shai Schwartz conducted for them a workshop on spiritual and cultural identity.  On Thursday, September 28 they arranged a meeting in the orchard near the House of Silence, where they were joined by a Sufi from the Palestinian village of Dir Kadis, Sheikh Abu Saleh.  The Sheikh feels what he describes as a strong mystical motivation to be active in peace and reconciliation efforts with the Jewish people.  Several people from NSWAS joined the gathering, which included a celebration and a prayer for peace and the renewal of energy in NSWAS and the region.

A Condolence

We were saddened to hear of the death of Reverend Nikkyo Niwano, founder of the Japanese lay Buddhist movement Rissho Kosei-Kai.   The Reverend Nikkyo accomplished a great deal in his life time for reconciliation between people of different religions.  Through the Niwano Peace Foundation and the Rissho Kosei-Kai  Fund for Peace, the movement continues to bring recognition and assistance to activities for inter-religious cooperation and welfare efforts around the world.  In 1993, members of NSWAS were invited to Japan to accept the Niwano Peace Prize, and were honored to meet Rev. Niwano then.  The RKK Fund for Peace has continued to support the NSWAS School ever since.

New Secretary for the Dutch Friends of NSWAS

Dick Engel, who steadfastly served as the secretary of the Dutch Friends since 1988, felt that he must finally turn over the reigns to someone else.  Consequently, the Dutch association has chosen Maaike Lok, who has also been a member of the association board for several years, to succeed Dick as secretary.  Dick ? with his persistent energy, dedication, and optimism ? will be missed, though we hope not too much since he promises to remain in close contact.  He says, if he will permit us to quote him,

 ?Already now I would like to say thanks to you and all other friends in the village for all the friendship during nearly twelve years.  It was a very good period in my life, with warm hearts, good memories, inspiring contacts with many inspired people.?  We extend the same warm thanks to him, and a hearty welcome to Maaike as the new secretary.

Comments on last week's issue

The article on encounters between Palestinian and Israeli history teachers was well-received.  On the basis of post-publication comments received by Abbas and Eitan, a few changes have been introduced now to the web version of the article.

Errata:  Id as-Salib (a Christian holiday) was misspelled.

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Rayek

Daoud

Hezzie