NSWAS Week-by-Week

June 20 - June 26 1999

Bulletins:

	From July 6-8, The School for Peace staff will take part in a national symposium at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev: "Group Work and Group Therapy in a Multicultural Society: Encounter and Difference."
	Courses in Arabic for Hebrew speakers. See Dates below.
	Encounter weekends for Palestinian and Jewish families in the NSWAS hotel. See below.
	Achva Summer Camp for Children (See below).

The School for Peace

Summer Activities

The SFP has been busy finalizing its plans for the summer months. As many of the institutions with which we work are in recess during this period, it has traditionally been a less active time for the SFP. However, this situation appears to be changing. This year, the SFP will participate in four separate international exchange projects. The first of these, the “International Youth Weeks” of the Kolping Organization, has, in fact, been an annual project for the SFP for several years. This year, between July 10 – 24, thirteen graduates of the youth encounter program and two adult facilitators will be in Oberwesel, Germany to take part in the program. They will meet with youth from Russia, Poland, Malta and Germany.

Between July 6 and 26, Ahmad Hijazi will accompany a group of four Palestinian students to Spain to the "Interface Project," where they will meet students from Sweden, Northern Cyprus, Spain and Israel.

From July 31 to August 6, two young facilitators will participate in an Eastern Mediterranean Youth Action Programme focusing on conflict prevention, resolution and sustainable development, organized by the International Eco.peace Village (IEV) of Cyprus. The programme will be held in Larnaca. Participating countries are Cyprus, Jordan, Greece, Lebanon, Turkey, Palestine and Israel.

Between August 5 to 15, eight students from the university courses of the SFP, together with a facilitator, will participate in an international exchange program arranged by the Spanish organization YES (Youth Exchange and Solidarity) and sponsored by the European Union. Delegates will come from Spain, Italy, Germany and Israel. The program will focus on the arts, music and drama.

We are encouraged by this development of exchange activity. Besides providing a pleasant break for the staff and participants, there are several other advantages. We try to select those participants or graduates of past programs who we believe will derive most benefit. For young people, participation in an exchange program can often be a broadening cultural experience. In addition, participation in a program often provides a stimulus to continue with Jewish - Palestinian dialogue or involvement.

Further, the SFP is very much interested to network with other organizations working in similar professional fields, and to increase projects with international organizations as part of its ground work in establishing a peace college.

The Primary School

The Primary School staff were so busily involved in preparing the end of the school year activities, that they could not be reached for reporting this week! However, we can report on the planned opening of the Achva ("Brotherhood") summer camp, which will take place for children aged 4 to 12, between July 4 and continue till the end of the month. The summer camp is open for all children in the vicinity of NSWAS.

The Kindergarten

The Kindergarten celebrated its year - end party on Thursday, June 24. This included a bilingual play prepared by the children in two languages, "The chick who went to look for another mother," followed by a pot luck meal at the swimming pool.

This year, twenty children will graduate from the kindergarten and go on to first grade. Seven younger children will remain. These will be joined by six who move up from the pre-kindergarten and many others who will join. Aishe and Eliza were busy during the week meeting with parents of children who had applied for next year. Some of the children from the kindergarten will continue in the summer camp scheduled to begin in mid-July.

Aishe has now worked for 19 years in the kindergarten, and has decided that it is about time for a sabbatical. So next year she will further her pedagogic studies, and we will have to find someone to replace her during this time.

The Hotel

The hotel is spicing up its summer season with special reductions for families, the possibility to send children to the summer camp taking place in the village, a music performance and, in particular, two weekend encounters for Jewish and Palestinian families. The first of these encounters will take place from July 22 - 24, and the second from August 12 - 14. On the program will be encounter sessions for parents and adults, a drama performance, activities for children, and a joint excursion.

The Cooperation Language Project

Three intensive residency programs are scheduled in Arabic (for Hebrew speakers), with the following dates:

July 11 - 21 (advanced).

July 25 - August 8 (beginners).

August 5 - 13 (beginners).

