NSWAS Week-by-Week

May 16 - 22 1999

Bulletins:

	Rabah Halabi and Nava Sonnenschein will represent the School for Peace at an international conference, "Forging Regional Cooperation in the Mediterranean Basin" in Arles, France, May 27-28 99. Rabah will preside there over a roundtable on dialogue between conflict groups. Dr. A Friedman, from the staff of the Tel Aviv Univ. joint course, will also attend with Nava and Rabah.
	Abdessalam Najjar will visit Italy for various meetings from May 28 to June 6.
	Rayek Rizek and Nava Sonnenschein will be on a coast-to-coast speaking tour of the USA throughout the month of June. Details of engagements may be obtained from the American Friends of NSWAS.

The Community

After the national elections

A spirit of optimism prevails that the new government will be more willing, and more empowered, to advance with the peace process. The community sent letters of congratulations to Mr. Ehud Barak and Mr. Shimon Peres.

Negotiations with the Trappist Monastery of Latrun

Another meeting took place between NSWAS Secretary Rayek Rizek and Abbot Paul on the subject of the land transfer now being worked out between the Monastery and NSWAS. The agreement, which is almost ready for implementation, broadly involves the gift to NSWAS of approximately one half of the land that is now leased to NSWAS, in exchange for the return of the remaining half back to the Monastery.

Construction

Work is proceeding on three public building projects:

The Eisenberg Auditorium

The auditorium, which will comfortably seat four hundred persons, will be constructed of modern light building materials. Work is now proceeding on the foundations and infrastructure. The entire building is expected to be completed by August. The building will provide us with a much-needed facility for activities of every department in NSWAS.

The new Public Relations Office

After receiving committed donations from various friends' associations, we are proceeding with work on the new public relations office. The office will accommodate the PR and fundraising staff, publication equipment, archives on the development and work of the village, and a place to meet with individuals or small groups. The completion date for the building depends upon the receipt of additional funds committed by our friends' associations. Thanks to the American, the British, the German and the Italian friends for their contributions towards the project.

An additional classroom for the Primary School

An additional classroom is being built to provide the Primary School with space to help relieve existing congestion and permit the planned increase in enrollment in the coming school year.

Visit by Swedish Ambassador

The Swedish ambassador to Israel, Mr. Hohn H. M. Hagard, visited NSWAS on May 20. He, his wife, and some of the embassy staff, toured the village, spoke with members of the various departments, and stayed for lunch. Before leaving, the ambassador graciously wrote in our visitors' book: "Fred, Salam, Shalom! This endeavor shows that peace is a growing currency worthy of our best investments."

Television

A tele-journalist from French TV Channel Plus came especially from Paris to film the village, concentrating on the Primary School. Broadcast of the show was intended for Saturday, May 15.

Abdessalam Najjar and Ety Edlund are also scheduled to appear on Dutch television channel 3 at 11:30 Tuesday, May 25.

Lettre de la Colline

Issue 23 of Lettre de la Colline (a newsletter on NSWAS in French, produced by Anne Le Meignen) is now at the printers. The newsletter includes many interesting articles not to be found anywhere else. Those interested to receive a copy should write to Anne Le Meignen, C/O NSWAS.

The School for Peace

Teachers' college group

Teachers' Colleges around the country arrange visits to NSWAS through various frameworks in the village. The hotel, the SFP and the Children's Educational System all have been involved in arranging and hosting such groups, and the arrangements made depend upon the express interest and focus of the group. Certainly, this is an important and influential target population that we are extremely interested to reach. Next week, we will report upon activities conducted by the Primary School. This time we mention a group that came in the framework of the SFP.

The SFP hosted a Jewish-Arab student group from the Kay Teachers' College of Beer Sheba. Like certain others in Israel, the College has a special Jewish-Arab teachers' course aimed to encourage coexistence between the two peoples. In the framework of this course, the College arranged a day-long field trip to NSWAS, where they received a tour of the village, a visit to the Primary School, a presentation and a short workshop. During the group work, the SFP staff placed the Jewish-Arab conflict at the center of the encounter. This was a novel and challenging perspective for the group since, as is usual in coexistence programs in Israel, they had been accustomed to placing an emphasis more on the benefits and urgency of coexistence, than upon exploring the obstacles to attaining it. However, this being a very short workshop framework, little could be accomplished beyond highlighting the methods practiced at the SFP.

Staff study session

The SFP conducted one of its periodical study sessions for all of the staff. The topic this time was a review of a recent visit to Germany of staff and students from the Beer Sheba University course. The visit had included a day trip to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, which was followed by a very difficult session between the Jewish and Arab students. The staff reflected upon the experience in order to see what could be learned from the visit and the group process relating to it.

New grants

The School for Peace has received confirmation of two important grants for project work. One is from the People to People Organization, which gave $20,000 for a project to develop a student leadership to promote peace between Palestinians and Israelis. The SFP is a joint participant of the grant, together with the Kalkilia-based Palestinian Peace Movement. The other grant, consisting of $18,000 from the Canadian government, is for a program for Israeli and Palestinian history teachers. The fellow recipient organization is the Palestinian Center for Peace and Democracy.

Spain

Ahmad Hijazi visited Spain at the invitation of an organization that is organizing a four-day interfaith summer camp scheduled for this coming July. The camp is being sponsored by the European Union and the Spanish organization and will bring young people from Spain, Sweden, the USA, the Turkish division of Cyprus and Israel. The intention is to include youth from further countries in years to come. The purpose of the summer camp will be to form ties between the young people of various countries and create local activities that will lead up to a large international event scheduled for the year 2005. The SFP will gather a group of five Palestinian students, who will take part together with Jewish students from the Israeli MLZ Organization. The Spanish organization learned about NSWAS through our web site.