Delegations and Friends' Associations

USA

Positive reports continue to come in from Nava and Rayek's speaking tour in the USA.

In Los Angeles they spoke at Temple Isaiah and the Jewish Community Center Board meeting. At the Peace Bell reception in San Pedro - they received recognition from the city and county of LA at a special reception. City and County officials presented the awards at the site of the Port of San Pedro's Bell of Friendship. The Bell, a gift to the people of Los Angeles in 1976 from the people of Korea, symbolizes friendship for all peoples. Following this, they spoke at several other meetings. At a reception in Beverly Hills, the International Visitors' Council of Los Angeles welcomed Nava and Rayek and commended their work for peace at an international level. At a meeting in the Raul Wallenberg Institute they were informed that, in the framework of the Wallenberg Peace Conference in October, NSWAS will receive the Institute's first Peace Award.

Rayek and Nava also spoke at meetings in Washington DC, Seattle and the San Fransisco Bay Area. In the Bay area, they met with old friends, and made new ones at a number of small and mid sized receptions. They also met with the Rotary Club of Palo Alto.

Germany

At the Evangelischer Kirchentag in Stuttgart from June16 - 20, which was attended by some 250,000 people, the German Friends' Association opened two information stands, each with a small exhibition. Many people who never had heard of the village expressed interest and said they might like to visit and to stay in the Guest House.

Volunteers

This week Jana Graalmann, a volunteer from Germany, departed after eleven months. During this time she worked in the hotel, the kindergarten, the nursery and the school. She kindly agreed to be interviewed about her experiences during this time. Jana said the initial shocks on arriving in Israel were the different landscape, the heat, and the number of soldiers everywhere. Asked about how the reality of living in the village compared to her expectations, she said she was surprised that no formal program existed for the volunteers, but that getting to know the village depended very much on individual initiative and informal contacts. She said it took her about two weeks to get acclimatized, but that she really started to feel at home when she got to know her adopted family in the village (the Schusters). She spoke very warmly about the acquaintance she made with them. Through speaking with "her" family and others, she came to understand many things about relations between Arabs and Jews. She learned that the reality of the country and its various sub-groups and polarities, was much more complex than she had imagined.

Jana said that among the positive aspects of her experience here, were the openness of the people, the life among the volunteers, and sometimes the work itself. Among the negative aspects were the feeling that it is necessary to struggle in order to arrange activities, and that it is hard to get out of the village for trips to the city, etc. But on the whole, she said that this had been a wonderful time for her, and expressed gratitude to everyone who helped to make this so. In the fall, she will begin her university studies. We wish her success!

Visitors

We have just received a photograph from the visit of Ms. Rosemarie zur Nieden a recently retired Protestant Pastor from Germany who visited in May. Ms. Nieden visited in order to hand over a donation made up from the gifts she received from her friends and colleagues on the occasion of her retirement. Mrs. zur Nieden, on her visit, was able to participate in the tour of international mayors which took place coincidentally on the same day, and then had a personal tour of the village accompanied by Rayek Rizek. After this they rested for coffee at the home of Coral Aron. She has been a regular contributor to the German Friends for many years and we are happy to have this opportunity to thank her publicly for her consistent and generous support towards the work of this community.

For the last three weeks we have enjoyed the company of another visitor, Walter Bohris, a pastor from the town of Dreieich, near Frankfurt in Germany. Involved in multicultural work himself back home, Walter took a lively part in everything here during his time here, and says he learned some things from the educational system that he could apply back home. We hope that he will keep contact with the German Friends Association.

A personal thanks

We were happy to receive long-term supporter, and friend Mr. Richard Goodwin, on two occasions during his recent stay in Israel. Mr. Goodwin brought with him a digital camera, which has already gone to work in producing many of the photographs appearing on the web version of this week's Week by Week. We will report further on Mr. Goodwin's visit in the next issue. Till then, many thanks for a timely gift.

Errata

In the last issue of Week by Week, a visit by Ms. Birgit Klausser to the SFP was mentioned. Ms. Klausser came as a representative of the Austrian, rather than the German Government, as reported.