The Primary School

Shavu'ot, Ascension Day, and Whitsuntide

The School celebrated the Jewish holiday of Shavu'ot and the Christian holidays of Ascension Day (El-Saud) and Whitsuntide (El-Onsara). The Christian and Jewish children also enjoyed a day off school for the holidays. Activities included discussion of the three holidays, and common activities for all of the students. It is a local tradition on the El-Onsara holiday to visit various places of religious significance. The children therefore visited various "stations" in the School where activities had been arranged. One station featured preparation of cheeses and milk puddings (traditional to the holidays). There was a room where they took part in art work, and another where they experienced an exercise in "creative visualization" on a holiday theme. The Shavu'ot holiday being connected with the wheat harvest, there was a station for the baking of oriental flat bread or shrak. For this purpose, three Bedouin women, mothers of some of the school children, had volunteered their time. They came with provisions and equipment, and provided an outdoor baking experience, the fruits of which were enjoyed by all. The day therefore offered a rich inter-cultural experience that brought out the beauty of the three holidays in a natural way.

A video project

Children of the fourth, fifth and sixth grades have begun to work with the video teacher, Hezzie Schuster, on the final project of the year - the production of short video films for presentation at the end-of-the-year ceremony. For this purpose, the children first divide into small groups. They come up with an idea for a film, and take responsibility for every stage in production except the photography and editing. They create a story line, a script, a shooting sequence, and all other elements. Filming will be completed by mid-June, whereupon Hezzie will (as every year) will work days and nights editing the material for presentation!

SFP project for NSWAS Primary School staff

During this reporting period, the Primary School took part in a long-term project arranged and conducted by the SFP for the newer teachers (mostly those with up to three years of experience in the Primary School). For the purpose of professional distance, the SFP chose facilitators from outside of NSWAS to facilitate the work. The project involved an experiential encounter between the teachers, a theoretical section devoted to the issues of language and identity, and finally a section for analysis of case studies at the School. An important part of the project was the provision of a forum in which the teachers could reflect upon their work together and express matters that are seldom given expression in the course of everyday working relations.

In their summaries of the course and while interviewed for this report, the teachers stated that the work had been interesting and important for them. Various teachers testified that their awareness had been raised towards the inequalities between the two peoples, and the complexity of the experiment they are undertaking at the School. On a professional level, the unequal starting point in regard to the teaching of language was explored. (Jewish teacher: "after this encounter I realized I can speak all the time to the class in Hebrew, whereas the Arab teachers are not able to speak all the time to the class in Arabic.") On an interpersonal level, the teachers learned that in a school like ours it is necessary to speak their hearts to their colleagues, even though this can feel very uncomfortable in a close working environment. (Arab teacher: "Exposing one's feelings doesn't endanger the teacher but opens ways of understanding and dialogue. The course drew the teachers nearer to one another and clarified many cloudy issues and points.").

The project as a whole shows how the two main educational institutions of the village can work together for mutual benefit. This is something that will be of increasing importance in the context of our establishment of the Peace Campus.

The Kindergarten

Aishe and Eliza of the Kindergarten staff always have interesting events and programs to report upon. This week, as in the School, the children celebrated the Shavu'ot holiday. The Jewish children prepared baskets with fruit and wore circlets of flowers. They explained to the Arab children how they had prepared these, with the help of parents at home.

Another important activity centered on the elections. The teachers gave an elementary lesson in government and politics. To bring this home to the children, they all participated in a make-belief election of their own.

The Hotel

Developments in group visits program

The hotel is working to improve the framework of its group visits program. Dorit Shippin, who was interviewed for this report, says that new opportunities arise with the building of the auditorium, the advent of the millennial year, and the more favorable atmosphere for peace activities that follows the election. The group visits department hopes to improve and broaden activities for various target populations and to present them in additional languages. One important contribution is the agreement of the German Friends of NSWAS to sponsor a part-time salary for a German speaker who will develop programs for German groups - (which provide a large proportion of the clientele). Barbara Meyer, a former volunteer in NSWAS, who maintained close contact with the village and the German friends' association while studying theology, has now begun to work in this capacity. She is currently engaged in observation of educational activities in the village, and has already drawn up a program outline for consideration by the hotel management. She hopes to be able to develop in-depth activities for specific groups, such as church groups and those interested in inter-faith dialogue. In presenting some of these activities, she will be assisted by NSWAS member Kent Edlund, who has learned German specifically in order to guide German groups.

Thank you letters

The success of hotel work depends upon making sure that a constantly changing flow of people is well looked after and happy. The challenge is all the greater in a village like NSWAS, where people often come with high expectations of witnessing the personal example of members of a peace village. So it is a real joy and encouragement to the staff when guests express satisfaction. Letters like the following are a case in point: "We thank the guest house for staying here… We shall never forget your friendship and the example that you give to the whole world: live in peace together. May God bless you. We hope to come back next year." (Paster Wegmen, a tour leader from Holland). "The importance and magic of this place hunger to be made known throughout the whole world. It is exciting to see and to create contacts, which I hope will become commonplace throughout Israel. Thank you for an enjoyable weekend, warm hospitality and smiles." (An Israeli guest).